25 Tech Tools That Make Realtors' Jobs Easier
We live in an amazing time with unprecedented tools and technology at our fingertips. By leveraging these opportunities, your business can’t help but grow.
The ability to leverage technology and tools to operate your business more efficiently has never been easier. The following list might include the one or two tools you need to have your best year ever.
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1. Testimonial Tree
Testimonial Tree makes it easy for agents to collect testimonials from clients and to automatically share them online. After the sale, Testimonial Tree sends a text with your branding requesting the client to leave a review on the sites you choose to focus on.
Not only do they collect the reviews, but they also provide social graphics of the reviews, making it easy for agents to share them on social media.
Social proof is crucial for consistent business growth, and Testimonial Tree systemizes the process.
2. BombBomb
BombBomb allows you to put a human touch to your emails and texts through video messaging. By embedding the video in emails, BombBomb helps increase your email open rates and create more instant connections. Options for usage include video emails introducing yourself to new leads, weekly listing updates to your customers and simple “thinking of you” messages. These are a few great ways to build relationships faster and with more depth.
The screen record option shows you in the corner with your screen in the background. This is a great way to go over contracts, share details of a new listing or provide video CMAs.
If you’re looking to connect with your clients and prospects in a personal way that sets you apart from your competition, BombBomb is the tool for you.
3. BoxBrownie.com
BoxBrownie.com provides photo editing, virtual staging, floor plan redraws and renderings at affordable prices. Looking for a day-to-dusk image enhancement? They’ve got you covered. Need to bring life to photos of a vacant room? They can provide photos with virtual staging. Were the counters in the kitchen cluttered when the photos were taken? They can remove it from the photos via editing. BoxBrownie.com software helps your photo marketing come to life.
4. Keeping Current Matters
Keeping Current Matters (KCM) provides agents with the latest market insights in easy-to-share social media graphics, videos and blog posts. They curate market statistics and opinions from market experts and then present them in a way that helps agents set themselves apart as the go-to expert for real estate market insights.
Keeping Current Matters is a must-have for professional agents looking to share the best insights in the industry with their clients and prospects.
5. Homebot
Homebot delivers personalized, actionable insights with your branding to homeowners via a monthly overview of their home as an asset. The detailed report covers valuation updates, an equity summary, options on leveraging the equity and cash-out refinance or HELOC options.
The reports help the agent stay top of mind when the time comes for the homeowner to make a move, or the opportunity arises for them to send the agent a referral.
6. CapCut
The value of quality video on social media continues to accelerate. CapCut is a smart tool that makes video editing easy. Easy-to-use features include speech-to-text caption creation, background removal, video resizing, vertical formatting of horizontal video for specific social media platforms, background music and much more.
If you’re looking for an all-in-one video editor for social posts, CapCut is your solution.
7. Ring light
Lighting is essential for producing quality photos and videos. But it isn’t always available. Small clip-on ring lights for your phone provide an inexpensive solution to a common problem. This tool is available on Amazon, and it easily solves the common problem of poor lighting.
Amazon.com
8. REDX
REDX provides contact information for homeowners and targeted prospect lists. These lists of homeowners and contact information are segmented into specific targeted groups, saving time and effort for the agent. These segments include expired listings, for sale by owners (FSBOs), for rent by owners (FRBOs), pre-foreclosures, and geo-targeted areas like communities or farm areas.
REDX is the tool for agents focusing on growing their business through outbound phone calls.
9. Spacio
Spacio provides a solution for capturing lead information digitally at open houses. The lead capture forms are customizable with automated follow-up features available after the open house. Once the lead’s information is entered, it can be automatically integrated into your database. This is a great tool for agents hosting open houses.
10. Audience.co
If you truly believe this is a relationship-driven business, then the ability to personalize communication should be a priority. Audience.co utilizes a robot arm to hold an ink pen for “wet ink” notes that provide personalization and connection at scale. The service also includes addressing the envelope in the same way, attaching a stamp and sending the personalized notes for you. This is a great tool for the agent looking to build more and better relationships.
11. MileIQ
MileIQ is a mileage-tracking app that runs in the background on your phone, making it easy to track business mileage. Whether at the end of the drive or sometime in the future, a simple swipe to the right marks the trip as a business trip, and a swipe to the left marks it as personal.
The detailed reports remove the headache of reporting mileage for tax purposes at the end of the year.
12. Canva
Creating eye-catching, professional visual content is made easy through Canva. Specific real estate templates for social media graphics, just-listed postcards or real estate flyers make this the tool of choice for agents looking to step up their graphic design game.
13. TurboScan
TurboScan is an app for iPhone and Android that allows you to scan documents on the go via your smartphone. This is a tool that saves time in a market environment where a few minutes could mean the difference in your client’s offer being accepted or missing out on their dream home.
14. Hootsuite
Hootsuite gives you the ability to schedule and publish your social media content to all your social profiles from one platform. The scheduling aspect provides consistency in posting that is often hard to achieve in our businesses. The reporting and analytics features are a great way to compare the engagement and effectiveness of your posts and identify what your audience responds to most.
If you’re looking to improve your social media engagement, consistency and overall online presence, Hootsuite is the tool for you.
15. ShowingTime
ShowingTime automates the showing request process and follow-up feedback after the showing. The service includes a 24/7 personalized showing service, freeing agents up to focus on higher value, income-producing activities. If you’re looking to increase your efficiency, ShowingTime is a great place to start.
16. Coffee & Contracts
Coffee & Contracts is a one-stop shop for marketing resources that agents can use to thrive online. With thousands of templated real-estate-related social media content and fresh content created every month, this is the place for agents looking to take their social media presence and engagement to the next level.
17. Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe Premiere Pro is the video editing software for the agent looking to take the quality of their video production to the highest level possible. This is the software top professionals use when quality is a priority.
18. Audible
Audible produces spoken audio content, so whether you prefer to listen to audiobooks, your favorite podcasts or exclusive original content, Audible has you covered. It is a great app for agents looking to grow their knowledge on the go.
19. Calendly
Calendly is a scheduling automation platform that eliminates the back-and-forth emailing to find a time that is convenient for both parties to meet. With over 10,000,000 users worldwide, this is another great tool for the agent looking to increase efficiency.
20. Waze
Waze is a mobile navigation app that drivers use for live maps and real-time traffic updates. With the amount of time agents spend on the road, the ability to avoid traffic delays helps agents increase their productivity.
21. QuickBooks
QuickBooks allows you to track all the financial functions of your real estate business. Tracking your income, expenses and net profit is a great way to make sure you are running your business instead of your business running you.
22. Tech Helpline
Need help setting up a new printer or updating your phone to the latest operating system? The Florida Realtors® Tech Helpline is available to answer all your tech questions. Yes, it’s FREE tech support for our members.
23. SunStats®
Florida Realtors® SunStats tool features three main components: a dashboard, a chart builder, and infographic creator, so you can present the latest housing data to your buyers and sellers.
24. Photofy by Florida Realtors
Take your social media presence to the next level with the help of the newest Florida Realtors member benefit—Photofy (photofy.com), the world’s most powerful mobile content creation tool for businesses and consumers.
25. 'Take 5' Videos for Learning
Use these informative, peer-to-peer learning videos produced by Florida Realtors in your sales meetings, to educate agents and more.
Jimmy Burgess is the CEO for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida in Northwest Florida.