Real Estate Software: How to increase property sales with a listing mobile app? [Prototype Included]

On average, a person spends from 3 hours 15 minutes to 4.5 hours on their phone each day, with most of the time spent in various messengers or apps that allow for endless scrolling like TikTok or YouTube Shorts. 

Well, when you’re in real estate sales & PropTech, this knowledge can be used for the benefit of your business, providing the information in a familiar fashion to the users while promoting your products and services.

In this article, we’ll talk about OurDimDeal – a mobile app prototype that can simplify real estate property searches and make this process more enjoyable for everyone.

The main features of the prototype are the following: 

• Endless scroll for listings, which helps to stay focused on the search without any interruptions.
• Easy listing creation, which simplifies the routine work for the sellers and brokers by offering predefined options and an integrated property description generator option. 
• Built-in messenger, which facilitates effective communication between sellers, buyers, and/or brokers.
• Augmented reality feature, which enhances the user experience. The app incorporates an AR feature that allows users to generate live photos by scanning QR codes found on property listings. By pointing their device’s camera at the QR code, users can instantly visualize the property in real-time (Available for an additional fee.)
• Role-based user profiles, which can be used by brokers, sellers, or buyers. Each role has its own flow for the property sale process.
• Convenient search and filter options, which help to refine the criteria for the properties they see (location, price range, property type, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, etc.)
• Saved searches and favorites, which provide the opportunity to take the time to make the decision without losing the properties you liked from sight. 

The PropTech Revolution

The proptech industry is real estate technology and software tools that empower all the players to do their job more efficiently and help overcome the challenges of the traditionally-offline real estate market.

What are the challenges that each of the players experience? We’ll stop on three major groups: brokers, sellers, and buyers. 

Players	Challenges
Sellers	Pricing: Determining the right listing price can be challenging for sellers. Setting it too high can discourage potential buyers, while setting it too low may result in financial losses.
	Time and carrying costs: Selling a property often takes time, and during this period, sellers continue to bear expenses such as mortgage payments, property taxes, and maintenance costs.
	Negotiations: Negotiating with potential buyers can be challenging, as sellers may have emotional attachments to the property and struggle to find a balance between their desired price and market realities.
	Property condition: Preparing the property for sale and ensuring it is in good condition can be time-consuming and costly for sellers. They may need to invest in repairs, staging, or renovations to make the property more appealing to buyers.
	Marketing and visibility: Attracting the attention of qualified buyers requires effective marketing strategies. Traditional advertising methods may not always reach the target audience effectively.
Buyers	Financing: One of the main challenges for buyers is obtaining financing for the purchase. Meeting the strict requirements of lenders and securing favorable interest rates can be a hurdle, particularly for first-time buyers.
	Limited inventory: Buyers may face difficulties finding a property that meets their needs and budget due to limited inventory in certain markets. This can lead to increased competition and potential bidding wars.
	Property inspections: Conducting thorough property inspections can be challenging, especially for buyers with limited knowledge of construction and building codes. Identifying potential issues and assessing the overall condition of the property is crucial but can be time-consuming and costly.
	Closing process: The closing process involves numerous paperwork, legalities, and coordination among various parties. Buyers may encounter challenges related to obtaining necessary documents, coordinating with lenders, and ensuring a smooth closing.
Brokers	Market fluctuations: Real estate markets are subject to fluctuations, which can affect brokers’ income and commission rates. In a slow market, it may be more challenging to find qualified buyers and close deals.
	Competition: The real estate industry is highly competitive, and brokers need to constantly differentiate themselves and their services to attract clients and win listings.
	Legal and regulatory complexities: Brokers must stay up to date with changing regulations, licensing requirements, and legal obligations to ensure compliance and protect their clients’ interests.
	Technology adoption: Embracing technology and adapting to digital platforms can be a challenge for brokers who are accustomed to traditional methods. Incorporating online marketing, virtual tours, and other tech tools can enhance their competitiveness but may require a learning curve.
	Client expectations and satisfaction: Meeting the expectations of both sellers and buyers while maintaining professional relationships can be demanding. Brokers must effectively communicate, provide accurate information, and manage negotiations to ensure client satisfaction.

OurDimDeals app targets several of these challenges, namely:

1. Marketing & visibility options for the sellers. While OurDimDeals might not be the only platform to sell one’s real estate property, it is aimed to be easy to use and therefore adds more value and sense to marketing efforts. 
2. Limited inventory for buyers. Given filters and search options, it’s easier to navigate various properties all over the country (or specific locations.) Often, the case for limited inventory isn’t the physical lack of housing, but the inability to find any information online. OurDimDeals focuses on simplifying the seller journey in order to make it easier to add properties.
3. Technology adoption for brokers. OurDimDeals is a PropTech mobile application, which means it’s technological at the core, but we pay additional attention to the user-friendliness of the app to ensure that even new users know how to navigate the app and use all the available features to their advantage.

Property Listings: What is important?

