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Sub-tropical science fiction? No. The latest advance in Lowcountry real estate? Yes. At least one palmetto tree in Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island has a bar code, which is readable by smartphones such as Android, iPhone and BlackBerry. The small white sticker with a dark green bar code was placed on the tree in November by agents from Carolina Realty Group because the home is for sale in a community that doesn't permit yard signs. Using the phone's camera function, a smartphone user can scan the bar code and go directly to the home's website. There, interested buyers can find out more about the home, take a video tour, see photos of the interior and e-mail the listing agent.
Quick Response codes - called QR codes - are a new marketing tool also being used by Target, Best Buy, US Airways and other businesses banking on the growing number of smartphone users. Originally developed by a Toyota subsidiary to track car parts, QR code generators and readers are available for free download from a variety of vendors.
SAVING TIME, CUTTING WASTE In the real estate industry, QR codes are showing up on lockboxes, yard signs, mailboxes and in print advertising. Chris Haro, marketing director for Carolina Realty Group, said the information prospective buyers have access to after scanning a QR code "would fill pages and pages of printed material."
He said adding QR codes to the agency's marketing materials required minimal monetary investment but a substantial investment in "time and laminating."
Saving paper, ink and printing costs sounds good to buyers, sellers and agents who are concerned about the environment. Many younger people in particular prefer a paperless way to access complete listing details and the latest pricing information.
"Instead of a paper flyer, this is a digital form of the flyer," said Brett Lance, a Carolina Realty Group agent. "The technology's there, so let's use it to be greener."
Agents who use QR codes say local enforcers of residential codes so far haven't interpreted the stickers as signs or an infraction of town or community rules.
Jean Beck, executive director of the Hilton Head Area Association of Realtors, said the organization held a training seminar about smartphones in December. About 90 local Realtors attended the class led by Atlanta- based mobile technology expert William James, she said. The association probably will offer other classes about QR codes in the future "as needed," Beck said, adding that she thinks the codes represent a significant development in real estate marketing.
QR codes are part of the services that agents from Prud'homme & Associates on Hilton Head Island offer to their sellers. All properties get QR codes, regardless of their list price, Dan Prud'homme said, adding that smartphone users can save the QR codes they scan to use later.
In addition to upping a listing's "cool factor," the codes are trackable so they serve as a report card for a diversified marketing plan, identifying channels that offer the best results.
"I believe by the end of the year everyone is going to know what a QR code is," Prud'homme said.
THE NEED FOR REALTORS But by the time QR codes are widespread, they might be obsolete.
Realtor Bob Clarkson, a real estate industry consultant and president of The Alliance Group Realty on Hilton Head Island, believes the codes are an intermediate step.
Technology already exists to allow smartphone users to drive down any street and learn which houses are for sale. By interfacing with GPS systems, prospective buyers with smartphones will be able to find out information about homes on the market, including how much neighboring properties sold for and when. But the technology isn't cost effective yet, Clarkson said.
Despite the rapid development of technology for real estate shopping that is easy to use, buyers and sellers will always need Realtors, Clarkson said.
"The real estate business will continue to be a personal relationship business, but agents who embrace new technology and social networking will increasingly capture prospective buyers coming in from the outside - people without a personal relationship with a local Realtor," he said. Agents who build strong personal relationships and embrace technology will emerge as market leaders, he said.
GET STARTED WITH QR CODES
At www.stickerscan.com, weatherproof QR code stickers for 10 listings and one vehicle are available for $20. Download a QR Code Reader for your smartphone at www.scanlife. com or www.beetagg.com.
SMARTPHONE INVASION
1 out of every 4 cell phones in the United States is a smartphone. Smartphones are expected to assume the majority of the U.S. cell phone market by the end of 2011.
Quarterly smartphone sales have increased more than 50 percent from the second quarter of 2009 through the second quarter of 2010.
Smartphone sales are expected to exceed personal computers by 2012.
