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Steven Cross
Prospective buyers will gain quick access to online-based inspections by 'tapping' a property signboard with their smartphone, thanks to a new innovation introduced by a Sydney-based real estate group.
The innovation, introduced to the real estate industry by Starr Partners, utilises Near Field Communication (NFC) - or ‘tap it’ - technology.
Douglas Driscoll, CEO of Starr Partners, expects the innovation, which is easier to use than QR codes, to transform property sales.
“In my opinion, NFC represents the future of delivering information to real estate consumers and will be commonplace within a few years,” he said.
When a consumer waves a smartphone at an NFC-enabled for sale board, it will instantaneously take them to the relevant Starr Partners' created web page, providing the all-access interior view.
“NFC property viewing makes the once time consuming task of coordinating a first property viewing with an agent redundant," Mr Driscoll said. "It’s so convenient and quick, that anyone with a new smartphone can take a virtual tour. In effect, every NFC enabled for sale board makes that home an open house”.
With the technology developed in Australia, Starr Partners claims to be the very first real estate agency in the world to employ NFC and amongst the first businesses, in any field, to embrace it.
NFC is seen as the natural successor to QR codes, which require an app to enable user access. NFC works via inbuilt smartphone scanning capabilities, making this technology more readily available for spontaneous use, the company said.
The technology works using radio-frequency identification. The antenna (passive tag) emits a frequency to the smartphone (active tag), transmitting information such as a URL. The information is then displayed immediately on the users screen.
Star Partners has also been announced as finalists in the innovation category at the upcoming Real Estate Institute of NSW (REINSW) awards.
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