We live in an emoji world. Instead of words, we often use cheerful icons like hearts and smileys to get our meaning across.
It’s no surprise then that real estate apps are using these emoji-like icons. The feature of favoriting or saving on real estate apps is especially useful for connecting with users. In particular, favoriting is convenient for users and lets them make quicker decisions regarding their future home.
As 76% of buyers found their home on a mobile device, it’s especially key to get your real estate app right. We believe the favoriting tool is a star element of real estate apps. Let’s look at the benefits of having one and some top examples.
The benefits of favoriting on real estate apps
So what’s the big deal with favoriting? There are a handful of benefits of the favoriting feature that can inform real estate companies. In particular, the simple action of tapping a heart or a star can be highly useful to:
- Improve customer experience: First and foremost, being able to save your properties is a plus for the user experience. Instead of getting lost in the listings, customers can go back and review their favorites.
- Leverage data: The data of what properties users are favoriting is also incredibly informative for real estate companies. Knowing the trending properties and those that users are still thinking about can help companies with their marketing and customer service areas.
- Amplify marketing efforts: With the heart/star data, companies can also start to selectively market certain properties. By scheduling user notifications about properties, messaging about property availability and promos for contacting realtors, you can boost your marketing efforts.
- Organize realtor resources: The favoriting feature can also inform how to allocate resources within the company. If a property is being starred often, realtors may organize a virtual tour or do key reach-out via contact forms to close the deal.
3 examples of top favoriting tools
The favoriting tool has several different looks, from hearts, stars and other modes. Here’s three of our favorites when it comes to favoriting:
Trulia’s heart icon is a classic among real estate apps. It’s easy to find in the corner and actionable with just a tap. Easy and straightforward.
StreetEasy is one of the few apps with a star button. We like its large size on the screen and the way it blends in with the app design.
Finally, the Realestate.com.au site goes the extra mile. Instead of just hearts and stars, they have an entire “Collections” section on their app. Here users can create collections of properties that they saved or loved, and track information and contacts. This favoriting suite is ideal – we heart it!
Final takeaway
A favoriting tool may seem like a simple app feature. Yet, it can be the springboard for actionable marketing and realtor resource allocation. Don’t skip the favoriting icon. It could make the star-shaped difference to add value to your real estate app.
Not sure how to implement favoriting? Contact our Onsharp team for a consultation.
