The Use of QR Codes in Real Estate

It seems QR Codes have been popping up everywhere lately.  Most recently, QR Codes are making their way into the real estate industry.  For those who are unfamiliar with QR Codes, it stand for Quick Response.  As defined by Wikipedia  QR Code is a specific matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera phones.  The code consists of black modules arranged in a square patter on white background.  The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.  As more and more people transition over to smart phones it is becoming increasingly more important to reach this mobile web audience. QR Codes allow smart phone users to scan the code by taking a picture from their smart phone which then directs them to a specific page such as a Facebook Fan page or a special promotion.  If your smart phone doesn't have this feature you can download one from your app store but most Blackberry and newer smart phones have QR Code scanners.

A major benefit of QR Codes is that they have the ability to provide potential home owners with immediate information regarding listings, featured properties and more.  Think of QR Codes as your ability to create extra content in a limited space that is now available for immediate consumption. 

Common Places you will see QR Codes:

• Real Estate Signs
• Business Cards
• Flyers and other hard mailings
• Newspaper Ads
• Conferences and tradeshows
• On your company website

Places to direct users:

• Website pages
• Social media sites
• Featured property
• New listings
• Other marketing resources

You can create these codes through a QR code generator which allows you to input what you would like the QR code to do once it's scanned.  The generator will then create a 2-D barcoded image of your information.  A few common QR generators are QRStuff.com, Kaywa and ZXing Project.  Depending on the content you are looking to input into your QR Code there are specific generators such as tiny URL's or images.

It's difficult to predict the long term impact QR Codes will have on the real estate industry buy in the immediate future they are definitely on the rise.