CELLPHONE TECHNOLOGY PUTS HOUSE HUNTERS IN INSTANT CONTACT WITH AGENTS THANKS TO RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS

RE/MAX of Southern Africa is using 21st century technology to enhance the slog of searching for a new home.

RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS, a mobile website listing thousands of properties being marketed by RE/MAX of Southern Africa, is believed to be the biggest mobile property publishing system in Africa.

The system, which launched in March and piloted in KwaZulu-Natal, had over 100 leads in two weeks and has been a hit with agents and the public alike. It has now been rolled out across South Africa.

"The public are surprised when agents get back to them within minutes of them sending the SMS, asking where we get their phone numbers from," said Adrian Goslett, Regional Director & CEO of RE/MAX of Southern Africa.

"It complements conventional modes of generating leads for estate agents. Sellers need to ask agents how they are leveraging technology in the sale of their property," Goslett said.

All a prospective buyer has to do, upon seeing a property for sale about which they would like to know more, is SMS a reference code on the estate agent's sign or print advertisement to 33418. The cost of the SMS to the buyer is R1,50.

The buyer will then instantly access the RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS mobile website entry for that property, and can view text and photographic information about the property. An advantage over standard property advertising, where there is often only a single image of the property, is that the buyer will be able to view multiple images.

At the same time, an e-mail alert is sent to the estate agent marketing the property, notifying them that a buyer has shown interest in the property and providing the buyer's contact details.

"What's really nice about RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS is that the information is immediately accessible to the buyer, and the agent gets a lead that he or she otherwise might not have," said Jordan Wallace of Gorilla Creative Media, the Durban-based system developer.

"Another advantage of the system is that estate agents can trend properties, seeing firstly which properties and which print media are drawing attention, and also matching other properties for sale with prospective buyers."

RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS is set up for WAP-enabled mobile phones, but prospective buyers whose phones are not WAP-enabled will still receive an SMS notification that their request has been received, and agents will similarly be notified of the request,  Wallace said.

 "We are very excited about the great potential that RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS holds for our network of agencies," said Goslett.

"We will be combining cutting-edge mobile technology, such as handset recognition, real-time alerts and browser optimisation, with the traditional lead-based system of real estate - for even better results than before."

 "The system's convenience and ease of use means that prospective home-owners can access everything they need to know about any property they may want to buy. Also, our agents can not only act quickly on interest shown by a buyer, but they will also be able to accurately link buyers with other properties that are appropriate for them.

"RE/MAX of Southern Africa is proud of the excellent service we have always provided to both buyers and sellers. With RE/MAX MOBI/LEADS we are taking our service to another level by providing another great tool," Goslett said.

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