Mobile apps are the ultimate real estate marketing tool: iKenex releases new apps in San DiegoiKenex, the leader in branded mobile solutions for agents, brokers, boards, and associations, has released six new consumer apps in the greater San Diego area. 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 16, 2010 – Sacramento, CA: December 15, 2010:

iKenex, the leader in branded mobile solutions for agents, brokers, boards, and associations, has released six new consumer apps in the greater San Diego area.  These apps allow consumers to take advantage of native iPhone and Android features to help find properties quickly and effortlessly.   Consumers are raving about the ease of use.  “It’s faster than any other real estate app I have tried”, John in San Diego.  Agents and brokers enjoy having such a great marketing tool for their clients to use.  “I have been waiting a long time for this app and it was worth the wait”, B. Butler, San Diego.  “Mobile is the most powerful marketing tool that an agent or broker can utilize”, states Brian Lonchar, VP of iKenex.  “There is nothing else that a client has with them at all times.  As a real estate professional you are literally available at the touch of a button at all times for your clients”.  

With the release of SD Homes, My San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate Search, San Diego Real Estate Finder, San Diego Real Estate App, and San Diego Homes with Style, iKenex demonstrates how they have streamlined the process to deliver completely customized and branded apps for the iPhone and Android to the real estate industry.  “There is nothing that compares to having your name or company name in the App Store and Android Market”, states Brian.  “When you can give your current clients and future clients the ability to search for homes at their convenience and instantly communicate what they have found back to you, then you truly set yourself apart from other agents and brokers”.  iKenex not only offers branded mobile solutions, but they offer complete marketing packages that include mobile integrated IDX, Facebook listing syndication, and full mobile distribution websites, not to mention the soon to be released branded iPad consumer applications.  

“We have taken the complicated, expensive, and time consuming task of delivering a mobile solution to agents to give to their clients and have turned it into an easy process that can be completed in minutes”, says Brian.  “Our goal is to offer our clients the best looking, most professional, and accurate branded real estate mobile solution available on the market today.  So far we have exceeded our goal with every app that has been released”.  

About iKenex:  iKenex is the mobile real estate division of Doapp, one of the top five mobile developers in the country with over 300 apps released and some of the first apps every approved for sale by Apple.   For more information about iKenex’s mobile real estate products visit their website at www.iKenex.com, contact Brian Lonchar at [email protected] or 916-550-0239.

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Kenex offers Board, Association, Agent, and Broker branded iPhone, Android, and Smartphone applications. It is the full MLS in the palm of your hand. The application incorporates GPS, the full listing detail, including showing instructions and photos.

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November 23, 2010 - iKenex has been busy developing customized real estate apps for agents and brokers in the San Diego area.  These apps allow clients to use their "own" agents iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry apps to find their next home or check up on what is going on in their neighborhood.  "It is the ultimate in Self Promotion and Marketing", says Brian Lonchar, VP of Business Development for iKenex. "Everytime a client uses your app to search for properties you are building a deeper relationship with them.  The client has your contact information at their fingertips at all times", says Brian.  All of the apps that have been released over the past two months have received five star ratings by the users. 

 "I love my new app and so do my clients", says Rosalinda Ramirez who owns the iPhone app My San Diego Real Estate.  Agents can purchase their own iPhone app, which is branded for them in the App Store, for as little as $99 a month.  They can also purchase a sub branded app for as little as $10 a month.  San Diego Real Estate iPhone apps can be purchased by going to Sandicor's ecommerce site:  http://sandicor.iKenex.com and click on get my own app.  Check out the following recently released iPhone apps in the San Diego area:  SD Homes, San Diego Real Estate app, San Diego Real Estate Search, San Diego Homes with Style, and My San Diego Real Estate.  For more information about the products that iKenex offers contact Brian Lonchar at [email protected]

September 28, 2010 (San Diego, CA):  iKenex, one of the leaders in the mobile real estate solutions industry, has released their much anticipated Android Mobile MLS application for use by agents and brokers in the San Diego, CA area.  The app provides users with full listing detail delivered by one of the most robust GPS enabled Android applications ever released.  “Real Estate Professionals in the San Diego area can use their Android phones to instantly retrieve information on hundreds of thousands of listings throughout Southern California with the touch of a button”, states Brian Lonchar, VP of Business Development for iKenex.   Although this type of application has been available for the past year on the iPhone platform it is completely new for Android.   

    Mobile innovation is nothing new for iKenex and it’s parent company Doapp.  They have been leading the competition for years in the mobile editions of local news stations and newspapers, along with having some of the first apps ever approved by Apple for the iPhone.  

