Halstead Property

James G. Cahill
Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Technology Officer
jcahill@halstead.com

Jill Sloane
Exec. Vice President
Westside Office
Tel: (212) 381-2206
jsloane@halstead.com

Property Listings Now A

By Jill Urban

You may have seen them in stores or in advertisements: QR or Quick Response codes that give consumers immediate access to information right on their handheld devices. And now this hot technology is opening doors for real estate.

"We are able to publish something, print material. Someone is walking by they take out their handheld, their smartphone, they will scan the information and they will have instant access to the most updated information," said Halstead Property Chief Technology Officer Jim Cahill.

Halstead Property is one of the first real estate companies to incorporate the 2D bar codes. They call them H-tags, and even for those who are not tech savvy they are pretty easy to use.

"The consumer just holds the phone up, presses the camera button on the smartphone. Instantly, the scanning technology recognizes the 2D bar code, drives the person from the H-tag right to our website. The information can then be saved on the smartphone and any changes, the second it happens on our website, it's reflected right on that handheld device," Cahill said.

For example, if an open house is cancelled or there is a price drop, the consumer has immediate access to that information. Most new smartphones come with the scanning technology. If you have an older model, you can simply download the app for it.

Halstead Property Broker Jill Sloane says this is just another tool to help market a property and it's a way to streamline the process for buyers. There's no need to write down a number and try to connect with a broker. Now a consumer is just a few clicks away from seeing a listing.

"I think it’s amazing. Today’s world is all about instant gratification, so this allows us to be in real time with price reductions, open houses. You could be walking by a Halstead office on a Sunday, take your phone out, look at the QR code and if you are interested in an apartment you could be at the open house within a half hour," Sloane said.

The codes can be found on all of Halstead's print material, from brochures to display ads to postcards.

While the H-tags can help drive interest to a property, the big challenge is to make sure New Yorkers know what they are and how to use them. But as they catch on, many will see how these codes are making house hunting more high tech.

Sunday, February 13, 2011