Archive for the ‘Level Ten Realty’ Category

As of now, the official “Beta” version is live and ready to be tested. Simply go to http://www.mobilehsv.com in your iPhone. Will it work on Android or WebOS? Who the hell knows? I don’t have the hardware to test those out. This is definitely a work in progress and has some strides to make before I have it officially converted into a native iPhone Application.

So, what can the Mobile Version Do?

Realistically? Almost everything my website can….and a little more. Search by subdivision, MLS Number, Address (which I actually don’t have on the “standard” website yet), and new listings as they come on the market. I’ve also added a favorites section. On the Level 10 website, you have to be logged in to save favorites (really the only way to keep track of them). The mobile version utilizes what’s called local storage, so you save your favorites without ever having to log in. It’s all updated in real time.

I’ve added a Twitter search to the app. Clicking on Huntsville Tweets will open the default Twitter search for the word “Huntsville”. You can do your own searches from the app if you’re looking for something in particular.

The best way to experience this app is to go to mobilehsv.com and bookmark it to your home screen. You’ll be able to view the app in full screen mode and most of the animations work better and faster.

Lastly, what would any mobile real estate application be without a location based map search? Find out what’s around you anywhere you go.

What are the Known Bugs/Problems?

Well, there’s a few of them right now. The biggest one, that I’m having the worst time trying to fix is with the map. If you do a search that is not map based, then go back to the map, it acts really screwy.

I’ve spent two days trying to keep this from happening. I have no clue. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a simple fix any time you run into this. Simply rotate the phone, and rotate it back and Viola!

Next, the Add to Favorites button is not very cooperative. When a listing is added to your favorites, the application will let you know, but you still have to be careful and make sure that you hit the “+” button. The first time seems to be a little buggier than each time after that.

This is not a blazing fast application. It’s great over wi-fi, pretty good over 3G, but it’s pretty bad over EDGE…but then again, just about everything is.

This application is meant to be viewed in Portrait Mode 99% of the time. The only time I would recommend viewing in landscape mode is when you look at the home photos. Don’t get me wrong, it’ll work fine in landscape, but I wouldn’t spend a lot of time on it that way.

When you add the app to your home screen and then start it up, it can stay on the loading screen for up to 15 seconds. That may not seem like a lot of time, but it kind of is. I’m still seeing what I can do to improve the speed.

What does the future of the App Have in store?

Continued support and bug fixes are at the top of my list. ANY time any of you run into a bug, PLEASE let me know. Feel free to send me an email or comment below. If I get enough support from you guys, I could start a Google Group or something to continue to work on it.

Compatibility with different mobile browsers will follow if you guys make the iPhone version a success.

Notifications – How many homes have come on the market since you last looked, etc. – is a future addition that I’m looking forward to, but not going to happen within the next month or two.

ScreenShots

Alright, there was your overview of the main issues. The app is really simple to figure out. Below are some screenshots of what is now online. Good Luck!

In the midst of everything else I’m working on right now (iPhone App….still about a week out), I’m going to give HomeScene a large user interface upgrade. This will clean up things, and hopefully make it a much better, and more useable product.

For some reason, it looks as if the MLS has stopped publishing the Latitudes and Longitudes for the newest listings. This could cause some problems while I look into the issue.

Thursday or Friday, I’m going to start the process of moving the server that level10realty.com is on to a new server. During that process (up to 48 hours) you may experience some strange issues, or may not be able to find the site. If you do have issues, please try again later.

Thanks!

Much has been going on around the site lately, getting prepared for the new year and all, and one thing you should be counting on is an iPhone app within the next month or so. There’s probably another couple of weeks worth of development left and the iPhone App approval process can take anywhere from 7-14 days. I’ll try to keep you posted.

The new website is up and running! There may still be some problems, so if you see anything, let me know and I’ll get them fixed. The most noticeable change to the site is the completely overhauled map based search. We’ve now included color-coded markers that display approximately how long the home has been on the market, the “ignore” feature, and several other great new features. The best part is that it’s all self-contained. No more clicking back and forth and opening new windows.

One thing to note: If you are running a resolution of 1024 x 768 or less, some of the new features are gonna suck for you. They’re simply not made to be displayed at such a low resolution. Anything over 1024 should be fantastic.

