Heat Maps Use Color as the Universal Communicator

Words, and especially data, get lost in the shuffle of today's sweeping onslaught of information sharing. But color is a different story. Color deepens understanding, increases retention and sparks engagement. In fact, color can increase readers' attention span by 80 percent and comprehension by as much as 73 percent.

What's more welcome about color is its adaptability to innovation. When coupled with technology, color can be used to transform complex data into a digestible, relatable and, most importantly for REALTORS®, decision-making context. Such is the case with RPR heat maps, one of the most creative and powerful technological innovations in the history of visual marketing.

For REALTORS®, heat maps unearth current market trends and historical data from up to 11 different data sets and compile them into one striking, color-coded visualization—each layer a graphical representation of a geography's home values, average sales price, flood zones, square foot values, distressed properties, and more. All presented in a way that prospects and clients understand quickly, clearly and with greater interest.

John Virden, a REALTOR® with Keller Williams Memorial Realty based in Houston, experienced first-hand how positively prospective clients react to RPR's heat maps.

"I needed to stand in for a colleague at an open house, in an unfamiliar area, so decided to use RPR heat maps to find out 'what's hot and what's not' in the neighborhood," said John. "I showed the heat map to one of the open house guests. She was so impressed, she called the next day to request a heat map of her neighborhood, and I ended up listing her house."

John recalls the guest's reaction to the heat maps: "You know, I get tons of flyers and postcards in my mailbox from REALTORS® but have never seen anything like this!"