NEW YORK—A city that never sleeps also never stops selling. When night falls, every shop in Manhattan glows with ritzy displays of merchandise. So in a city so vibrant and with such a pervasive interest in real estate, it almost seems anachronistic that when realty offices close at the end of each day, so too do their window displays. To address this gap, Live Open House (LOH) has created a touch screen for real estate offices, so that their properties can shine at all hours.
Using the touch screen, passersby can touch and interact with the window of their neighborhood broker, even if they are just curious and not in the market to buy or rent. The screen, dubbed LOH Vision, allows users to view videos and photos of properties, agent profiles, interactive maps, and real-time industry news. They can also perform comprehensive property searches and connect with the company via Facebook and Twitter.
“New York City has a heavily hyperlocal real estate market, which focuses on specific neighborhoods and streets,” said Vernon Jones, the screen’s co-creator. “LOH Vision creates personal communication channels between the regional residents and the broker, resulting in organic leads.”
It increases awareness of the real estate in the user’s immediate neighborhood, and brings new dimension to city life by featuring local businesses and attractions.
“LOH Vision will increase consumer confidence and efficiency in the home search process, which we believe leads to trust and long-term relationships,” says Reale Rose, co-creator of LOH Vision. Rose, along with Jones, began the project 18 months ago. Now, the screen is ready to be adopted by realtors, and LoHo Realty has become the touch screen’s first official user.
LoHo president Jacob Goldman and LOH celebrated the launch with hundreds of guests at a recent party.
“We heard about LOH, because Vernon and his partner have a great reputation in the industry,” Goldman said. “Touch screens are the way to go—we are living in the iPhone/iPad/smartphone era and that is how we are going to help sell real estate.” For Goldman and other brokers who might adopt the technology, he can track all of the client activity through the full suite of detailed analytic software.
Ryan Serhant of Nest Seekers International, who is on the TV show “Million Dollar Listing,” has also placed orders for the system; Bond New York is trying out the system in their Chelsea office; and LOH is also in talks with Brooklyn Bridge Realty.
Several guests who were present at the launch expressed interest in the system.
“I think it could be very useful for helping clients differentiate between firms, but overall I would like to understand more of the functionality of the product and how useful it would be to potential clients,” said Brandon Jones, a broker with Prudential.
Maurice Garvin, a RE/MAX broker in North Carolina, said that the screen would be best in areas of high foot traffic.
“I think it has great potential in big cities like New York and Charlotte,” he said. “I’m from a suburb outside of Charlotte, so where I am it wouldn’t be useful because we don’t get any foot traffic. But in Charlotte, I can see how it would be really useful. Especially after an office closes, it is always running so people and potential clients who walk by can use it freely anytime they wish, so that is a really nice feature about having it in windows.”
For more information about LOH Vision, visit http://www.realestatewindow.com/
With reporting by Benjamin Chasteen
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