Realtors are often criticized for being behind on the internet wave. So it’s all the more striking when a piece of technology comes along that is embraced – and QR codes seem like they’re on their way to being just that kind of game changer.

"They’re fantastic. It’s a huge net benefit in our business," said Corinne Fitzgerald, broker/owner of Fitzgerald Real Estate in Greenfield.

"I use them everywhere, really."

QR Codes – short for "quick response" – don’t look like much: They generally take the form of a white box covered in black digital squiggles. What they are is a kind of enhanced bar code – instead of a 10 or 12 digit ID number, QR technology can encode several dozen characters, enough to contain a link to a website or video.

Invented in Japan in the mid-1990s for inventory control, people soon realized that the increased amount of information storable in QR codes made them useful for many other applications. Realtors generally use them to encode a link to a website – the home page of their brokerage, a page of their listings in that area or a site for an individual listing or perhaps a video tour or slideshow.

Smart phones like the iPhone or those operating Google’s Android system can use their built-in cameras and a special application to scan the codes. That means someone walking by a cute house with a for sale sign out front can whip out their phone, fire up an app and be taken straight to the listing for that home, with pictures of the interior and contact info for the agent.

And that’s a capability which has many real estate agents ecstatic.

Building Momentum

Already some larger brokerages, including Prudential Connecticut Realty, are moving to create internal apps to help agents add QR codes to yard signs.

Although the technology has been widely adopted in Japan and Korea, where smart phones are almost ubiquitous, it’s been slower to catch on in the U.S. Many Realtors who have added them to their repertoire of marketing techniques said they have received a mixed response from consumers. Some tech-savvy buyers and sellers are already familiar with the codes, but many remain unfamiliar with the technology.
"Buyers are now asking about it, some buyers are using it," said Fitzgerald. "Sellers are asking about, and when I show it to them they love it."

"We’ve been putting them on our advertising materiel, we’ve put decals on our signs, and people definitely are using them," said MaryBeth Muldowney, broker/owner of TradeWinds Realty Group in Norwell.

Muldowney said she has been putting QR codes on her signage for the past six months, and says she’s already seeing a difference in people’s awareness of their capabilities compared to when she started.

"How many [more] people have smart phones now than six months ago? So as technology moves along, and people come along with it, they pick up on" using QR codes, she told Banker & Tradesman.

With many people as yet unfamiliar with the codes and how they work, it can be helpful to print some instructions along with the code. Many magazine ads which include QR codes include short lines explaining how to scan and use the code, said Jacob Clayton of Clayton Realty Group and Barrett & Co. in Concord, though the practice has yet to catch on in real estate circles.

‘A Powerful Tool’

The codes can be a handy way to quickly bridge the gap between online and offline worlds. "We’ve been developing them for our local newspaper ads," said Bill Dermody, manager of the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office in Needham. His office has also been using them in their window displays. Before, if a potential buyer were to have a listing catch their eye as they walked past the office after hours or flipped through the paper, they’d have to write the address down to be looked up later – an impulse all too easily forgotten. With a QR code they can be taken online immediately.

"It’s the ease of it," that makes it appealing, said Dermody.

It’s not yet clear how effective the codes are at helping to convert leads. Of those Realtors already printing the codes on signs and business cards, many don’t track which visitors to their site or individual listings are arriving after scanning a code – which seems silly to Clayton.

"That’s crazy," said Clayton. "If you’re really looking at it from a big picture marketing perspective, [you want to know] ‘how is your ad performing?’"

If they’re using the codes, Clayton said, agents and brokers should also be using tools like Google Analytics to figure out how many visitors arrive at a listing page through a code, and whether they’re more likely to turn into a lead if they land on a video or slideshow versus more static information like traditional listing data.

But even if the codes don’t immediately turn into a lead, they can still be a helpful way of attracting attention. Jay Burnham, a Coldwell Banker agent in Beverly, has been using a QR code as his business card for three years.

"It doesn’t have my name on it, it’s just the code," said Burnham. "And then, if they don’t know what it is, I explain it, and they go find out. And then they remember you, too. It’s such a powerful tool. Everyone should be using them."