Real Estate Software & Technology Blog

Our new website: Advertise Your Rentals for Free : No strings attached.

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:40:15 -0500

We're excited about our new addition to our property management software (Landlord Enterprise) ... we're busy inviting rental property owners, property managers, and landlords to post their vacancies on our site for free. Our site is very SEO friendly and it's a no-brainer at this price!

Landlord Enterprise Rentals - Free to List, Free to Use

This newsletter is intended for users of Landlord Enterprise and Landlord's Tenant Mgmt PRO.

Post Your Free Rental Listing Today

Other News:

- Landlord Enterprise 2009 is better than ever. New updates coming Oct 26 and more in November.

- Got an idea for a new feature for Landlord Enterprise? Suggest new features and vote for the best ideas in our new feedback forum .

- Provericon Announces Integration of Comprehensive Tenant Screening Solution through ONLINE Rental Exchange Partnership - providing criminal background & credit check functionality in Landlord Enterprise.
>>Read Full Article

- Thanks for checking us out at the 'Suite Success' trade show in Calgary, Alberta, Canada! We enjoyed meeting all of you that stopped by our booth!

It's finally here! Announcing the
Landlord Enterprise Rental Board

Often, Landlord Enterprise users tell us that they would love a way to post and advertise the apartments, homes, condos they already store and manage using Landlord Enterprise.

We've developed Rentals.LandlordEnterprise.com to be just that - a completely free, easy to use website that allows you to post your vacate units for rent!

Add as many listings as you want - just sign up for a free account to get started.
Upload up to 10 photos of your properties, add descriptions and information about the listing.
Tenants can search for homes and apartments to rent all across the US and Canada.
The site is brand new - be the first to add a listing!
Also coming soon - directly upload your vacant units from the Landlord Enterprise software to the web instantly to advertise them on the Landlord Enterprise Rentals site.

Rental Listings - Free to List, Free to Use!

http://Rentals.LandlordEnterprise.com

Advertise your rental properties for free on the Landlord Enterprise Rental Board

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:34:05 -0500

Landlord Enterprise Rentals - Free to List, Free to Use

This newsletter is intended for users of Landlord Enterprise and Landlord's Tenant Mgmt PRO.

Post Your Free Rental Listing Today

Other News:

- Landlord Enterprise 2009 is better than ever. New updates coming Oct 26 and more in November.

It's finally here! Announcing the
Landlord Enterprise Rental Board

Often, Landlord Enterprise users tell us that they would love a way to post and advertise the apartments, homes, condos they already store and manage using Landlord Enterprise.

We've developed Rentals.LandlordEnterprise.com to be just that - a completely free, easy to use website that allows you to post your vacate units for rent!

Add as many listings as you want - just sign up for a free account to get started.
Upload up to 10 photos of your properties, add descriptions and information about the listing.
Tenants can search for homes and apartments to rent all across the US and Canada.
The site is brand new - be the first to add a listing!
Also coming soon - directly upload your vacant units from the Landlord Enterprise software to the web instantly to advertise them on the Landlord Enterprise Rentals site.

Rental Listings - Free to List, Free to Use!

http://Rentals.LandlordEnterprise.com

Announcing Landlord Enterprise Property Management Software for Landlords and Owners

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:09:01 -0500

Provericon Software Development Announces Release Of New Version Of Landlord Enterprise

Provericon Software Development Inc. (“Provericon”) is pleased to announce the newest release of its flagship Property Management software, LANDLORD ENTERPRISE, for Windows-based computers.

Landlord Enterprise Landlord Enterprise FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Jul 05, 2009 – Provericon Software Development Inc. (“Provericon”) is pleased to announce the newest release of its flagship Property Management software, LANDLORD ENTERPRISE, for Windows-based computers.

LANDLORD ENTERPRISE allows the landlord or property manager to store, manage, and analyze information about units, tenants, and leases. It comes with powerful reporting capabilities, vendor management modules, equipment/asset management features, and maintenance/repair log capabilities.Also included are accounting and budgeting features.

Suitable for most mid-sized organizations, LANDLORD ENTERPRISE is cost-effective and its streamlined workflow makes it extremely easy to use.

LANDLORD ENTERPRISE permits an unlimited number of tenants and units, and is available for $179.99 USD.

The software will run on Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

A free, non-expiring trial version is available for download from the product website at www.landlordenterprise.com.

Provericon develops custom software applications for various business domains, including the property management industry and other vertical markets.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Steve Moores, President Telephone (403) 263-9111 www.landlordenterprise.com

# # # About Provericon: Provericon develops custom software applications for various business domains, including the property management industry and other vertical markets.

Common Questions about Landlord Enterprise and Property Management Software in General

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:00:28 -0500

Q. What kind of reports will Landlord generate?

A. Landlord comes powerfully equipped with the following reports:
- Tenant Listing by Last Name
- Tenant Listing by City
- Tenant Detail Report
- Rent Roll
- Late Rental Payment Reminders
- Tenant Contact History
- Incomplete Tenant Tasks
- Payments by Unit #
- Unit List by Unit #
- Occupied Unit List by Unit #
- Vacant Unit List by Unit #
- Unit Details
- Leases by Unit #
- Repairs & Maintenance by Unit #
- Income Accounting Entries by Entry Date
- Income Accounting Entries by Account
- Income Accounting Entries by Accounting Period and Account
- Expense Accounting Entries by Entry Date
- Expense Accounting Entries by Account
- Expense Accounting Entries by Accounting Period and Account
- Chart of Accounts
- Tax Incurred vs. Tax Collected

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Q. Can I customize Landlord for my organization?

