Top 12 Technology Tools for Real Estate Agents

As a real estate agent, clients look to you to solve their problems. If you utilize some or all of the technology tools currently available, you can do this seamlessly. You’ll impress upon your clients and fellow agents alike how professional you are and how much of a specialist you are when your business is streamlined. Here’s a bakers dozen of tools currently accessible:

Contact Database – The most important part of your career as a real estate agent is contact collection. Gone are the days of Post-It Notes and hefty day planners, you need a digital place to keep your contacts. From the user-friendly Microsoft Outlook to the more in-depth contact management suites, the complexity and prices range considerably.

Website – Real estate agents really need an online presence. Registering your name as a web address is an excellent way to market yourself. A website design should be professional to enhance your credibility and generate leads. It has to be done right, though.

Don’t clutter your site. Avoid adding music or audio effects and streamers across the page. Stick to a simple color scheme. Avoid writing in ALL CAPS or overusing exclamation points!!!! Your website should not look like the Las Vegas Strip with flashy lights and neon signs.

Home Value Estimate Software – Use this on your office or home PC, your PDA as well as your website. You never know when you’ll meet someone looking to sell their home.

MLS Search – Besides the calls from 9 – 5 in your office, you’ll need to search properties when you meet a prospective customer at the doctors office and it accentuates a website as well.

Mapping Software – Hundreds of mapping software packages are available, there are also some for free. For your website, plug into google maps, allowing home buyers to look at aerial views of neighborhoods, run searches for nearby businesses and see the street layout – without leaving their home.

Mortgage Calculator – Buyers will want to know what they can afford without going through a bunch of paperwork. Ask a few simple questions, click a few times and in a matter of minutes you can present ballpark figures and various funding options to your client.

Digital Camera – Take pictures of your listings and keep them on your site. A webpage with “recently sold” homes and properties, with selling price and other negotiated points can help convince prospects that you understand the nuances of real estate transactions.

GPS – This handy gadget serves two purposes. You will be able to easily map out homes in a mapping software package and show your clients the neighborhood and track your mileage by just turning this device on.

PDA – Keep your contacts with you at all times with a handheld PDA. Many offer database software, handwriting recognition and a plethora of real estate software is available.

Layout Software – If your marketing strategy includes tangible marketing materials (postcards, flyers, etc.), make it look professional by utilizing layout software. Besides the standby – Microsoft Word or WordPerfect – an investment in Adobe Acrobat or Photoshop can add panache to your design.

Tax Software – You likely have a number of work related tax deductions to track. Choose a tax software package that will manage these deductions for you. One such suite is offered by Quicken, theirs also plugs into Turbo Tax, software for annual income tax preparation.

Email Merge Software – If you use most any word processor, you have access to mail merge. What is a mail merge? It’s a feature that generates a form letter that you can email to all the contacts that meet criteria in your database. You can send your newsletter to all prospect and client contacts, a listing update to fellow agents you cooperate with or a change of address letter to everyone in your database by writing one letter, clicking a few buttons and hitting “Send”.

And since real estate agents need to have fun, too, here’s a thirteenth “tool”:

Donald Trump’s Real Estate Tycoon – This computer game will have you taking direction from the king of real estate – Donald Trump. You’ll learn to buy and sell virtual property, sabotage the competition and increase your wealth beyond belief.

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