When you’re looking for a perfect place to live, you want to know as much about it as possible. If you’re looking for a buyer, it’s also nice to know what information they might need, so here is a checklist of things to cover in your property listing:

Basic property details go first because they create the foundation for the rest of the listing:

• Property type: Indicate whether it’s a house, apartment, condominium, townhouse, etc.
• Location: Provide the address or general location of the property, including the neighborhood or district.
• Size and dimensions: Specify the total area of the property, including the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and other rooms.
• Floor plan: Include a floor plan or layout to give buyers an idea of the property’s configuration.
• Age and condition: Mention the age of the property and any notable updates or renovations made.
• Amenities: Highlight any special features or amenities such as a swimming pool, garden, garage, or security systems.
• Accessibility: Describe the accessibility features of the property, such as wheelchair ramps or elevator access.
• Views: If the property offers scenic views, mention them, such as ocean views, city skyline, or nearby parks.

The next thing, after the basic details, is the pricing and financial details.

• Listing price: Clearly state the asking price for the property.
• Financing options: Provide information about financing options available or if the property is eligible for certain loan programs.
• Property taxes: Mention the approximate annual property tax amount.
• Homeowners’ association (HOA) fees: If applicable, include details about any HOA fees or special assessments.
• Additional costs: Specify any other costs associated with the property, such as utility fees or maintenance fees.

Describe your property next. Paint that mental picture for your buyers so that the pricing information is sandwiched by the features they would love. Here are a few things to think about:

• Description: Craft a compelling and accurate description of the property, highlighting its key features, architectural style, unique characteristics, and selling points.
• Interior Features: Mention specific interior features like flooring types, kitchen appliances, heating and cooling systems, and any noteworthy design elements.
• Exterior Features: Describe the property’s outdoor spaces, such as a patio, balcony, garden, or landscaping features.
• Recent upgrades or renovations: If there have been recent upgrades or renovations, highlight them to showcase the property’s modernization or added value.

After you’ve painted a word picture, supplicate it with visual information and photos or videos, so that once again, the reader falls in love with this property. This can include:

• High-quality photos: Include a variety of high-resolution photos that capture the property’s exterior, interior, rooms, and any notable features. Showcase the property from multiple angles and perspectives.
• Videos or virtual tours: Provide videos or virtual tours that allow potential buyers to virtually explore the property, offering a more immersive experience.
• Drone footage: If available, aerial footage or drone images can help provide a comprehensive view of the property and its surroundings.

And last but not least, make sure you provide your contact information so that buyers can contact you. If you are selling directly, it can be your info, or you can provide your listing agent or broker that is handling the sale of your property for you. Contact details may include: 

• Phone
• Email
• Social media (in case you’d like to be contacted there)

In the case of OurDimDeals, the app has a built-in chat function so your contact details aren’t shared publicly (unless you want that.)  

As we mentioned above, OurDimDeals also provides an endless scroll feature for the property listings which helps potential buyers to navigate through the properties easily and yet get a wealth of information if they go deeper into a particular property.

Another reason why so much information is necessary upfront is that this simplifies and enhances the property search process. Each of these detail categories can be a filter option and as a result, users can find properties that meet their specific needs and wants quicker. 

Enhanced Communication Channels 

Effective communication plays a crucial role in the real estate industry, benefiting all parties involved, including sellers, buyers, brokers, and other professionals. OurDimDeals mobile app prototype has a built-in messaging platform so that the conversations about the properties are right there with the property listings. This facilitates seamless communication between everyone involved.

Communication is key to a successful sale of the property. Your property might be wonderful, but if communication isn’t convenient or thought-through, this may break the deal.

In the OurDimDeal app prototype, we took care of this by providing:

• Real-time conversations within the app and connected to the listing. In case you’re chatting with different people about different properties, this information is all tied up to the listing. Users can easily inquire about properties, schedule viewings, negotiate offers, and receive instant notifications for any updates or new messages.
• Instant notifications make sure you don’t miss an update or a message from your contacts about the real estate property. 
• Centralized message management helps to ensure that if you want to find a specific conversation about a listing, that’s simple to do. You can either go to the saved properties to view the conversations or go to your profile to see all people you’ve contacted. 

Extended Reality for Property Viewing

PropTech is all about technologies and it’s necessary to embrace them and use their benefits for your business or your life. Augmented Reality is one of these trends that can provide interactive property viewing. People live in a 3D world and seeing something in 3D is always better than just a flat photo.

• Augmented Reality can be used for virtual property tours that help users make informed decisions. You can take photos of your property from all sides and generate a virtual mockup.
• AR feature can also be used to scan QR codes in your marketing materials, for example, to show a video or live photos. We did this for one of our clients who does interactive exhibitions.  

We wrote more about how to increase real estate sales & improve property marketing with 3D visualizations.

Conclusion

User-friendliness and easy navigation are a must for a mobile app. That is one of the primary things we paid attention to when we were thinking about our OurDimDeals mobile app prototype and its features.

We wanted to make something that would streamline the conversations and conversions and simplify the process of looking at real estate listings, making it a pleasant (and slightly addicting, haha) experience.

At this stage, OurDimDeals is just a prototype but if you’re interested in developing this product further for your needs, please contact us.