by Gregg Borodaty | Aug 20, 2014 | Village Properties
Village Properties Mobile Application Tip
Marketing Listings using Email and Social Networks
Where do people read their emails or check their Facebook status these days? That’s right – on their phone!
If they see something interesting, they’ll either check it out on their phone right away or save it for later when they’re on their computer, laptop or tablet.
In this tip, I’m going to show you how to email your listing(s) to your network or post it on a social network so people get the best experience no matter what device they are on – phone, computer, laptop or tablet.
Step 1: Find your listing on the Village Properties website
Got to http://villagesite.com on a computer (desktop or laptop) and find your listing. The easiest way to do this is to enter the MLS id in the ‘Quick Search’ box on the home page. You should be directed to the property details page for your listing.
For this example, I’ve entered 14-1860 in the home page universal search box:
which brings me to the details page for 3990 Primavera Rd:
Step 2: Copy the URL for the listing
Once on your property details page, copy the URL for the property details page from the browser’s URL bar. The example I’m showing is for Google’s Chrome browser. The process is similar for Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
Step 3: Paste the URL into an email, put it in a Facebook or Google+ status, or post on Twitter or Pinterest
Once you have copied the URL from the browser bar, compose your email or social media post, paste the URL into your message, and then send/post it.
Yes, it’s that simple. Now your clients and prospects will get the best experience no matter what device they use. If they’re on a mobile phone, they’ll get directed to the mobile application where they can contact you directly regarding the property. If they are on a computer (desktop or laptop) or tablet, they’ll get the full desktop website experience and can contact you from there.
by Gregg Borodaty | Aug 20, 2014 | Village Properties
Adding the Village Properties Mobile Application to your home screen
For faster access to the Village Properties mobile application, you can add it to the home screen of your phone. Once added to your home screen, you’ll have “one-click” access to the application for searching nearby properties, finding open houses, or performing property searches. Don’t forget that you can add it to the home screen of your client’s phone, too. This way, they will have access to the latest property information directly from the MLS when performing property searches.
The links below will take you to the instructions for the iPhone or an Android device.
iPhone instructions for adding to the home screen
Android instructions for adding to the home screen
Add to Home Screen – iPhone instructions
Step 1. Open Safari on the iPhone and go to the Village Properties website – http://villagesite.com. You will be redirected to the mobile application on your iPhone (http://webapp.villagesite.com).
Step 2. Once the application has loaded, press the Safari “Action” button that is in the center of the row of icons at the bottom of the browser window (look for the box with arrow pointing upward out of it).
Step 3. Once the “Action Menu” appears, press the button that says “Add to Home Screen”. It has a square with a “+” sign in the center of it.
Step 4. In the next screen, press the “Add” button in the upper right corner to add the icon to your home screen. If you like, you can change the name of the icon before adding it to your home screen.
That’s it! The Village Properties icon will appear in the first available empty icon space on your iPhone. You now have “one-click” access to the Village Properties mobile web application.
Add to Home Screen – Android instructions
Note: These are the instructions for Android devices running the latest version of Chrome for Mobile. If you have a device that is not using Chrome as your browser, click here for the alternate instructions.
Step 1. Open Chrome on your Android device and go to the Village Properties website – http://villagesite.com. You will be redirected to the mobile application on your device (http://webapp.villagesite.com).
Step 2. Once the application has loaded, press the browser menu icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Step 3. Scroll down the menu, find the entry titled “Add to homescreen” and select it.
Step 4. In the pop-up that appears, select “Add”. If you like, you can rename the application icon before pressing the “Add” button.
That’s it! The Village Properties icon will appear in the first available empty icon space on your Android device. You now have “one-click” access to the Village Properties mobile web application.
Add to Home Screen – Alternate Android instructions
Note: These are the instructions for Android devices that are not using Chrome for Mobile as the internet browser. If you have a device that is using Chrome as your browser, click here for instructions.
Step 1. Open Chrome on your Android device and go to the Village Properties website – http://villagesite.com. You will be redirected to the mobile application on your device (http://webapp.villagesite.com).
Step 2. Once the application has loaded, press the browser menu icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen.
Step 3. Create a bookmark for the site by either selecting the “Bookmarks” entry in the browser menu or by pressing the star icon (if it is present)
Step 4. Open the bookmarks for the browser, and long press on the Village Properties icon/bookmark that you just created.
