By Holly Dutton
Julia Boland is bringing real estate to New Yorkers’ fingertips – via iPad.
The Halstead broker, along with her partners, recently created an interactive real estate iPad app, the first one ever to be made by a broker.
The free app, called One212, a nod to Manhattan’s famous area code, is available to download from the iPad newsstand and has more than 5,000 followers on its twitter handle, @one212boland.
“We’ve introduced a whole new way of marketing for individual brokers that hadn’t been done before,” said Boland. “There’s all original content designed to inform, entertain and inspire the reader.”
Comparing hers to other real estate apps, Boland says the number of interactive features One212 offers in addition to the interactive elements make the app a one-of-a-kind.
“It’s not just about selling property, it’s about selling information,” she said. While other real estate apps are about “driving listings,” One212 has original content, like a recent feature on Madison Square Park, and interactive charts and graphs.
And it’s not just members of the industry the app is geared toward – it’s for everyone.
“It’s really fun, it’s meant to be engaging and it’s for everyone,” she said. “I can’t go anywhere without people talking about real estate. That’s why I started it – it’s just fun.”
iPad users can also download the app from iTunes. Originally launched this summer, the third issue of will come out in December.
“We’re very excited because it has been downloaded internationally,” she said. “It’s far exceeded our expectations. It has been enormously successful.”
As the publisher and editor of the app, Boland directs the all-original content, which has been released in two separate issues. A third will publish in December, with plans to continue publishing quarterly.
For now, the app covers mainly Manhattan, but the next issue will have a feature on Riverdale in The Bronx, said Boland, adding that more video content is also in the works.
A native of West Hartford, CT, Boland attended Boston University, followed by a stint in Paris for a masters degree in international relations and then five years working in Europe, Hong Kong and then eventually, New York City.
After returning to the States 15 years ago, she was heavily recruited by a friend who thought she’d be perfect in real estate – her friend was right.
Recently promoted to managing director in marketing, Boland also retains her SVP title at Halstead.
“I really love new developments,” she said. “The marketing of an entire building is very different from just one unit. At the same time, doing new developments and having a head in marketing helps me not have a cookie-cutter approach to resale. We tend to think out of the box with individual sales.”
Borland recently completed the prestigious, invite-only REBNY New York Residential Specialist Designation course.
“It’s meant to be a higher level of education to elevate the industry,” she said of the specialized course. She likens it to a graduate degree.
“If you’re hiring broker from that course, you’ll know that they’re at a higher level of their career,” she said.
When she’s not helping other people find their dream apartments, Boland and her family call the Mount Morris Park area of Harlem home.
In 2006, Julia and her husband, a native of the Upper East Side who always dreamed of owning a brownstone, finally found it. One problem – it had to be gut renovated.
No one had lived in the building in 20 years, “except pigeons” and there hadn’t been a roof in 10 years.
The experience of completely renovating their home was an “amazing” experience for Boland, who now “knows townhouses inside and out.”
Moving forward, Boland hopes to keep things rolling with the iPad app, while staying on track as a broker.
“My business that I love and am passionate about is helping people buy or sell real estate, whether it’s individuals, investors or developers,” she said. “My focus will stay there.”