The Sandicor Mobile MLS Android app has been consistently receiving a five star rating by those agents and brokers fortunate enough to have access to it.   iKenex has several other iPhone and Android app releases for mobile real estate scheduled for October and November including a branded mobile MLS application for the iPad.  For more information about iKenex please contact Brian Lonchar:  [email protected] or 916-837-6511.

Based on an announcement released to 22,000 agents and brokers in San Diego on August 28, 2010 by Sandicor Inc., iKenex, the leader in mobile mls and mobile idx products, has made their personalized mobile IDX product available through a special Sandicor ecommerce site.  "In less than two minutes an agent or broker can have the most robust mobile solution available on the market today personalized with their picture and contact information ready for their clients to use on the streets in San Diego", says Brian Lonchar, VP of business development for iKenex.  "We are entering the San Diego market with a price point that is impossible to pass up.  All Sandicor users can get their personalized iPhone, Android, and Smartphone app for as little as $9.99 a month (Based on annual pricing)", states Brian.  iKenex is also offering a "fully branded" version of the mobile IDX that will put your name in the Apple App Store and the Android Market for as low as $99 a month.  They have been receiving rave reviews for their Sandicor branded mobile MLS for iPhone, Android, and Smartphones.  "This is the best tool for real estate agents registered with the Sandicor MLS to use in the field", writes CLinSanDiego(itunes review).  Compared to other similar products on the market, iKenex seems to be about 80% lower in cost and offer more features and better functionality.  Another iTunes reviewer stated, "Works Great! In the field testing it now and loving it" (Petrogad).

Agents and Brokers in San Diego can go to http://sandicor.iKenex.com and click on the "get your own app" button in order to purchase iKenex products including the personalized mobile IDX and full IDX.  For more information about the products please contact:  [email protected] or 916-837-6511

Facebook Video Story

Facebook announced their Facebook Places enhancement last week.  This could change the way real estate agents interact with their clients.  Being able to keep track of where your customers are and what they are looking at could really change the way business is done.

Brian Lonchar, VP of iKenex, states, "It's an interesting idea when you look at Facebook's announcement last week of Facebook Places, which lets you see where your friends are at any given moment.  (see USA Today article: http://usat.me?39759994) As this technology continues to mature it could change the way agents and buyers interact.  Agents could monitor their buyers house viewing selections and make comments in real time.  They could help coordinate a showing with the nearest 'available' agent in the area.  It could even help sellers with time management when they have to leave their home in order for it to be viewed.  The advantages of knowing where clients, vendors, and colleagues are at a given moment may eventually overcome the extreme privacy violations that are intrinsic with this type of exposure.  The exciting part, from the iKenex point of view, is our mobile MLS application is already equipped to add this type of feature, so we can react quickly to any requests for any geo-location features that are needed.  Our current iStats portal allows boards and associations, Brokers, and agents that have one of our applications to login and see exactly where the mobile app is being used utilizing a temperature map”.

Brian continue to state that, "These statistics can be extremely useful for determining trends, examining local neighborhoods for hot and cold spots, and using as a tool to pickup on subtle nuances of the market.  Again, this would need to be used in conjunction with other useful statistics and trending applications to form a complete picture of a particular market".

As this technology continues to be explored we can expect more applications to be released that can help agents and brokers in ways that haven't been thought of yet.  IntuMobile will keep you updated on how this story continues to evolve.

Editor: Brian Lonchar is VP of Business Developmentfor iKenex, the ultimate real estate solution.  They specialize inmobile MLS and mobile IDX applications that are branded to each boardor association.  These applications put the entire MLS in the palm ofevery members hands.  These applications can also be personalized tomeet the needs of those agents or brokers that would like their ownmobile application.  Brian can be reached at:  [email protected] or916-837-6511

INMAN NEWS ARTICLE: August 26, 2010  by Andrea Brambila

A real estate 'killer app' wish list Survey respondents want better mobile MLS, CRM tools

August 26, 2010 - reprinted from CCIreports.com

Editor's note: This is the final article in a series detailing the results of an Inman News survey on real estate professionals' use of smart phones and mobile applications. Part 1 focused on the popularity of smart phones and their features among different industry groups. Part 2 focused on the mobile apps respondents use the most, as well as how they use them and which they would recommend; and this article, Part 3, examines the feasibility of respondents' ideas for a "killer app" they would like to use in their business.

