According to a 2012 Herbert Research report, consumers currently spend about 18 months searching for a home before buying. Trulia has focused its efforts on helping consumers learn about the real estate process until they are ready to connect with a real estate agent.
Trulia makes a rich mapping experience core to its consumer offering so homebuyers can understand contextual information about neighborhoods. For example, Trulia makes it easy for consumers to see a visual representation of important areas, such as school districts and crime statistics, as well as natural hazards, such as flooding, wildfires or earthquakes. One of the most popular visualizations enables users to see which homes are within specific commute times from their jobs.
Presenting engaged homebuyers with contextual information about neighborhoods and specific information on homes helps prepare consumers before they begin working with a real estate professional to pick a home, make the right offer, and finalize the transaction.
To assist in this process, Trulia created Find an Agent, which enables real estate agents and brokers to feature their experience, sold homes, active listings, awards, recommendations and areas of expertise to buyers and sellers, all for free.
Homebuyers and sellers can even narrow their search further, identifying agents with expertise in specific neighborhoods, towns, and cities, or specialties such as first-time homebuyers and foreign language skills, such as Chinese or Spanish. Find an Agent helps agents broaden exposure and ensures homebuyers and sellers are finding the right professional.
Evolving from Websites to Mobile
Real estate is inherently a mobile business, for agents and brokers who are touring and showing homes and for consumers who are on the hunt. Trulia recognized this early; in 2008, the company launched the first national mobile application designed specifically for the residential real estate Industry.
Since that time, Trulia has taken a mobile-first strategy and continues to evolve its mobile offerings to provide context and information for everyone in the real estate process. And with apps for all the major mobile platforms, including iOS and Android, the company now offers 15 mobile apps in all.
As part of this effort, in November 2013, the company launched version 2.0 of the Trulia for Agents App, which is designed specifically for real estate agents, helping them convert more leads and better serve existing clients regardless of their location.
Version 2.0 features an all-new design that puts leads front and center. The new app includes improved navigation and search capabilities, as well as seamless access to helpful real estate news, coaching and tips from Trulia’s Pro Blog.
“I get outstanding leads from Trulia,” says Stacey Feltman of Ebby Halliday Realtors®. “Trulia’s mobile app is great because it’s easy to use and it helps me manage leads and stay on top of my business no matter where I am. The entire system is the very best out there.”
