What's the first thing that jumps to mind when you read that? That's right - Real estate.
If there was one physical location-based industry not affected by Covid, it would be real estate. In fact, due to a combination of reduced supply and increased demand for new homes (can't travel, can't go out and work from home etc), we saw a massive increase in property value across the world.
The property market is an absolute beast. With a total global market value of US$326.5 trillion, it is more valuable than all global equities and debt securities combined, and almost four times that of global GDP.
What is the most important thing for this massive market? MAP! I mean location. With the rise of map apps, the process of house selling and house hunting has been changed forever.
Research shows, Google Maps is something that millennials often check as a reference when buying a house. With the help of "map view" on property listing sites, potential buyers can learn about the area just on their cellphone - see which schools and businesses are nearby, and check out all available listings as well as sold properties. This is a great way to counter Covid restrictions. It also saves a lot of time and energy (and gas!).
As an agent, there are even more benefits. You can:
List all of your listings and key information on one consolidated map which is significantly more engaging than a long list. It allows potential buyers to see where each property is instead of manually look up each listing on Google Maps;
Attract a prospective client by presenting a map with the most important locations in the neighborhood: schools, supermarket, restaurants etc;
Showcase all the new developments in the area; and
Create a map of all your listings/clients and business partners to showcase the breadth of your experience and network.
If the benefits of an interactive map tool are so clear for real estate professionals, then why is it that we only see property listings on large platforms with a "map view"? It really comes down to the cost and complexity involved in making a "map view". For most smaller players, it is just too expensive / time consuming.
We are going to change that (our favorite saying lol). One of our core templates is custom designed for property listings - a.k.a that "map view". How it works is, you just need to import or connect your listing information and a professional quality property search tool will be generated based on your data. You can then customise it to your own brand colour, font and map markers.
For smaller players, this means:
You dont need to "share" the map with other agencies and their listings: and
You can significantly increase visitor engagement and lead generation.
This is a good article on why and how Google Maps (the base of all of our templates) is an "untapped gold mine" for all savvy real estate professionals.
If this all sounds great to you, then please stay tuned!
Nan