Must have App Features for a Real Estate App
Real estate used to be about location, location. It still is, but with a slight change. You have to think beyond the location of your listing and pay attention to your prospects’ location.
The easiest way to reach your clients today is through your own real estate application. Real estate app development has been popularised by the sheer need for a more efficient and engaging way to reach more customers for the real estate business.
You can build your own real estate app without any coding with Appily App Builder's real estate app maker. All you need to do is click on the button below to get started.
Why YOU SHOULD make a real estate app?
Let’s start with a simple scenario where you are looking for the show timings for the latest movie playing at a theatre near you. What is the first thing you do?
Open your smartphone and open an app! This is even before you have decided which movie you want to watch.
Guess what? 92% of home buyers do exactly this. They open their smartphones and start exploring. Would they find you and your properties easily? Or, would they end up signing on a competitor?
Enhanced customer experience
Mobile apps come loaded with features that can be integrated with the native features of your smartphone. Not only does that make your app more engaging, but it also boosts up the overall customer experience your app offers.
Faster sales process
Customers can look at photos and videos of the property and the surrounding area. This helps them shortlist properties a lot sooner than visiting them all without a heads-up. The process saves time for all people involved.
Round the clock communication
Having a real estate app enables you to get queries and appointments all round the clock and liberating you from restrictive office hours. You can add live chat or forms so that people from anywhere can reach you any time they want.
Must have features for real estate applications
Typically, there are two main goals of a real estate app – grabbing the attention of the target customers and making the sale process smooth. There are already thousands of such mobile applications for realtors already on the market.
To make your real estate app stand out from the competition, you must ensure that your app is updated and in sync with the latest trends and top features. On Appily App Builder’s real estate app development platform, you have a lot of features to choose from.
Here are some app features that you should add to your real estate app:
Detailed Property Listings
A detailed property listing should include as many details as possible. Essential details include a description of the property, the location, photos, videos, price, USPs, details of the owner or seller, etc. Photos or videos of your property can be the defining difference between a prospect choosing to make a purchase or not. You should also include a way for interested buyers to get in touch with the listing owner.
Listings and Directory
Use the directory feature to list properties. You can also add categories based on the type of properties, area, amenities, etc. Users who want to rent or sell their properties can easily sign in to your app and list them up without a challenge. Make sure that your database is scalable so that you are prepared to handle the growth in your user base and expansion in the number of listings.
Push Notifications
The push notifications feature is one of the most effective ways to connect with your app users. With a single click, you can let all the app users know about a new listing in the area they are interested in, or a price drop, even the approaching deadline to make an offer.
However, push notifications work the best when they are targeted and personalized. Sending generic messages will wear the users down eventually, and they may even opt out of your notifications. Put some thought into crafting the message and pay even more attention to sending the right information to the right users.
Simple User Onboarding
This is one of the most basic and important features for a real estate mobile app. There are three ways to help a customer login to your real estate app – through a social media platform, email address, or phone number. While you can use any one of these three methods, the best solution would be to incorporate all three. The idea is to serve all preferences in the simplest and most effective way possible.
Separate User Profiles
Let people create their profiles as per their intentions. This means there would probably be two entirely different types of profiles – buyers and sellers. The app’s interface and functionality would be altogether different for both types of users. For example, a buyer will have access to home listings, create shortlists, make inquiries, and more. On the other hand, sellers would see their own property listings, stats like views, clicks they receive, and respond to buyer inquiries.
Shortlisting
Buying a house or any other kind of property is a big decision, and it takes time. Allow users to add listings to favorites and shortlist properties so that they can revisit the list of properties they like. This feature makes the entire decision-making process much easier. It also makes comparisons much easier.
Navigation and Map View
Adding step-by-step navigation and the maps feature helps your customers find their way to the property they are interested in buying. Apart from directions, the map feature also gives you data and statistics related to the property, e.g., nearby schools, hospitals, crime rate, risk of natural disasters, etc., by looking up the coordinates on a government website.
Property Cost & Mortgage Calculators
Numbers matter the most while making this big purchase decision. Hence, adding useful tools or features like the property cost calculator and mortgage calculator is important. The property cost calculator considers multiple factors, including the initial payment range, various taxes, loan interest, and the schedule for loan repayment. The total cost may stand to be completely different from the listed price. Hence, the buyer needs to have a clear idea of the total cost of the property.
Calendar
Another must-have app feature for your real estate app, the calendar feature, lets buyers and sellers have a clear view of their appointments. This feature makes scheduling viewings hassle-free and even allows sellers to send out mass invitations for open-houses.
One Touch Call
One-touch calling lets prospects get in touch with agents or sellers without having to dig up information. This feature increases the users’ confidence in the app and the seller. Additionally, it helps the sellers get inbound leads without spending hundreds of dollars on campaigns.
Direct Messaging
Yet another highly effective communication channel used by the best real estate apps, direct messaging or the chat feature, lets users direct their inquiries to you without having to make a call. Chatting has become way more popular among millennials as compared to calling. And, it is the millennials who are your target customers today.
Analytics
There is always a scope for improvement, and with the app analytics feature in your real estate application, you have the opportunity to make necessary improvements. Insights you receive from app analytics tell you the exact areas working perfectly well and those that need your attention.
Search and filters
Simply listing hundreds of thousands of properties on your real estate application is only going to cause chaos. You can’t expect app users to keep scrolling endlessly in search of the perfect property. Add the search functionality with added filters so that customers can enter a search query within the app and find the list of properties that best match their requirements.
Social Media Integration
Integrating the social media feature into your app allows your app users to share property listings and other content from your app with their friends and family through their preferred social media channels. It can act as an alternative and cheap marketing channel for your business.
Next Steps:
How to make a real estate app?
Real estate is a competitive world, and agents have to fight to get listings and clients alike. Creating a real estate application gives real estate agents an edge by letting them find space in the most intimate space for a customer, the home screen of their smartphones.
Now that you know some of the benefits of creating a real estate app and the must have app features common among the top house hunting apps, it is time to create one yourself. Real estate app development is easy with Appily App Builder’s real estate app maker.
Ready to start creating your Real Estate App?
