Could the iPad 2 be changing the way commercial real estate agents and their clients conduct business? The property industry has had time to exhibit the effects of the Apple’s iPad 2’s arrival earlier this year.

Commercial real estate agents can take business lists and construct .kml files in Windows and Google Earth and literally drive into a designated area and have ones clients plotted on the map.  From there one can, for example call up colour-coded maps breaking down a given area’s commercial space into office, retail, industrial. Other helpful apps included are PDF Expert, DropBox and SiteMap.

DropBox is a cloud storage facility where you can ‘drop’ files, photos and documents so as not to take up storage space on the device. Those same files are then available at any time to edit access and manage. The bonus is that the any file saved to DropBox is also automatically saved to all the user’s computers, iPhone, iPad and the DropBox website!

Commercial real estate companies and their clients are also able to make use of the QR (quick response) code reader function. (You may have seen those 2d barcodes that are shaped like a square and look like a chessboard designed by someone on the morning after the night before.) The codes are becoming all the rage for marketing and advertising in industry publications. By scanning the barcode with the mobile device, the user is taken directly to a website for more information and an extension of the marketing experience with media clips and other free downloads.

Property specialist on the road have expressed how they feel completely mobile and delight in being able to access their computer from anywhere in the world. Apps like Keynote, Numbers and Bloomberg have been described as useful business tools when preparing for a meeting with a client.

Now with cloud printing (the ability to print to any device from the Cloud.) property agents can print out maps, contract forms and other information while mobile.

Another plus with the iPad 2 is that it starts up instantly, while a laptop takes several minutes.

One broker heading up a large commercial property group started using the iPad 2 for business purposes this year. His group, which specializes in retail space, recently launched its own application.

The app allows brokers and clients to search all ‘for lease’ or ‘for sale’ properties listed by the company. There are over 1, 2 million square meters of commercial property listed out of one East Coast US city’s office. One can view, print or email all detailed information on a specific property with ease. For agents out in the field, information can be provided immediately with one touch.

There is also a GeoMeasure app that provides simple measurements and distances between sites; invaluable when in the field doing site work for clients.

DocuSign is an electronic signature service that helps manage document needs from one’s iPad2. An agent can get proposals, contracts and any other documents signed directly from the device.

Also available is the Penultimate, a handwriting app that allows one to take notes, sketch and organize right on the iPad. Notes can also be emailed; actually you email the whole notebook! It has been described by users as very user-friendly and provides accurate penmanship with or without a stylus.

Having had time to see its application to the workplace, commercial property industry users definitely see the iPad and other tablets being the future of all businesses and particularly in commercial real estate, where the speed of gathering information and making well-informed, intelligent decisions can make or break a deal.