Randall_Agee
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Real estate Web sites use smart-phone technology
May 14, 2009
NORMAN – A group of Norman businessmen will launch a Web-based business this month that will allow users to peruse residential rentals.
RentOK.com is the latest Oklahoma real estate business to post its listings online and on Internet-equipped handheld phones.
The company will compete with national sites like Rent.com and Rentals.com that also allow landlords to reach potential tenants online.
Randall Agee, a partner in RentOK, has been a Web designer and programmer for the University of Oklahoma Foundation since 2003. He now works for the foundation part time as a consultant and is working to launch the real estate site and a free search tool from Apple Inc.’s App Store for the iPhone.
Agee plans to offer the service statewide from his Norman office.
“There wasn’t a good local player for this type of Web site,” he said. “I decided to build a Web site for strictly rental properties.”
The service is free for people searching for a property. Landlords and owners can post their properties for $10 per month for a basic listing and $35 per month for a more prominently displayed featured listing.
“We’ll market the premium properties a little bit more,” Agee said. “We’ll stick them on craigslist and other networking Web sites.”
Rent.com, an eBay company, offers free listings and landlords are charged $15 for every new renter who contacts them. Rentals.com offers listings from $49 to $99 for 30 days.
RentOK will also generate income by offering ZIP code-specific advertising. Ads are $20 per month and each ZIP code will be limited to 10 ads.
But Agee is banking on people using their iPhones. With the iPhone’s Global Positioning System, users can enter their location and nearby properties listed with RentOK will appear.
In February, Tulsa-based Coldwell Banker Select launched a service that provides property information on homes for sale with MLS search capability from smart phones. Potential homebuyers can drive around Oklahoma City or Tulsa and use the CB site to view descriptions and photos of homes on the market.
Since its launch, Bryan Sheppard, chief operating officer of the CB office, said the Oklahoma City site is generating about 300 individual property views each day.
“This is fantastic for us just having launched it,” Sheppard said.
The CB site allows people to view every available listing in the MLS and then links them back to a CB agent.
Sheppard said he has received positive feedback when people find they can drive around and view any home that is for sale on their handheld device.
“Once somebody tries it, they’re hooked,” he said.
As smart phones become more widely used, Sheppard said more homebuyers will use them as a tool.
Andy Morgan, spokesman for AT&T Oklahoma, said the company’s smart-phone business, which includes the iPhone, has doubled in the past year.
“Almost a third of all phones we sell are smart-phone devices,” Morgan said.
Agee said when the site is launched he expects to have about 150 properties featured. As the site develops he will add features for apartment complexes and individual rooms that people have for lease.
“We’ll put anything on there that’s rentable,” Agee said.
Copyright © 2009 The Journal Record All Rights Reserved
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