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Point of Sale in Real Estate - How Big is your Sale?


When looking at the sales market and trying to get your hands around what point of sales equipment works for you, is it unrealistic to think about using it for almost any sale? Sometimes the hardware and software are very specific and only work with certain applications. For instance, it's hard to use a bar code reader on anything other than a bar code. Or a credit card reader is only good for credit cards. What about a cash register system; what else can it be used for? Or a data terminal and scanner?

Expanding into other areas is always a creative challenge when looking at technology and what appears to be limited use. For instance, if a bar code reader can only read bar codes, can a bar code be put on anything? Can it be put on a photo of a San Diego property or better yet on the photo of a San Diego real estate agent? Why would one want to even think about that? Does real estate seem like a likely use of point of sales equipment? If the real estate office is big enough and the listings are numerous, why not use point of sales database technologies to help you monitor inventory? The idea that it could be used whether someone will buy or rent a property expands the likelihood that it can be useful even that much more.

If someone wanted to buy a home in San Diego and the inventory of a large office or even a large database of listings was used, then when it was sold and automatically updated by using a barcode on the photo on any internet page anywhere in the world, wouldn't that make life easier for real estate agents and buyers? There must be software that would work for point of sale real estate transactions. Maybe bar codes wouldn't work but clearly it's something worth thinking about. They might be most beneficial in a smaller office than a nationwide office. Let's say, for example, that a large chain real estate office or a smaller San Diego real estate office wanted to try it out, they would just have to get the readers for every office, get printable bar code software and figure out the software interface to upload photos and info for new listings and remove sold listings as they happen in real time.

It just might work. Perhaps the best use of this would be in planned communities where there are numerous houses to be sold from one or a couple of offices. A tower of condominiums would also be a prime candidate for using a system where bar code readers could be used by placing bar codes on all of the units for sale and as they sold, the system would automatically take them off the market. Just think of how easy it would be to update the sold list, the listing agent's commissions, the units that are left, the trends in sales and the internet site listing all of the properties. It's just around the corner if it's not already being done.

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