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When Vancouver realtor Alain Chateauneuf was in Toronto
recently, some clients were asking him about properties
available in the Vancouver market. "I had the solution
in the palm of my hand," said Anson Realty's Chateauneuf.
He pulled out his Pocket PC phone and, using his Wireless
Realty software from Vancouver's Executive Wireless
Inc (www.executivewirelessinc.com), was able to connect
with multiple listing service data from the Lower Mainland.
He could show photos of the properties, all the key
information of price, square footage, the number of
bedrooms, etc.
And he could even show the location on a map. "When
you're working with buyers, because of the short supply
of properties, you have to have a cutting edge," said
Chateauneuf, one of 500 realtors using the Wireless
Realty program across North America. "You can't be wasting
time running here and running there." Now, whether it's
at open houses or just over a coffee with prospective
clients, Chateauneuf can pull out the Pocket PC phone
and quickly connect with the latest information.
"I basically have all of the printed MLS catalogues,
with even more updated information, in the palm of my
hand." While traditional MLS software for desktop PCs
and laptops has been around for years, it is now making
its move to the PDA/phone environment. "The concept
of wireless access to real estate information has been
played with for years, but no one has figured out how
to do it successfully, until the past while," said Executive
Wireless' CEO Michael Grabham. "There's us and a couple
of other people doing it, but there's no real market
leader at this stage and I think that will change in
the next twelve months."
According to figures from the 2003 National Association
of Realtors in the United States, Grabham could well
be right. Eighty-nine per cent of sales agents said
they use MLS software frequently, more than any other
type. As well, the use of PDAs and wireless jumping
significantly in 2003 -- from seven per cent to 15 per
cent -- while the use of pages and desktop computers
has dropped. Chateauneuf prefers his handheld to a laptop
because it's far more convenient and easier to carry
around. "It's my alarm clock, my daytimer, my client
base, my e-mail access, my phone, it's my office," said
Chateauneuf.
Executive Wireless'
marketing vice president Lisa Gaetz, said that the
company realizes that there's a tech hurdle to be overcome
in getting the software into the hands of realtors.
That can mean having to explain how to use a handheld.
"Oftentimes when we're selling our software, we're selling
a device as well," said Gaetz. "It would be nice for
us not to even have to talk about the device but we're
a couple of ways away from that." In the Canadian market,
Executive Wireless often does joint sales calls along
with the mobility arms of Telus, Rogers and Bell.
"They provide the device and the data plan and we're
able to provide the software." Realtors who want to
use the application on a Palm device pay $179 for the
software and a subscription fee of $14.95 a month. For
the pocket PC the prices are $229 and $17.95 respectively.
Executive Wireless hopes to make a move from individual
items to selling to brokers, who would then equip their
sales forces with the software either outright or for
a fee. As well, it would like to take the technology
it has developed and adapt it to other business areas
that need the same type of on-the-go information. "We're
looking for opportunities in other vertical markets
where they have large sales forces out in the field
with a need for data," said Grabham.
"In the past five months we've been looking at other
opportunities but we are still highly focused on real
estate."
networks@png.canwest.com
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