I just had a real-life experience where BoxBeacon would have been more than useful. I've been working with some clients to find a rental home. One evening I got an excited text from my clients saying that their friend had found a great place and could I send them information on it? Normally this is no problem, as I look up the listing details and can find a lot out about a house. Unfortunately, the only info I got from my clients was the picture on the right.

That's not a whole lot to go off of, but not entirely impossible. I asked if they had a street name, neighborhood name, or any other identifying information. Of course they did not. That left me with an agent's phone number. I tried searching the agent online hoping they would have a website with their listings, but no luck there either. That left me with the option of calling the agent and saying I had a picture of a corner of grass and their sign - could they give me more info? As an agent myself I hate doing this. It makes me look incompetent when I don't have any details as to what I am calling about. To my clients it means I am not as effective, as it is difficult to get information with so few clues to go on.

BoxBeacon would have helped because it would have provided instant information about the property listing. Instead of wasting time trying to track down an almost impossible task, we would have known all we needed to know about the property right away. In a hot rental market, wasted time can mean losing out on a good house.