With rising foreclosure and REO numbers contributing to more than 4 million real estate listings online and an increasing number of Web-enabled cell phones in use, the way that potential home buyers research properties calls for a new type of mobile merchandising. To help Realtors best use the Internet to market their listings, a central-Ohio-based company has launched ProRealtour.com – a Web-based application for creating online home tours without the need for specialized software or technical skills.

Joe Chylik, founder of ProRealtour.com, explained the implications of the tool. "Realtors want to create powerful marketing pieces for their listings, but don't have time for products that take them away from working directly with buyers and sellers," Chylik said. "When we created our tour builder, we knew we had to use existing photographs rather than video and be a Web-based product so Realtors could update listings from wherever they are working that day."

Realtors who participated in the beta test for ProRealtour.com especially liked the mobile compatibility of the program, the company said. When home tours are viewed on current generation Web-enabled cell phones, ProRealtour.com recognizes the type of device being used and delivers a page that is legible for that phone.

Chylik added, "We are finding that more and more Realtors won't even consider a new Internet tool unless the use of cell phones is taken into consideration."

ProRealtour.com has plans to launch a national campaign to reach top real estate agents in all markets. Because of the unlimited-use pricing structure, agents with a large number of listings are potentially the top users, but Chylik emphasizes that ProRealtour.com allows brokerages of all sizes to put a top-quality tour into the market.

For more information about the ProRealtour technology, click here.

Carrie Bay | 02.12.09 www.dsnews.com