There are very few careers that require as much self-determination and motivation than real estate, but there are also very few careers that give you the freedom that real estate agents enjoy. To get ahead in this profession, you don't need to out compete other agents as much as you need to focus on delivering a great experience to your clients, because property sales involve a lot of hands-on attention and it's a big industry. At the same time, if you're going to work cooperatively with the network of professionals in your area while providing the clients who come to you with a great buying or selling experience, you need to be able to rise above the pack and provide competent, organized service that makes them want to recommend you to anyone they know who is looking to make a deal. This is where real estate agent tools for productivity and organization come in.
One of the best ways to become an accomplished agent is to invest in the toolkit that lets you do more while spending less effort, so you can provide prompt replies to questions, follow up on paperwork, and keep in touch with all your clients, including those who are still very early in their property search process. Luckily, there are a lot of real estate productivity tools out there that don't require a huge up-front investment, including many that are available to you for free. Here's a rundown of some of the most useful real estate agent tools in today's marketplace. It's 2024 now, so if you're still using older alternatives to these options, it might be time for you to update your toolbox so you can keep providing great service.
Putting the right information in the right hands is a big part of your job, and it's not just making sure the right paperwork gets put in your client's hands or helping them understand what the next steps they need to take will be if they want to close. You've also got to be able to collaborate with other professionals, including the agent representing the other party in a transaction, members of your own office team, and any outsourced labor or contract work you need. The following apps and tools work well whether you are collaborating with your content writers on a new blog series, laying out design changes to your site, or sending documents that need to be reviewed before a signing.
Both Dropbox and G-Drive work well for storing documents and sharing them, but only one of them comes with a full support suite you can use to collaborate online.
When you use Google Drive, you gain easy online access to these other tools through the same Google account.
By contrast, Dropbox does not offer its own line of collaboration and editing tools, but it does offer fast, seamless integration with most major stand-alone word processors and a few online ones, including Office 365 from Microsoft. Of course, you're probably going to need some space to take care of the organization and brainstorming parts of your collaborations, so you'll want to check out these tools to round things out.
The following tools are a great addition to your toolbox. They can help with image creation, sharing and promoting, and just generally staying organized with your team.
You're also going to need resources that help you get the right information in front of your customers, including new listings, updates, and resources for reaching out when they want to view properties.
Communication and what the public see and think of you are the most important parts of this. Here are some ways to make more of your online experience while spending less time managing your marketing and fielding customer inquiries.
With the right social media and outreach tools, you can provide customers with everything they need to window shop until they are ready to see properties, streamlining the work you need to do to convert casual leads into solid clients who are ready to make a purchase. That reduces a lot of the administrative work that goes with the job, allowing you to put more of your focus back on the individual client. Real estate CRMs are the rising trend in tech tools for agents.
In an industry that is both competitive and collaborative, you need the right tools to make the most out of every relationship. Even prospective clients who don't wind up buying can wind up as great sources of word of mouth advertising, and many of them will return when they are ready to go through with a purchase if they have a great experience when they are looking more casually. Set yourself up as an expert with resources they can really use and they will remember you.