If real estate professionals could design their own version of a "killer app" to help them do business, that app would grant them at least one wish: full access to the local multiple listing service, said several respondents to an Inman News smart phone and mobile technology survey.  In recent years, mobile technologies have exploded in an array of smartphones and thousands of apps. An Inman News smart phone and mobile technology survey, which ran from July 28, 2010 through Aug. 6, 2010, and garnered responses from 313 real estate professionals and technologists, explored the impact of this mobile revolution on theirindustry. The average number of responses per question was 247.  The survey posed the question, "If you could design a mobile app to assist your work, what function would it serve?"  That question was answered by 158 respondents. Ninety of them (57 percent)identified themselves as real estate agents or salespeople; 33 as brokers or brokerage executives (20.9 percent); 19 identified themselves as working for real estate technology companies, vendors, trade groups and MLSs (12.3 percent); 14 identified themselves as "others," including mortgage and title professionals (8.9 percent); and 2 respondents did not identify themselves.

The three main groupings of respondents will be referred to as "agents," "brokers" and "technologists" -- the latter group includes employees for tech companies, vendors, trade groups and MLSs -- throughout the report.  The desired functions focused mostly on enhancing productivity. A few respondents joked that the killer app would perform miraculous tasks, such as: "to wash my car, and take out the garbage," "floss my teeth,""to clone myself," and "it would freeze time!"  More seriously, about a quarter of agent respondents said they desired a mobile app with MLS functionality, with specific responses such as "online MLS" or "full" or "better" access to their MLS. That compares to about 15 percent of broker and technologist respondents. Overall, 20 percent of respondents asked for this function -- a far larger percentage than any other function mentioned.

That result echoes an earlier survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors' Center for Realtor Technology in January, which found that, among the applications Realtors are looking for but can't find, many respondents indicated a desire to have their MLS offer a smart phone app.

In that survey, 57 percent of respondents were able to access their MLS system through a Web browser; whether that meant access through a mobile site specifically designed for smart phones was unclear. Some -- 16 percent-- had access to their MLS through a specially created mobile app.

Others said they were not interested in accessing MLS listings from their smart phone: 11 percent. That same percentage said their MLS did not allow access to listing via a smart phone. Of those, 94 percent said they were "very interested" in accessing listings through their smartphone, the survey report said.  Though by no means a universal subscriber benefit, some MLSs that are providing mobile access, either through apps or mobile websites.  According to the NAR survey, Realtors' satisfaction with these offerings is mixed, however. Overall satisfaction of those who did have MLS access via their smart phone was 3.17 on a five-point scale. The results were similar in other areas:3.21 for readability; 3.12 for ease of use; 3.08 for query options forlistings; and 3.23 in the amount of data displayed.

In the Inman News survey, some users specified what they wanted in their MLS app: the ability to see all listing information, sales info for comparable properties; showing instructions and agent information; and the ability to upload listings and search for properties by location.

Real estate's mobile app wish list: Top 4

1. Mobile tools for accessing MLS/searching for properties.

2. Customer relationship management tools.

3. Electronic document management/signature.

4. Task management/scheduling.

Source: Inman News smart phone/mobile tech survey.

One agent said, "It would track buyers, the MLS numbers we visit, and upload automatically to my e-mail." Another respondent seeks an app with "notification of new listings/price changes for watched properties near listings or for buyers." Some simply said they wanted something that was easier to use or offered more up-to-date listing information.  Still others asked for integration of their MLS with features available inother apps, including consumer real estate apps, such as automaticrouting of multiple homes while driving; the ability to bookmark houses; and the ability to save, file, sign and send PDFs and other documents.  One respondent mentioned he or she would want the MLS app to be integrated with another popular desired app function: a customer relationship management (CRM) system.  "I desperately need a cross-platform CRM that would work with BlackBerry, iPad,Windows -- the Holy Grail. (There's) too much proprietary stuff outthere," said one agent.  In addition to MLS integration, some said they would want CRM integration with e-mail and social media marketing platforms.  Other desired features, not necessarily integrated with a mobile MLS, included listings information that would show up on an augmented reality layer when the smart phone's camera was pointed at a property;voice-activation; text-to-voice dictation; comps for "short sales, and REOs (bank-owned properties) analyzed separately from the non-distressed market"; "a to-do list and lead list that could simultaneously be seen and used by myself and several other staff and agents"; and an app that "allows me to put in the contract date andspit out all of the contractual deliverables as tasks/calendar reminders."

