QR codes for estate agents and property listings
Sign-board codes that survive being read from a car, and listing codes you can repoint when a property goes under offer.
For estate agents, a QR code has to survive being read in the worst conditions of any trade: from a pavement, or a slow-moving car, several metres from a sign board. That means a code several times larger than the one on your flyer, and it means dynamic. A board can stay up for weeks after a property goes under offer, and a code you can repoint to your next listing is worth far more than one that becomes a dead link the day it sells. The other high-value code is the vCard on the back of your business card, which saves a prospect typing your details rather than losing them.
Start here
What works here
- Board codes need to be much bigger than you think
- A code read from a pavement two metres away, or from a slow-moving car, needs to be several times the size of one on a flyer. The sizing calculator on every generator page gives the number for your distance.
- Repoint rather than reprint when a property sells
- A dynamic code on a sign board can be pointed at your next listing, or at a 'now sold, see similar' page, instead of becoming a dead link on a board that is still up.
- Put a vCard on the back of your card
- A contact code saves someone typing your details in, which is the difference between being saved and being lost.
- Point the board code at the listing, not your homepage
- Someone scanning a board is standing outside one specific property. Sending them to your homepage to search for it again is where the interest is lost. Point the code straight at that listing, and repoint it to a 'sold, see similar' page once it goes.
Sizes for where you print
Every generator page calculates the exact size from your code’s density. These are the placements that matter for estate agents.
- Estate agent signFrom the pavement or a car · about 2m
- Flyer or leafletHeld in the hand · about 0.3m
- Business cardHeld in the hand · about 0.2m
- Shop windowFrom the pavement · about 1.2m
Common questions
- How big does a QR code on an estate agent's sign board need to be?
- Far bigger than a flyer code. As a minimum, allow about one centimetre of printed width for every 25cm of scanning distance. A code read from two metres wants roughly 8cm square, and one read from a car across a front garden wants more. The sizing calculator on every generator page gives the exact figure once you enter the distance.
- Can I reuse the same sign-board code for the next property?
- Only if it is dynamic. A dynamic code encodes a short link you control, so when a property sells you repoint that same printed board at your next listing or a 'now sold' page. A static code has the listing URL baked into the pattern, so reusing it means reprinting the board insert.
- What should a property listing QR code link to?
- The specific listing page for that property, not your agency homepage. The person scanning is standing outside that exact house; every extra step between the scan and the details for that house loses interest. If the property is under offer or sold, repoint a dynamic code to a page showing similar available properties.
- Do vCard QR codes work on both iPhone and Android?
- Yes. Scanlight produces a vCard 3.0 record, which both iOS and Android import into contacts from the camera app. The person scans the back of your card, taps the notification, and your name, number and email are saved without typing.