Manhattan is increasingly rife with Wi-Fi networks, with computer users able to log on to the Internet wirelessly from their laptop at home, in public parks and even at Starbucks.
But many residential real estate companies in New York say that Wi-Fi isn’t likely to have a huge impact on the way brokers do business in the near future.
Technology officers at several companies said concerns about security, the working habits of brokers and the popularity of handheld devices over bulky laptops when brokers are on the road are top reasons why Wi-Fi isn’t hot right now.
“It’s a very small number that are using it,” said Charles Olson, chief technology officer for the Corcoran Group. “Two or three brokers have it set up in their cars. It’s much less than five percent of all brokers that are using it.”
“I don’t know if anybody is as interested in that as in handheld devices,” said Kim Klever, director of strategic development at Douglas Elliman. Olson said brokers like smaller devices like BlackBerrys and cell phone/PDAs that they can fit in a pocket. Those devices can access e-mail, and some have Internet and Wi-Fi capablities.
“If brokers have handheld devices, how many things are they going to want to carry with them?” asked Olson. He added that most brokers do all their homework on the Internet at home or at the office, before going out on the road.
Klever said her company was “more interested in getting listings on mobile devices at this point,” rather than focusing on Wi-Fi.
However, Olson holds out the possibility that Wi-Fi could become more popular later.
“As it becomes easier,” he said. “I think you’ll probably see more brokers carry their laptops with them.”
Depsite the fact that some companies aren’t very enthusiastic about Wi-Fi, brokers who do use Wi-Fi say it gives them an advantage over their competition. While showing apartments, brokers can access listings and show pictures of other homes on the market to clients. They can also access information about schools, taxes and neighborhoods. Some brokers say it is particularly useful during “voids” at open houses. If a buyer has toured an apartment but didn’t like it, instead of putting their name on a list and getting in touch with them later, brokers can have access to listings and can assist potential buyers onsite.
Wi-Fi also holds possibilities for real estate offices, and company-wide systems would mean brokers wouldn’t be “frozen to their desks,” said William Hunt III, a president of Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy.
“I could reconfigure my office differently if we were hooked up to Wi-Fi,” he said. “Space is at a premium in New York, so it makes a difference.”
But he said “security issues” – the fact that a wireless system could be unsecure and that people might be able to access confidential company data–prevent him from making the switch.
Klever also has concerns about security. She said Douglas Elliman is using Wi-Fi on a “limited basis” now, including in training rooms and conference rooms.
She sees some possibilities for using Wi-Fi in storefront offices “to create more mobility and less clutter.”
Meanwhile, on the streets of New York, wireless hot spots, or nodes, that enable people to surf wirelessly, are proliferating rapidly.
Wireless networking is often a communal activity. Individuals often hang an antenna for their own system out a window, making Internet access available to anyone who wants it.
The Public Internet Project, a non-profit organization, mapped more than 13,000 places in Manhattan alone where signals from home or office wireless networks can be detected and used by a computer user.
The city has also gotten into the mix, creating wireless access points at a number of parks.