Searching for a new home, either to buy or rent, is a time-consuming task and desirable properties are not on the market for long. When people are at work they have limited time to search for their dream home and property sites like Globrix or Rightmove are not always up to date.
It is hardly surprising then, that estate agents are increasingly using SMS as a means of alerting prospective buyers about available properties. SMS alerts are focussed and to the point because they are based on the buyer’s criteria, such as price range, location, number of bedrooms and so forth.
Unlike email, people do tend to read their text messages as soon as they receive them. Rather than be disappointed by missed opportunities, potential buyers can request further information or arrange a viewing as soon as a property goes on the market.
Keywords and shortcodes
Estate agents are also increasingly adding text short codes to their promotional material because SMS is an easy way of building up marketing databases. Mobile phones are very personal, so by asking the right questions it is possible to build up a detailed profile for each contact, and marketing campaigns can be extremely targeted as a result.
Appointment reminders
Not only are SMS alerts beneficial to perspective buyers, they can be invaluable to agents responsible for accompanied viewings. There is nothing more frustrating than turning up for a viewing only to find that the potential buyers have failed to turn up.
Many people simply forget they have arranged a viewing, especially if they have had a busy day, so scheduling an SMS reminder can benefit all parties. Potential buyers can rearrange or indeed cancel if they are no longer interested and estate agents can manage their time more efficiently.
Progress updates
Even when a property is under offer or has been sold there are still important deadlines to meet – deposit transfers, valuations, finance approval and so forth. SMS provides estate agents with an efficient and cost-effective way of keeping all parties updated as the sale progresses.
Rent reminders
SMS alerts are also useful to letting agencies. Not only is SMS an easy way of alerting tenants of available properties, it is also a great way of reminding them that their rent is due or that they are in arrears.
People are often embarrassed when they are late with payments. By incorporating a web-link, keyword or a phone number into the body of the message, tenants can make a call, visit the website or request to receive a call in order settle their debt anonymously.
All of the above services can be carried out quickly and easily using our email to SMS service. Our clients use it because:
- SMS messages can be sent and received via normal email packages
- No special formatting is needed
- Replies and delivery reports included FOC
- Signatures and disclaimers are removed automatically
- Long and short messages can be sent
In addition there are no setup costs and no monthly maintenance fees. You are only billed for the messages sent, which is a flat rate to any network worldwide.
Email to SMS also allows busy estate agents or housing officers to manage all their communications from a centralised point and they only receive replies intended for them.
Click here to find out more about how email to SMS could benefit your organisation.