We’ll Push, You Steer: Instant Updates Available on iPhone & iPad

If you’re a serious home buyer, you’ve been following the news on the housing market about bidding wars, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it sales and the depressed and depressing inventory situation. When things are moving this fast, the home you want to buy probably hasn’t been sitting on the market for weeks or months. It’s the gem that just hit the market a few minutes ago.

That’s why we just updated our Redfin iPhone App and iPad App with push notifications that send new listings and price drops to your phone within 15-30 minutes of when they happen. For some buyers, this will be one of the best weapons they have in a cutthroat housing market.

We’re calling these notifications Mobile Instant Updates because they work the same way as our emailed Instant Updates, but they kick it up a notch.  Where emailed Instant Updates hit your inbox when a home goes on the market that meets your saved search criteria, or when the price drops or status changes on one of your favorite homes, Mobile Instant Updates trigger a message on your iPhone or iPad’s Notification Center as soon as that happens. Serious home buyers should think of that notification as a starter pistol going off, and start moving fast!

We launched emailed Instant Updates in March because we saw the real estate market was hitting high gear and homes were going pending within days or hours of being listed. So far, we’ve sent about four million Instant Updates by email to customers who choose to get them, and each one could give them a head start on other buyers. Receiving the same information as a notification on their iPhone or iPad can give them an even bigger head start.

To sign up to receive these instant notifications on your iPhone or iPad, simply download the latest version and we’ll guide you along once you fire it up. Or, to jumpstart the process, you can always visit “Alerts & Emails” in the app’s “My Redfin” menu to add mobile notifications to any of your favorites or saved searches.

What do you think? As always, we want your feedback on the latest and greatest features, so please leave a comment below if you have something to share with the Redfin team.