BlackBerry Storm users - the wait is over! This week, Smarter Agent launched its free, location-aware real estate app on the Storm.

This new version of our BlackBerry app not only features our flagship search "Homes for Sale" which let's you search all publicly viewable listings in more than 300 markets nationwide, but if you check out the image to the left you'll see an additional search option is included in this app - "Recently Sold" so you can see the prices of homes that sold within the last three years.

With the Storm, the GPS Quick Search feature will pinpoint your location and find all property listings around you. Or, you can always use Smarter Agent's other convenient search options to find homes based on address, community name, city and zip code. Plus, our refine search will narrow down results based on property type, distance, price range, and beds/baths.

Here's what you can expect to see in Smarter Agent's upgraded app:
-A graphically dynamic interface with icons for every command
-More Powerful GPS capabilities
-"Recently Sold Homes" data
-Option to SMS text a property listing to a friend
-Screen adjustment for landscape view

This enhanced version is also available for all other BlackBerry devices (but only the Storm gets the landscape view, sorry). GPS search capabilities are dependent on your device and carrier.

To search all Homes for Sale and Recently Sold Homes on your BlackBerry with the new and improved version, text TRY to 87778. You'll receive a message with a link to begin the download process. I did mention it's free, right?

Labels: apps, BlackBerry, BlackBerry Storm, mobile, real estate, Smarter Agent

It was standing-room only for the panel "Mobile App Development for Real Estate" at Inman's Real Estate Connect SF '09.

Smarter Agent's President/CTO Eric Blumberg was invited to be on the panel along with Sasha Aickin, Engineering Manager for Redfin and Jim Secord, President & COO of Kurio. The workshop was moderated by the Co-Founder of W&R Studios Dan Woolley.

Inman News writer Matt Carter published a story to recap the session entitled, "Do mobile apps right, or not at all."


Carter's article quoted Eric Blumberg using one of his favorite analogies in his panel presentation:

"If you only put an iPhone app out, it's like saying I'm only going to sell to people who drive a Mercedes."

Of the 270 million cell phone users in the U.S., only about 7 million have an iPhone.

Maybe it's time you incorporated a mobile solution that reaches everyone with a cell phone. That's Smarter Agent's philosophy.

Labels: apps, Inman, mobile, Real Estate Connect, Smarter Agent

Connect SF '09 starts Wednesday! More than 1,500 people are expected to attend Inman's annual conference Real Estate Connect in San Francisco Aug. 5th - Aug. 7th.

Smarter Agent's President/CTO Eric Blumberg was selected to speak on the panel, "Mobile App Development for Real Estate," as part of the newly added ConnectTech workshop Wednesday morning. ConnectTech was designed for technology officers, developers, entrepreneurs and product managers to "talk tech."

Smarter Agent is also honored to be an Innovator Award Finalist. Our branded mobile real estate application is up for Most Innovative New Technology.

For Connect SF updates, follow @sa_jen and @smarteragent_ss on Twitter.
Or check out Inman's Social Media Dashboard.

Labels: app, Inman, mobile, real estate, Real Estate Connect, Smarter Agent

Some of the most vocal bloggers in the real estate industry are weighing in on Smarter Agent's mobile real estate app.

See what they have to say:

Agent Genius

Bloodhound Blog

The San Diego Home Blog by Kris Berg

You can also click here to view more comments and success stories on our Testimonials page.

Labels: Cell phone, mobile, real estate, Smarter Agent, smartphones

According to a recent report released by Strategy Analytics, GPS smartphone shipments will grow from 57 million in 2008 to 77 million in 2009. You can either pay $7,000 for this full report or get the gist below. And yes, that is our intern Nick loading Smarter Agent's real estate app on a BlackBerry inside a BlackBerry. Just a little Photoshop fun.

The report indicates there are two main reasons to explain why GPS smartphone volumes will increase 34% worldwide in a year:

1). Widespread acceptance of portable navigation devices in Europe and the U.S.

2). Increasing presence of mapping applications (Like Smarter Agent's location-aware real estate app! That's not in the report-it's just our 2 cents.)

Nokia is the global leader in GPS enabled smartphones. But the report says Research in Motion and Apple are starting to close in. See the article on FierceWireless for more details on the report and quotes from Strategy Analytics.

Here’s the first GPS Smartphone with a mobile real estate search built by Smarter Agent’s founders in 1999.

This is an early version circa 2000 Brad and Eric Blumberg created to find properties in Philly. Check out the size of that antenna!

Smarter Agent has come a long way. Our premium mobile real estate search now works on 95% of cell phones. Click here to see the devices we support and to download Smarter Agent.