Step 5. In the menu pop-up that appears, select “Add to home screen”.
That’s it! The Village Properties icon will appear in the first available empty icon space on your Android device. You now have “one-click” access to the Village Properties mobile web application.
by Gregg Borodaty | Aug 20, 2014 | Village Properties
Village Properties Mobile Application Updates, March 2014
A few new features have been added to the Village Properties mobile application this month – expanded property descriptions, property sharing, and agent profiles. Below is an overview of each feature and what the changes look like in the app. (Note – a larger version of any image below can be displayed by clicking on it)
Expanded Property Profiles
The property details pages have been updated to be more informative and easier to use. Instead of “hiding” the property description behind the “More Details” button in the action panel, property descriptions are visible right on the page. Clients can immediately read an overview of the property without having to press an additional button.
The “More Details” button has been moved to underneath the property description and provides clients with additional details such as square footage, year built, property type, build construction, and schools.
Property Sharing
The new property sharing feature allows clients to easily share a property from the details page. There are two ways a client can share a property.
1. By using the “Share” button in the action bar, a client can share the property through their favorite social network or email. Social networks supported are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.
2. Using the “Email this Listing” button, a client can email the listing to someone by entering the recipients name and email address along with their own name and email address without having to leave the app to use their phone’s email client.
Agent Profiles
The application has been updated to include enhanced agent profiles, which contain the agent bio (from the website), a link to the agent’s listings (if available), and the agent’s contact information – office phone, mobile, email, text, and website. In addition to accessing the agent profiles from within the app, they can also be accessed from outside the application. Now, when users find your Village Properties website through a Google search on their phone, they will be taken directly to your agent profile. You can also use the website address for your Village Properties profile to make QR codes, to email your profile to clients, or to include a link to your profile on your social network profiles.
You can check your profile by finding your name and selecting it in the “Agents” section of the application. If you need to update any of your information, including changing, adding, or deleting contact information, please contact Chris Burns to make your updates.
by Gregg Borodaty | Aug 20, 2014 | Village Properties
Village Properties Mobile Application Tip
Generating Free QR Codes for Your Listings
Looking for another way to generate inquiries for your property? In this tip, I’m going to show you how you can generate a free QR code for your listing(s) that you can place on yard signs and sign riders, flyers, post cards, brochures, and more. Anywhere that you can place a sticker or an image, you can put a QR code for your listing.
If you are not familiar with QR codes and want to learn more, I would suggest reading these articles before proceeding:
Step 1: Find your listing on the Village Properties website
Got to http://villagesite.com on a computer (desktop or laptop) and find your listing. The easiest way to do this is to enter the MLS id in the ‘Quick Search’ box on the home page. You should be directed to the property details page for your listing.
For this example, I entered MLS # 14-2255 in the universal search box of the home page:
which brings me to the details page for 1046 Miramonte Drive #2:
Step 2: Copy the URL for the listing
Once on your property details page, copy the URL for the property details page from the browser’s URL bar. The example I’m showing is for Google’s Chrome browser. The process is similar for Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer.
Step 3: Go to a QR code generation website
There are many, many free QR code generation websites that you can go to. My personal favorite is http://goqr.me, which I will use for the rest of this example. A Google search for QR code generators will provide a long list to choose from.
If you use the goqr.me site, the first thing you will want to do after the page loads is to select the QR code type, which in our case is ‘URL’. Select the globe under type (see red circled icon in the image).
Step 4: Paste the URL in the content box
Paste the URL that you copied from step 2 above in the content URL box.
Step 5: Download your Free QR code
After pasting the URL, your QR code will appear on the right hand side of the screen. Choose the Download button (see the red circled button in the image below).
and then select the size of the image and the file type you’d like. A 400px square will be plenty big enough for most applications. For format, I would recommend selecting the PNG format for embedding in documents and online materials, and the EPS format if you plan to send the image to a printer for creating stickers or for high quality print materials.
Save the image(s) on your computer, and you’re all done!
There you have it, you have just created a free QR code that you can use to promote your listing.
As a final disclaimer, I will be the first to admit that QR codes are not the end-all, be-all to marketing listings. QR code awareness among consumers is still relatively low, so don’t expect this to generate a huge number of leads. However, if you are able to generate one more transaction this year by using a QR code, then it will be well worth the investment!
