A recent post in the ICSC’s SmartBrief cites LoopNet’s introduction of what it terms the first commercial real estate search application by the online listing service. Oddly enough, it’s for iPhone use only. Since we’re MAC enthusiasts at Breton, we’re all for the new Apple App…but how many CRE executives and leasing persons use an iPhone? When questioned about the development of the App for Blackberry, Droid and Palm, LoopNet responded: “Currently the LoopNet App is only available for the Apple iPhone or iPod Touch. We value our members’ suggestions and encourage our members to give us input on how we can improve our site and services & hope to expand to other Smartphone’s in the future.”

Until the App is available for the other platforms, you can still take advantage of this technology by posting your properties on LoopNet (also for free!), enabling both online and iPhone users to be able to view your listings.

The LoopNet iPhone application features include:

• Location Finder: explore properties using the iPhone’s built in GPS capabilities;
• Custom Search: filter results by price, building size and property type (office, industrial, retail, land, multifamily, etc.);
• Driving Directions: use Google Maps to plot properties or email directions to a friend.

Visit the LoopNet site to see various screenshots of the App in action, read dozens of comments from industry professionals, get access to the free App download page, and post your property listings for free.

New iPhone App searches
commercial properties

Online listing service LoopNet introduced what it says is the first commercial real estate search application for the iPhone. The application, which can be downloaded free from the iTunes store, enables anyone with an iPhone to search for available commercial real estate properties from wherever he or she happens to be. Tapping into the interactivity created through the phone’s built-in GPS capabilities, users can locate available properties in their immediate vicinity; filter results by price, building size, lot size and property type; and use Google Maps to plot locations or e-mail directions.

“A tenant rep broker is showing her client around the Buckhead submarket of Atlanta, highlighting various available properties in which the tenant has expressed interest,” said Mike Manning, vice president of marketing at LoopNet. “After seeing the Buckhead properties, the tenant changes his mind and decides he’d like to look at spaces in the Perimeter Center area in North Atlanta. … With the LoopNet iPhone applications, the broker can immediately pull up properties in the new area, review them with her client, and use Google’s mapping feature to get directions to the new listings. Business gets done in real time on the fly, from wherever the broker and the prospective investor or tenant happen to be.”

Several hundred thousand properties are searchable for free, according to the company, while access to all 745,000 of LoopNet’s listings in the U.S. and Canada is gained through a premium LoopNet membership that costs $39.95 per month. Listings posted by premium members can be viewed by basic members for free, while listings posted by basic members can be seen only by premium members.

- Excerpt from Shopping Center Today’s SCTWeek | January 22nd, 2010 Vol. 15 No. 3
- Image courtesy of Loopnet.com

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