Aussies are used to seeing QR codes when they order at cafes and restaurants, but now the technology is rising in prominence for prospective renters and property buyers.
Real estate agents have started using QR code technology to lure in potential renters and buyers. However, unlike a typical real estate sign, the QR code signs don’t include the name of the listing agent, phone number, images of the property or even whether the property is for lease or sale.
Instead, the sign is a simple QR code that takes interested renters and buyers through to the online listing.
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One Melbourne resident, who spotted a sign from Casey Estate Agents, called the new tactic “interesting”, while another questioned the effectiveness of the signs and said they’d “rather look at the pictures”.
“It worked didn’t it?” another pointed out. “You wondered what the bright pink QR code was for and followed it. Probably wouldn’t have taken a close look at a regular sign.”
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Real estate agent Komal Bornino, from Casey Estate Agents Melbourne, said the agency had been using boards with just a QR code to advertise properties for the past six months.
“We’ve obviously had negative feedback as we [thought] we were going to receive,” Bornino told Yahoo Finance. “But, at the same time, we’ve also had positive feedback where people say, ‘What a game changer’.”
Bornino said the main benefit of the QR code signs was that they focused on the property in question, rather than the real estate agent trying to lease or sell it.
“We’re saying it’s not about our faces as a real estate agent, it’s not about our brand. We’re there to sell or lease the property,” she said.
“With all these faces on boards and mobile numbers – we’re taking away all that and just focusing on the property. If people are genuinely interested, they will scan that QR code.”
Bornino said some of the negative feedback to the QR codes had come from people with disabilities and those who said they were unable to scan the code when driving past.
“We’ve had people say, ‘What is that? It doesn’t even make sense’ and a general, ‘I don’t like that’,” she said.
Bornino thinks the use of QR codes will become more common among real estate agents, noting that many other businesses already included them on boards.
“Sometimes, they’ve got a general QR code that links through to the agency website, whereas our QR codes are all individual. They are printed purely for that property and when you scan it, it will purely take you through to that listing,” she said.
Bornino noted the boards did not have an impact on how quickly properties were getting leased or sold, but said this was the case for boards in general.
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