Does your QR code solution have an app?

Want to improve your real estate branding with QR codes for real estate?


Make sure that the company you get your QR codes from has an app associated with it.  Apps are hot right now and you want a QR code company that has their own scanning app, that way your potential customers have the most state of the art, up to date, cutting edge technology on the market!

Apps offer functionality that is simply not available in the mobile phones web browser.  When looking to use QR codes with your real estate signs, be sure to look at price & app.


You need to know if there are any hidden fee's and that the company has the ability to tend to your needs for a long time.


http://upcqr.com

Dive in to Reusable QR Codes for Real Estate

You've seen them around.
You've seen them at conventions.
You've downloaded a free QR code scanning app or two (If you haven't shame on you, download our free QR code scanning app by searching "Universal Property Code").
You've scanned a code at least once to see what they are all about.
Now its time to get started using UPC's reusable qr codes for real estate!

Reusable QR codes by UPC, LLC

Here is a list of the things you will need to get started
±10 minutes (it is quick to get up and running)
A Credit Card (The cost is $1 per code)
Your properties information
An Internet connection (which you have if you are reading this!)


If you run into any problems during your account creation just give us a call, we are here to help 480-626-4566.

Step 1 Registration:

Navigate to http://universalpropertycode.com and click register in the upper right corner.

You will be asked to enter in your name, company name, website etc.  This information can always be changed later so here are the most important parts of the registration:

• Enter in your cell phone number so that you can receive texts from potential customers
• Include the http:// in your website so that users will be able to link to your site

You will be asked to upload your agent photo along with your company logo:

• Upload square photos (same height and width) for best results
• You are able to change these later so don't worry about skipping to the next step

Next you will be asked to agree with our terms of service (dang lawyers) and enter in a captcha code to ensure that you are not a computer.

When you click to continue, a message will pop up saying that you need to verify your email address.  Open up your email inbox and find the email from registration@universalpropertycode.com.  It comes instantly so if you do not see it, your firewall may be blocking it as bulk/spam.  

Once you have verified your email address go to http://universalpropertycode.com and log in.

Step 2 Entering Property Information:

You begin by entering in information for one of your listings.  If you just want to link to a URL skip the next three paragraphs.

You may enter in as much or as little information that you want.  The required fields are Price and Address.  You may enter in an MLS number for realtor reference but this will not import the data. 

The description field has a maximum of 800 characters (MLS standard) so it is best to cut and paste this description from your MLS.

When you have entered in all the fields that you want to, select the "save and continue" button.  This will take you to step 2 where you can email yourself the codes.  

You can select to either send yourself the code art by itself, or on ready made rider art that includes some steps for the potential scanners.  You can resend the codes to yourself at anytime by logging in, clicking on the "my properties" tab, selecting the link on the left that says send me my code.  Like the verification email these codes will be sent to you immediately once you have an active paid account.

Select continue and you will be taken to the Activate and Pay page.  This is the page where you enter in your credit card information.  All payments are made securely with encryption and third party payment handling.  

DONE

Now you are up and running with the latest and greatest QR code technology!  Print your code on a durable material and let the public scan to their hearts content. You've done it, you've created a reusable QR code that you will never have to replace again.

Go ahead and pat yourself on the back.

Reusable QR Codes - Best Practices with QR Codes and Real Estate

So you are thinking about getting started with QR codes on your real estate signs.   Awesome, you are ahead of the curve.  This post will talk about best practices when using QR codes for real estate.

First and foremost we need to decide where we want to put these QR codes.  There are a few common places, and others that you may think of.  Be creative and put them where you think they will benefit you the most.

Places to put your QR codes
-On your RE sign in front of the house
-On your business card
-On your property flyer in front of a house
-On your property flyer not in front of a house (at a different open house, at your office, etc.)
-In a newspaper ad


For each of the possibilities above, and for others not listed, you need to put yourself in the shoes of a would be scanner to think of what you would want when you scan the code.


For this post we are going to focus on a QR code for your real estate sign.


Lets put ourselves in the shoes of someone that may scan our QR code on our real estate sign.  They are already in front of the house.  They already have a mild interest or they wouldn't be standing in front of your sign thinking about scanning your QR code.  What do they need, and what do they want?


Should I put instructions on how to download an app to scan the QR code?


QR codes are becoming quite popular (especially in the RE industry), but they are still new.  Many people have never seen one of these codes before.  You may be as detailed or ambiguous in your instructions on how to scan the code. 


Some agents do not put any instructions, just the code.  Others put some steps to scan the code. We suggest, at this point (April 2011), to put some instructions and call to action on what to do.  Tell them to scan the code and give them a few steps.  Once the QR code market is very active then you will not need to put any instructions.