Many of these features are feasible or already available as individual apps, but the integration of multiple features to make one "killer app" has several barriers, according to mobile applications company iKenex. The company has built agent-facing andconsumer-facing mobile apps for San Diego-area Sandicor MLS.  The first barrier is technological, the company said. There are multiple smart phone devices available and each one has its own requirements.  The age of the phone is also a factor, as older phones can have more limited capabilities. There is also the problem of screen size.  "A mobile device has limited (screen) 'real estate,' so the barrier is how good a user interface designer you have," said Brian Lonchar, vice president of iKenex. "(Having a lot of features) can become useless because it's so tedious to do everything."  Dave Borrillo, chief technical officer of iKenex parent company, DoApp, said, "The integration piece is technologically feasible, but doing it correctly, so that it's really helping the agent help their clients solve their problems," is key.  The Sandicor mobile MLS app has many of the same features available on the desktop version of the MLS, and others that take advantage of the mobile platform -- however, not every desktop feature needs to be available on a smart phone, Lonchar said.  "Honestly, would I really add a listing in my car?" Lonchar said. "But I would take photos and videos to add to listings in my system.  Do I really need every feature mimicked in the field or to enhance what I do in the office?"  A similar barrier is data consistency. Some respondents asked for access to public information or the integration of their MLS with property tax records. The technological/design problem with those requests is that property tax information is kept in a myriad of formats across the country.  Another barrier is dealing with proprietary information.  An app to integrate an MLS and a CRM, for example, is feasible, but would require the cooperation of the respective organizations, iKenex said.  "The proprietary nature of MLS data could end up restricting access. We will always have apps like Trulia and Zillow.  Agents can't really utilize those for their business -- they can't show showing instructions, commissions, things like that. The only way to get that data is to get it from the MLS company," Lonchar said.  In that same vein, even though house hunters may cross several MLS boundaries in their home search in a single day, an agent cannot offer a client a non-third-party, location-aware app that is not specifically tied to their one MLS, he said.  "We'll have to see if that opens up. If we can somehowfigure out how to get these feeds (from multiple MLSs), (developers) can combine them so consumers could do what they need to do and agents could be more effective as well," he added. However, "as this continues to grow, I don't see (MLS protectionism) going away," he said.

One survey respondent hinted at what may usher in a new wave of mobile innovation: "Mapping in conjunction with my contact manager. That way Icould be alerted that I was near a prospect, past client, etc., who Icould then contact in person."  That kind of geo-location feature is even closer to reality with the launch of Facebook Places, according to Lonchar. Facebook Places is a location-based service thatallows you to see where your friends are at any given moment, and there are other mobile tools, too, with location-aware features.  "As this technology continues to mature it could change the way agents and buyers interact. Agents could monitor their buyers' house-viewing selections and make comments in real time. They could help coordinate a showing with the nearest 'available' agent in the area. It could even help sellers with time management when they have to leave their home in order for it to be viewed," he said.

Clients who use iKenex consumer apps' already have the option to share their current location with their agent, and the company is looking to expand this functionality by letting clients share not only where they are, but the notes they've made on homes and the pictures they've taken in real time.

"I think (Facebook Places) could be a game-changer. I don't think what that technology could do for the real estate industry has really sunk in to the real estate industry yet," Lonchar said. "I think it will explode: how to utilize geo-location services to improve customer service."

                                 Contact Andrea V. Brambila: 

Ten years ago websites were to companies what mobile apps are starting to be today.  More and more companies are realizing the power of the branded mobile app.  I know that in my personal life I have almost switched entirely to a mobile based platform for keeping track of what is going on.  I have my eBay app to keep track of anything I'm buying or selling.  I have my USA today app and New York Times app to read when I have a minute here or there.  I have my local news app to keep track of real time local news.  Of course, Facebook, Pandora, and Fandango (for that afternoon outside business meeting).  These apps are not really a big surprise, but something new is also happening with mobile apps.  They are becoming personal and localized.  Imagine being able to go to one website and enter the required information and within a matter of days have your own app.  That's right.... Your very own mobile app.  Watch the video below:

Companies like Doapp are doing this for Newspapers, News stations, and through their iKenex product line they are offering personalized mobile apps for real estate professionals.  Doapp is starting to slowly offer this service to any company that wants a personalized and branded mobile application.  For the price of a setup fee and nominal subscription fee you can have your very own app that is populated with your information.  This is an obvious choice for small companies and local businesses that are looking for an affordable way into the mobile app arena.  Are you really into radio controlled airplanes?  Well, there could be an app that connects you to your local R/C club sponsored by the local R/C store.  You can run this scenario for any business that you can think of.  Mobile apps are the most efficient way to distribute meaningful content based on location, interests, or needs.  So far, Doapp is living up to their slogan, "We Do Cool Stuff". 

Brian Lonchar is VP of Business Development for iKenex, the ultimate real estate solution.  They specialize in mobile MLS and mobile IDX applications that are branded to each board or association.  These applications put the entire MLS in the palm of every members hands.  These applications can also be personalized to meet the needs of those agents or brokers that would like their own mobile application.  Brian can be reached at:  [email protected] or 916-837-6511