Must-Have Technological Aids For Real Estate Agents

by Preethy Martin, content strategist at Proptiger.com

Technology plays a key role in optimizing the workflow of a business. This holds true for real estate agencies as well, wherein the agents are constantly on their toes in a bid to stay one step of competition. This requires them to be out of their office and on the move, which may make it difficult for them to tackle some of their tasks at the workplace. However, in the age of cut-throat competition, can real estate agents really afford to miss out on anything?

Thanks to evolving technology, there are several tools that agents can use to stay connected with their office and clients. Selling real estate necessitates that the agents be responsive to all incoming information and minimize the turnaround time for reciprocating or sharing important documents.

Real estate agents who want to stay ahead of the herd can employ technology to help them market their business and close deals quickly.

In this post, we look at a few technological aids that every real estate agent needs be equipped with to perform optimally.

Mobile Devices.

Smartphones have become a crucial tool for real estate agents who are always on the go. You don’t need to be a genius to realize that clients expect agents to be available to them at all times and be quick in responding to requests for information. With this in mind, it is necessary that agents are reachable through email, text message, voice mail, and instant message throughout the day. Using a smartphone is a great way to ensure that.

The use of the smartphone is not limited to enabling constant connectivity. Most smartphones come with good built-in cameras which agents can use to snap high-quality pictures and videos of a property/site and send them to those concerned, or upload them online without having to depend on a computer.

Mobile Applications.

With a plethora of mobile applications available across all platforms, life should surely become easier for the busy real estate agents. These apps can boost your output and enable you to transmit useful information to multiple clients in a jiffy.

There are several apps which allow agents to work with their clients and help them find their dream property by using various features and viewing the scores and ratings provided by other users.

Apart from rating the properties, these apps also help by grading the amenities and facilities available in and around them, so that agents can help their clients make an informed decision.

Cloud-based Services.

Cloud services make it easier and faster for agents to share and collaborate on documents. These are Web-based services that remove the need for emailing information back and forth and even spare you the hassle of faxing.

For example, Dropbox, when downloaded to and installed on a computer, creates a new shared folder on the user’s desktop. When one user makes changes to a file in the shared folder, other users with accesses to this folder will be able to view the modified file.

Google Docs is another cloud-based service which can enable agents to share and edit documents online. It also provides the convenience of chatting real-time with other people viewing/editing the same document.

QR Codes.

Quick Response or QR codes are like bar codes, with the exception that they’re 2-D and can store a large amount of information. When these codes are scanned through a smartphone, they will link the user with content on the Web.

These codes can be inserted by agents on their business cards, lawn signs, and flyers to direct potential clients to a website with more information, or to their social media profiles.

Imaging Technology.

Often get asked for pictures of the property you describe to your clients? Or maybe you prefer showing them snaps of the site to explain yourself better. Either ways, real estate agents should definitely consider investing in imaging technology to cater to clients who rely on pictures to take their final call.

Image editing programs such as PhotoShop, Efex Pro, etc. can help you correct and enhance pictures of the building and construction after clicking them.

If you use digital cameras to take quality photographs, you may want to consider investing in innovative tools that capture light rays coming from all directions and allow you to zoom in and focus on any part of the picture you capture.

Portable Document Processors.

While you cannot carry one of those huge scanners everywhere you go, you can surely take a high-tech portable scanning aid along. If you need to scan a client’s signature or a deed of sale, you can use this movable scanner.

All you need to use is move this scanner over the document and it will create a digital copy of the document which can easily be transferred to your computer.

When it comes to printing documents on the move, you can simply carry a portable wireless printer, connect it to your laptop/smart phone and let it do its job of producing high-quality printouts.

Conclusion.

Technology has made a foray into every sphere of business and it is something that no growing organization can do without. The real estate industry is no different. It is always better for real estate agents to be tech-savvy and make the most of the technology available to him. The above suggestions should be helpful to agents who’re genuinely interested in performing optimally and giving clients exactly what they need.

Preethy Martin is a content strategist at Proptiger.com – online real estate portal which offers best deal on properties in India.