I want to have instructions, what should I put?


We have found that if you are going to put any instructions on your sign, then you need to be detailed and specific.  Here are two examples of instructions, which do you like?


-Download a free scanner on your phone and scan the code!


-Search in your app store (iPhone) / market place (Android) for "Universal Property Code" and tap to download the free scanning app.  Once installed open the application and it will open your camera on your phone.  Aim your camera at the QR code and it will automatically scan the code and display this properties information!

If a potential buyer has actually taken the time to stop in front of your listing and download an app to scan your code, tell them what to look for.  There is nothing more disappointing then having them search for "real estate code scanner" and not figuring out what to download.  Pick your favorite free scanner and have them download it!  Universal Property Code is a free scanning app that will automatically capture the code and link them to any website without them having to look at ads or click a bunch of buttons.


Yes, they scanned my code, what should I show them?


Your potential buyer has stopped in front of your sign...pulled out their phone...downloaded and opened their scanning app...scanned your code... and now you need to reward them.  


What do they want?  
They don't want to go to a Realtors website & dig through to get more info.
They don't want to only get a Realtors contact info.
They don't want to have to sign up on a website to get more info.
They don't want to call to get more info.
They don't want to text to get more info.
They don't want to see a tiny website that's not optimized for their mobile device.


They want more information about the house in front of them.  They want the price.  They want the bed/baths and square footage.  They want to see pictures.  They want to send info about the house to a friend/spouse.  They want all this information, and they want it right away.


Give it to them. Give them what they want.  Display the properties information on a mobile enabled web page or use a system like http://universalpropertycode.com that has all of the features built in.  Above all else, make sure that if you were the one scanning the code, you would be satisfied with what you got when you scanned the code.








http://universalpropertycode.com has created an easy to use QR system for real estate.  They will provide reusable QR codes (once you sell a house just move your sign to the next listing) for $1 per code per month. To waive the sign up fee and receive half off for 4 months enter the coupon code BLOGGER (all caps) at checkout.

Reusable QR Codes - Is QR code awareness a bunch of bull?

I was reading this morning about a recent survey of smart phone users done by MGH.  They were surveying to find out the awareness of QR codes and why people would most like to use them.  In the survey most people were likely to scan a QR code to get a discount or coupon of some sort.

I think people want to scan one to get more information and see what the code does.  Some take you to amazing videos while others take you to websites, and still others pull content from the cloud right to your phone.  It feels a bit like a game.  Each person has this "decoder" in their pocket that turns these funky looking black squares instantly into fantastic digital content.

Is it only some game that we are all playing?  Is this just a fad that will be gone in a few years?

I don't think so.  I think many of the nonsensical QR codes that are for fun will fade out.  The useful QR codes will remain until something can get us instant gratification faster than scanning the codes.  The codes on Home Depots flowers that tell you how much sunlight to give to the plants will remain.  The Atlantis hotel code that takes you to a video showing their amazing resort will remain.  The codes on real estate signs that give you all of the homes information on the spot will remain.

http://universalpropertycode.com  reusable QR codes.

QR Code Real Estate - We just launched the Reusable QR code!

We are incredibly pleased to announce that UPC has just launched our reusable QR code.  This is a game changer.  QR codes, to date, have been created by a user entering in a URL.  If you want your QR code to go to google then you would enter in http://google.com/ and a QR code generator would create the corresponding code that points a user to google.

Reusable QR code - Currently pointing to twitter.com

http://universalpropertycode.com/ now offers a completely new type of QR code!  A user logs into our system and they can change the URL that the QR points to at any time.  It can point to google for 1 minute, then a user can change it to point to http://yahoo.com/.

Never throw away a QR code again!

A hypothetical:  Lets say you are Levis Jeans and you put up a big QR code in Times Square that points to a video starring an actor.  That actor suddenly gets a DUI and Levis wants to drop him immediately. Rather than changing the video on the web or physically taking down the sign, with UPC you can now have the QR code navigate to Levis website immediately without changing the code itself.

UPC was designed for real estate agents and is an incredible way to display real estate information inside our free app.  Rather than navigating users to a URL we pull the data into the app.  It is some pretty advanced stuff we have been working on.  In our quest to improve our customers product we created a reusable QR code that goes to any URL. 

Click on the YouTube video below to see our reusable QR codes in action.




Our Robust QR Codes can
-navigate a person scanning to a URL on their browser
-display property information inside our app including photos, price, maps, texting, calling the agent
-display property information and include links to website or any URL to a video etc.


Check us out on the web http://universalpropertycode.com/