Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Members Lead the Way with Adoption of New Technology

CHICAGO – (1/24/11) – A recent survey of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® and Luxury Portfolio International™ member firms indicated that many are using Quick Response (QR) codes to promote their businesses and home listings. Mirroring this trend, Luxury Portfolio International™, the luxury face of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE), recently introduced QR codes in its full-page advertisements in The Wall Street Journal European edition, incorporating a code to drive consumers to a video describing Luxury Portfolio. QR Codes are a type of barcode used on print ads and signage that transmit text and information to users through their mobile devices.

Among the firms using the technology is Halstead Property, which was the first residential real estate firm in the New York metropolitan area to utilize QR Codes. “We took the QR Codes a step further and branded them as H-Tags, with our logo incorporated into the code. Halstead has been incredibly pleased with the results of the H-Tags and the response from consumers. While it is a new technology to some, people are always looking for the most effective tool when looking at real estate, and H-Tags have become one of the best solutions for getting information instantaneously,” said Diane M. Ramirez, president of Halstead Property (NY, NJ, CT).

Ebby Halliday Realtors (TX) VP, Director of Marketing Randall Graham describes the company’s use of the technology: “When scanned with a Smartphone Tag Reader, the tag immediately delivers a full photo gallery, property details including room dimensions, current price, school information and direct access to the listing associate via phone or email.”

MaryLou Buckley, director Business Development, broker associate at Coco, Early & Associates (MA) has been inspired by the effectiveness of this selling tool. “We added QR Codes to all of our luxury properties in our print advertising,” says Buckley. “Each property has its own video tour, and the QR Code takes the consumer directly to the tour. We have seen a marked increased in the number of inquiries on all of our luxury properties, including several offers on our listings.”

Other companies have incorporated this brand-building program in their company materials, including William Raveis Real Estate (CT). Steven Csejka, vice president, Marketing, notes, “Some of our agents use QR Codes on their business cards as a fast way of conveying contact information.”

Michael Duffy, Realtor of Duffy Real Estate (PA), cites another use: “We are planning to put the codes on our ‘Just Listed’ and ‘Just Sold’ cards that we mail to surrounding neighborhoods.”

Chrissy Smith, marketing director of Peabody Smith Realty (NH), measures the success of the codes with BarCoderealty.com, noting, “They have a web product for real estate that allows us to track the codes. It also handles our mobile site, and we can embed our logo in the QR Code, which is very helpful.”

Csejka agrees this method produces results, adding, “QR Codes are a more useful as a way of enhancing print advertising and adding a new dimension. Education of the public is definitely part of the process at this point.”

While the use of QR Codes is just beginning to take off in the real estate industry, its potential is noteworthy, as consumers become more and more familiar with mobile applications, and businesses embrace this technology as a way to provide consumers with the information they are seeking.

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About Luxury Portfolio International™
Luxury Portfolio International™ (http://www.luxuryportfolio.com) is the luxury face of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (www.leadingre.com), the largest global network of premier locally branded companies dominated by many of the world's most powerful independent luxury brokerages. Luxury Portfolio’s award-winning website was launched in 2005 and in its first year featured more $1 million-plus residences than other luxury real estate organizations and has grown to over 15,000 of the world's most remarkable homes and attracts over 1.2 million high-net-worth visitors a year.

About Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®
Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) is the largest network of top independent local and regional brand-name brokerage firms in the residential sector of real estate. The 600 firms affiliated with Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE) are represented by 5,000 offices and 150,000 associates in more than 30 countries worldwide. The organization's leadership is demonstrated by the fact that its affiliates comprise six of the top 10 real estate companies in the country. Collectively, LeadingRE affiliates produced nearly 1 million home sales valued at $250 billion in the U.S. in 2009. In addition, LeadingRE affiliates hold the Number One position in terms of sales or volume in more of the top markets than any other organization. Visit them at http://www.leadingre.com.

Leading Real Estate Companies of the World
161 N. Clark Street, Suite 1250
Chicago, IL 60601

Contact: Kimberly Ecker / Luxury Portfolio International™ / 312.424.0400 x158/ kecker@LeadingRE.com

This release was published on openPR.