Podcasting Takes on the Mortgage World

It’s almost surprising it took this long to come out on the market, but the world of mortgages has been combined with the advanced technological world of podcasing. A la mode, a real estate technology company, has launched a product for its customers that allows them to podcast information about properties for sale.

Using the company’s podcast inventions, called Propertycast, the firm’s 7,500 agent customers can record and distribute audio files with property descriptions for home buyers and sellers to hear on their home computers or download to their iPods or other brands of portable digital audio players.

The company expounded on its reasons for breaking into this industry:

“National research shows that the time is right for podcasts as a means of communicating with consumers: Earlier this year, the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 22 million Americans own an MP3 (digital audio) player and that 29% of them had downloaded a podcast. What’s more, Apple has sold 28 million iPods since their introduction. And by 2006, 30% of new cars are expected to have an iPod option.”

Rusty Lindquist, A la mode’s vice president of agent products, explained that podcasting was a logical step in the home loan realm. It delivers content automatically for the most convenient means of learning information about a product. He referred to it as “the perfect medium for pushing listing information.”

In the past, agents would need to spend thousands of dollars to customize their website for podcasting. “With an Agent XSite, our Propertycast technology is available immediately and at no cost, so agents can begin podcasting home information to prospects today,” Lindquist stated

Thanks to the podcast technology, potential home owners can sign up at their agent’s XSite to automatically receive new listing podcasts in the neighborhood they’re looking. They simply need to plug their iPod or device into their computer, A la mode announced. First-time visitors to an Agent XSite can listen to the podcasts on their computer, too, and can receive e-mail notifications when new podcasts are available if they don’t have a player or don’t “synchronize” their device on a regular basis.

A la mode develops desktop, mobile, and Web tools for the real estate and mortgage industries. The company’s clients include appraisers, agents, inspectors, and lending professionals.