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Recently I was contacted by Kent Shaffer of AcreScout to take a look at his newly launched website AcreScout. Within a few minutes of checking out the features I was quickly excited by it, and I’m sure other agents working with commercial properties will also.
Many agents who specialize in commercial properties have had a greatly underserved need – they could take their chances with listing it in the MLS or hope that their office would foot the bill for expensive commercial listing services such as CoStar. AcreScout is exactly what we’ve all been waiting for – a clean, professional site that allows you to share and search for commercial property listings. The best part? It is FREE.
I asked Kent if he would be interested in quick interview and he cordially agreed to tell us a little more about this exciting new tool for commercial agents and brokers.
- Tell us a little bit about yourself and the inspiration behind AcreScout:I co-own a design and marketing firm, and AcreScout’s other co-founder, Brady Stump, co-owns a real estate brokerage. After working together on several Web startups, we saw a good opportunity in the commercial real estate market and pursued it.
Our goal is to raise the bar for commercial listings websites. There are some good commercial listing sites already available, but we see some untapped opportunities within the niche that we think will make it better for everyone involved – agents, sellers, and buyers.
What are some of the key features AcreScout offers?
We intentionally launched the site with basic features to make it easier for us to polish the rough edges that are discovered during widespread use.
Currently, agents can add property listings and create an agent profile for free. And all users can search listings, save searches, save listings, email listings, and search the agent directory for free. We also have paid premium membership options for agents that want their property listings and agent profile to appear at the top of searches.
A long list of new features is in development, including marketing tools for agents and more features for premium members.
How can agents and commercial property owners benefit from using a site such as AcreScout?
AcreScout is a hub for agents to showcase their properties online and market them to prospects across the Internet. Our goal is to give agents user-friendly, efficient, effective, and predominantly free tools that make selling commercial property easier.
Currently the site is literally only a few days old – what marketing strategies and/or promotions will you be implementing to attract more members and listings for the site?
We have a new feature that we intend to release within the next few weeks that we expect will generate word of mouth and publicity. And there are several other future features that we expect to bring more of the same.
But for now, since we launched the site with only basic features, we are focusing on building relationship with agents, getting them to try AcreScout, and intently listening to their feedback. Direct communication and marketing through a broad scope of channels seems to work well in situations like this. Within a few weeks, we will also be niche advertising to property sellers and buyers.
Because Web startups are typically unpredictable, we will be keeping a pulse on every aspect of AcreScout. And we will be constantly adjusting and revising our plans accordingly.
What do you hope the future to be for AcreScout?
We dream big. But in case a competitor is listening, I will not go into any of the long-term details. I can tell you that we fully intend to keep up with the latest technology and marketing tools. And users can expect to see new features throughout the fall.
Is there anything else you would like to share with us about the site or your company?
Agents and users are very important to us. We want to hear your feedback, and we want to be constantly be tweaking AcreScout to improve your experience.
I will be sharing this with the commercial real estate agents I work with, as I know they will be estatic to try it out. You can sign up or learn more by visiting the AcreScout website. Thank you again Kent for a great interview and sharing AcreScout with us – we wish you much success in the upcoming months!
