10 apps for on-the-go real estate agents
From saving contact information to saving your life, there’s an app for
everything. Given the amount of time real estate agents spend driving
to and from showings, meeting with clients and generally working
outside of the office, it’s not surprising that most depend on portable
phones and other devices.
In fact, 94 percent of real estate agents
communicate with clients via a Blackberry™,
iPhone®, tablet or another mobile device,
according to a recent National Association of
REALTORS® technology survey.
If you’re frequently on the road — but
need to connect with home buyers and
sellers — several recently released tools
can help you stay in constant contact.
Agent-oriented phone and tablet apps
can help you:
1. Scan documents: In a recent mobile
app roundup, the National Association
of REALTORS’ REALTOR Magazine
recommended INTSIG’s CamScanner
and CamCard . CamScanner lets you
scan, sync and share content on various
devices, while CamCard saves business
cards instantly to your phone’s contact list
to help you keep track of new clients and
business associates. Free versions of both
are available for Android™ and iPhone.
2. Analyze an area: Want to show buyers
that a neighborhood will fit their lifestyle?
Quickly look up commuting data, average
resident age and other demographic
information about an area — culled from
U.S. Census research, Yelp reviews and
other sources — with the free Sitegeist
app, compatible for both iOS and Android.
3. Manage paperwork: To send important
documents to clients, Forbes suggests
dotloop , a subscription-based, online
collaboration tool that lets you mark places
that require a signature on documents
before sending them to clients. Agents
can also send clients to-do lists to help
guide them through the pre-approval and
purchase process. (Pricing is based on
business size; contact dotloop for more
information.) PDF Expert Enterprise also
provides document-sharing capabilities
for iPad® users, and DocuSign’s® mobile
device-friendly real estate version, which
has a monthly subscription cost ($20 for
National Association of REALTORS members;
brokerages with more than 10 users need
to contact the company for pricing), works
on devices with iOS or Windows 7.
4. Create quick floor plans: Take a picture
of a room’s corners, and draw up a floor
plan that includes room dimensions, doors
and windows using Sensopia’s MagicPlan
. A free version of the app, which The
Washington Post recently recommended
as a remodeling project tool, lets you share
layouts with other MagicPlan users, and
you can also purchase individual room
maps to share or export an unlimited
number for $9.99 a month.
5. Provide cost estimates: Skynetric LLC’s
mortgage and home loan qualification
calculator Real Estate Calc can help you
give clients instant mortgage payment
estimates, general loan qualification
income estimates and other helpful
information. It’ll also calculate your
potential commission. Real Estate Calc
is available for the iPhone and iPad
for $0.99; you can also download free
mortgage calculator apps from
Homes.com and Bankrate .
6. Stay safe: Safety can be a concern for
agents who show remote properties
or host events alone. Several apps are
also available to help protect you during
property visits and other work-related
events. The $1.99 Real Alert app features
an alarm, flashlight, one-touch call 911
feature and other protection-oriented
amenities. Another app, Watch Over Me ,
lets you set a time period — for example,
the length of an open house — and will
automatically contact a predetermined list
of friends and family if you don’t check
in by the appointed time. A three-month
subscription is available for $9.99.
Apps and online tools can be a huge time
saver when it comes to home selling or home
buying. With online tools such as mortgage
calculators, prequalification and application,
BMO Harris is a great resource for you and
your clients.
Visit bmoharris.com/mortgageplus to
learn how home buyers can save up
to $200 on their closing costs.*
* Certain restrictions apply.
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