Real estate brokerage Redfin is capitalizing on homebuyers’ penchant for shared search by launching a tool that will let mobile consumers save, share and comment on their favorite homes with their co-buyer, real estate agent, friends or family.

In Redfin Shared Search, the list of shared favorites and comments from users of Redfin.com or the Redfin app for iPhone or iPad will appear under each person’s profile. The move aims to capitalize on homebuyers’ longtime penchant for shared search via emails, calls, print-outs and post-its, dramatized by the 76 percent of Redfin customers who are married or in a civil union, and sometimes work with one another more closely on the search for a home than on their wedding.

“In competitive real estate markets, being the first person to tour a home and make an offer can mean the difference between living in your dream home, or watching it sell to someone else,” said Christin Camacho, public relations manager with Redfin, Seattle.

“With Redfin Shared Search, you can instantly share those homes with your loved ones and decide together if you want to tour them, making the process that much faster and giving you a leg up on the competition.”

Heart icon
To get started, house hunters add a home to their favorites list on Redfin by selecting the heart icon next to the home they like. They can then share their favorites list by entering in the email address of the person who is buying a home with them.

Sharing favorite homes with one’s loved ones.

Once that person confirms, each person can see the homes on the favorites lists, as well as any homes that only one person chose as a favorite.

They can also post private comments on Redfin pages with photos and information about each home, or on a shared favorites list.

Each person is notified when someone adds a new favorite or makes a comment. Invitations can be issued to others to view favorites and comment on homes.

“With Redfin Shared Search, people can share and comment on their favorite homes, no matter where they are,” Ms. Camacho said. “So when a husband finds a home he likes while riding the bus to work, he can instantly share it with his spouse and they can decide right away whether or not to contact a Redfin agent for a tour, which they can also do with a few simple taps on the app.”

With 90 percent of home buyers relying on the Internet as a primary research source, online real estate portals are increasingly creating digitally driven media environments to capture and build shopper attention.

Technology-powered brokerages such as Redfin and realtor.com are moving to reach on-the-go house hunters via mobile with new initiatives.

Adding convenience
Last year, Redfin integrated Facebook Messenger into its app, enabling users to share listings with contacts. Realtor.com integrated home remodeling portal Porch’s service to provide deeper insights to potential home buyers.

Reaching consensus on a dream house.

“Redfin Shared Search makes it easy to create a shared favorites list and comment on the homes together, which will keep them coming back to Redfin throughout their home search,” Ms. Camacho said.

”It makes their house hunting experience more convenient, and is another example of how Redfin’s combination of technology and service makes the brokerage unique in the industry.”

Final Take
Michael Barris is staff reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York.