Also, as you will notice, with the hard work of some great Realtors, addresses are now able to be displayed on Internet searches. Kudos to everyone that played a part in helping get our MLS into the 21st century.

I have several other things to write about, but I’ll get to those soon!

Just as an update to the situation, still very sorry about the duplicate home posts from the MLS on the Level 10 Blog. I’m still working on trying to figure out why they do that. I’ve just tried something new, so that may work. If not, who knows!!!

Level 10 Realty will officially be moving office to Providence Main in the next couple of weeks as well as making some great changes that you’ll see very soon. I’ll update soon!

For the time being, I will be redirecting all of the sethparker.net pages to level10realty.com. Any page that you may have had bookmarked on sethparker.net will have the exact same URL. For example: sethparker.net/about_level10.php will simply become level10realty.com/about_level10.php.

I’m doing this in an effort to minimize duplicate content. Hopefully, there will be no problems during the transition. If there are, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

Well, I’m not gonna lie, I bombed. I was terrible, awful even. If I had to rate myself on a scale of 1 to 10, I might give myself a 3. The only reason I’ll give myself such a high number is because I didn’t pass out. That’s about it. I got in front of 1,000 people and took a beating. I’m no public speaker by any means, but DAMN, I would have loved to at least did a little better.

The main purpose of going to Inman Connect was to do a “National” launch of HomeScene. It would be a way to show Realtors from across the country what I’ve come up with, how it’s useful, and the potential of it all. Originally, there were five of us, and we each were supposed to have 5 minutes of time to demo our product. I was supposed to present last (thank goodness, right?). Two minutes before all five of us go on stage, everything changes. We get cut from 5 minutes to 3 minutes. After we sit on stage, the presentation order gets flipped. Now, I go FIRST, with no warning. I’m already freaking out, now, I gotta open? Crap.

I couldn’t even hold the mouse on the computer still. I couldn’t think. I left my outline of things to say with my wife. It wouldn’t have mattered, though. Why? Two reasons; One, there was Internet trouble at the hotel during the morning. It hit RIGHT when I needed it. The most important part of the presentation was the home details page….and it crapped out on me. Two, I got cut from 3 minutes to about 2 and a half minutes. Which, after watching the video back (as much as I could stand anyway…my wife recorded me, but I don’t know if I have the heart to put my embarassment on display for all you guys or not ), I can see why. I was just awful. Plain and simple. I bet they won’t be inviting me back anytime soon!!! The other four people? It was like second nature to them. They were awesome. They got their point across, although they didn’t have enough time, and came out smelling like a rose.

So, let’s recap where we are. I went to San Francisco. I could have kept my mouth shut the entire 150 seconds and not have been any worse. I left this morning and got back this afternoon. If you’d like to follow the full Twitter updates from while I was in San Fran, check out @level10. Oh well.

I will be leaving out at 4:30am tomorrow morning for a flight to San Francisco. During that time, I’ll be doing a public launch of the HomeScene program in front of about 1,000 people. All requests and inquiries will still be directed to me and I should still get them, but please forgive me if it takes a little longer than normal to get back to you. Once I get back, I’ll include a screencast of HomeScene, its features, and how to use it.

One of the bugs that I’m currently trying to work out is double and/or triple posting of new homes as they come available. I hope to have it worked out by the time I leave for San Francisco Wednesday morning, so please bear with me.

During the next couple of days, you may run across some small issues with site functionality or layout. The new Level Ten Blog is hosed pretty bad in Internet Explorer right now amongst other things. I would love for you to report any issues you come across so that I can make sure and get them all taken care of. -> seth@level10realty.com

When I get things finished (hopefully tomorrow), I’ll post about all the new goodies I’ve added. As an additional note, if you’re in the “Javascript -> Off” camp, this site may break down for you quite a bit. It’s really optimized more for larger screen resolutions, modern browsers, maps, modals, and Javascript. If you are still using Internet Explorer Version 6: Please upgrade. IE6 probably won’t like many of the elements on the site.

FOR BEST PERFORMANCE:

AT LEAST 1024 x 768 Screen Resolution. Firefox 3+, Safari 3+, and Google Chrome browsers are IDEAL. IE7+ Works fine (I think), but will not display a lot of the User Interface elements like rounded corners and such. Lastly, Javascript = ON/

Hopefully, I’ll have a post for tomorrow saying everything is finished!