Labels: GPS, mobile, real estate, Smarter Agent, smartphones

Smarter Agent's upgraded iPhone app offers great, new features to make your real estate search even easier!

Real Estate by Smarter Agent offers:

* New search flow
* Increased speed and stability
* Ability to share properties with friends via text or email
* Ability to save images with favorites
* Integrated Map View and Map-Based Search
* More data details on properties
* Increased coverage area for searches
* Enhanced Picture View

In a neighborhood you like? Smarter Agent will use your iPhone to pinpoint your GPS location and find what’s for sale in your immediate area. Select a property from the search results to see price information, the number of beds/baths, square footage, interior and exterior features, pictures and more. Map the results to see the surrounding area and get directions to each listing.

If you want to search somewhere you’re not, Smarter Agent will take you there. Customize your real estate search by entering an address, community name, city or zip code.

You can also refine your search based on property type, number of beds/baths, and your price range.

When you’re ready to take the next step and schedule a tour of the property, the “Call to See” button will connect you to a real estate professional.

The “Broker Reciprocity” logo at the bottom of the data lets you know you are seeing every public MLS listing in that area. Smarter Agent partners with local real estate agents and brokers to gain access not only to their listings but to all listings in more than 300 markets nationwide. If you do not see the “Broker Reciprocity” logo, you will see about 25% of the available listings coming directly from feeds Smarter Agent gets from major real estate firms.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent is free! Click the App Store icon below to download to your iPhone or iPod Touch today!




Don't have an iPhone? No problem! Smarter Agent works on 95% of cell phones. Use this download tool to get Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application on your mobile device.

Labels: iPhone, LBS, mobile, real estate, Smarter Agent

Smarter Agent extends its reach to Google's Android Operating system and continues its reign as the only developer with a property search application available across all devices, carriers and formats.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent is a free application on the Android.

It’s a power tool for anyone interested in accurate, up to date, and comprehensive real estate information.

Real Estate by Smarter Agent features three location-aware (including GPS-triggered) real estate searches in one easy-to-use application.

Search options include:
• Homes for Sale
• Recently Sold Homes
• Apartments for Rent

Homes for Sale lets users search every public MLS listing in over 300 markets, more than any other real estate application on the market. With Recently Sold Homes, consumers can see the prices of homes sold within the last three years, and Apartments for Rent offers a growing list of apartments from top Web sites like apartments.com.

All three search options use Smarter Agent’s patented property search technology to pinpoint the user’s location and find available apartments and property listings in the immediate area with the touch of a button. Consumers can also search by address, community name, city or zip code.

Search results reveal:
• Price
• Square footage
• Estimated mortgage
• Taxes
• Interior and exterior features
• Interactive map
• Beds/baths
• Pictures

Smarter Agent features a “Call to See” button, which offers real time access to a real estate professional if you have questions or want to schedule a tour of the property.

This is the first application created by Realtors for Realtors that gives home buyers full access to publically viewable MLS property information and helps agents and brokers maintain their brand in the emerging mobile real estate market.

Android download instructions: Go to Android Market, select Search and enter Smarter Agent. Select ‘Real Estate by Smarter Agent’ and then select Install at the bottom of the screen. You can also text G1 to 87778 for download instructions.

For other devices, Smarter Agent's Homes for Sale application can be downloaded from:
• www.SmarterAgent.com
• A consumer’s cell phone via the carrier’s application store, or from application stores maintained by iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.
• A broker’s or agent’s Web site if they subscribe to Smarter Agent and have a branded application.

Labels: Android, GPS, mobile, real estate, Smarter Agent

I read an article this morning on RISMedia about how Realtors can effectively meet the demands of Generation Y. With over 72 million ‘Millennials’ in the US (another cool term for people, like me, who fall in the 22-31 age group), we’re an “increasingly powerful economic force.” The article briefly touched on a list of ways Realtors can become relevant in the Millennials’ world including blogs, social networking, and virtual tours on YouTube.

I may be slightly biased, but I don’t think the article went far enough in stressing the importance and prevalence of mobile in the Generation Y target market. Our dependency on accessible, mobile technology comes into play not only in communicating (texting and e-mailing via cell phones is the norm), but gathering information and completing even the most mundane of tasks (from finding movie times to tracking personal spending), and finding a home should be on that list!

We here at Smarter Agent think one of the best uses of our mobile application is to become relevant with your Generation Y house hunters and to help meet their needs using a medium with which they are already very familiar.

Click here for the full article.

-Melissa Hindman, Smarter Agent Marketing Manager

Labels: Generation Y, mobile, Realtors, Smarter Agent