A. Of course. Landlord allows you to store your company information, which will appear on-screen and your logo will appear on reports. You can also customize various status codes, unit categories, flooring, heating, and parking types, and much more. You can set default country, city, and state values, as well as adjust the late fee settings, damage deposit settings, and lease parameters.

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Q. What kind of Tenant information can I track?

A. You can store an enormous amount of detail about each of your tenants. In addition to the basics, like general contact information, Landlord will keep track of secondary lease holders, and financial information like gross income, bank details, and account numbers. You can store information about pets, occupants/roomates, vehicles, emergency contacts, tenant incidents, and other notes.

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Q. What kind of Unit information can I track?

A. Information about your rental units includes Square Footage, Number of Bed/Bathrooms, Heating Type, Electricity #s, and more. You can also flag whether or not the unit is furnished, non-smoking, and has a fireplace, patio/balcony, microwave, washer/dryer, dishwasher, and refrigerator. You can also store an unlimited number of photos of your units - display and print floor plans, interior photos, etc.

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Q. I have pictures of floor plans and suite interiors. Can I use them with Landlord?

A. Definitely. Landlord will allow you to link any scanned image of your suite to the database. This picture will be displayed on-screen when you view the details for that unit. Landlord will allow you to store unlimited images for each unit - enough for floor plans, interior, and exterior photos.

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Q. Will Landlord keep track of who owes rent?

A. Landlord will keep track of any tenants for which rent hasn't been collected. Landlord will remind you of these tenants. An on-screen listing of Tenants who are delinquent with rent can be displayed at any time. Landlord also includes a report showing all uncollected rent due at a specific point in time, allowing you to project rental income.

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Q. How can I manage houses/units with multiple renters on the lease?

A. Landlord Enterprise Edition will allow you to manage units with multiple renters and lease configurations. In fact, you can have separate late fee terms, security deposits, and split the rent due in any fashion which suits you.

If you're using a recent version of the software you should be able to create a rental agreement for each tenant for the same house, but you'll need to create your apartment records a little differently.

Create a Unit record for each Tenant with the Unit # called "House A - Chris" for example, to represent "Chris" in "House A". Create another Unit record called "House A - John" for the same house with John as the Tenant.

Create separate lease agreements for each Tenant/Unit combination. Select by Unit # (eg. House A - Chris) and type the additional details for the lease - damage deposit, late fee, etc.

This way you'll be able to track expenses separately for each Tenant/Lease, as well as collect Rent and track late rent separately.

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Q. Can I print receipts?

A. Yes. Landlord can issue a receipt whenever you post a rental payment. You can print this receipt, email it, or export it to Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF format. You can also re-print receipts at any time.

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Q. Does Landlord enable me to create Tenant Applications?

A. Yes. Application for Rent forms can be generated using the Tenant information you have stored about the Tenant in the database, making application processing quick and easy. You can also print a blank Application form to have the Tenant fill out manually if you choose.

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Q. What about other documents?

A. Current forms and contracts include:

- Application for Rent form
- Fixed Term Lease Agreement
- Notice to Vacate or Renew Lease
- Pet Agreement
- Clean-up & Large Item Removal Reminder
- Settlement Charges Guide
- Tenant Recommendation Letter
- Eviction & How it Affects You
- Move Out Reminder
- Notice to Vacate for Non-Payment of Rent
- Rent Increase Notice
- Returned Check
- Important Information for New Residence

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Q. I need to keep track of Income and Expenses. Any help?

A. Landlord Enterprise offers a simplified Accounting ledger for both Income and Expenses. You can create Income and Expense entries, assign them to any combination of Tenants, Units, Buildings, and Vendors. You can also create custom Accounting Categories.

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Q. Can I use Landlord to keep track of my business partners?

A. Yes. Landlord Enterprise includes a way to store information about all of your Vendors and other Contacts, which can be assigned to Maintenance Log entries if necessary. Track Addresses, and other Contact information.

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Q. What are Maintenance & Repair Logs?

A. In Landlord Enterprise, you can use Maintenance Logs to keep track of important issues that need attention. Each Unit can be linked individually to its own Maintenance Log, which can track information like Priority, Status, Cost, Invoice # and Date, Completion Date and more.

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Q. Will Landlord allow me to keep track of equipment & fixed assets?

A. Equipment belonging to you organization can be stored and linked to units in Landlord Enterprise. You can keep track of things like Serial #, Model #, Brand, Purchase Date, Purchase Price, and Supplier/Vendor (where it was purchased).

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Q. Will Landlord run on my computer?

A. Landlord will run on most desktop and laptop PCs running Windows. The following are recommended and minimum hardware ranges - most PCs within this range will have no problem installing and running Landlord.

Recommended Hardware Configuration :

Pentium-class processor (Pentium III or Celeron, 1.0 GHz) or better
256 MB RAM or more
100 MB free Hard Drive space or more
1024 x 768 Display, 32 bit colour display

Minimum Hardware Configuration:

Pentium-class processor (Pentium 200 MHz or higher)
64 MB RAM
50 MB free Hard Drive space
1024 x 768 Display or better, 16 bit colour or better display

Landlord requires approximately 25-30 MB hard drive space when fully installed. Your database will grow as you add tenant and unit data, and will require additional space accordingly.

Operating System and Software Requirements

Landlord will run on Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP (Home & Pro), and Vista (all editions)
All operating systems must have the .NET Framework installed (you can download the .NET Framework install file from this site, or from Microsoft).

The latest version of Landlord Enterprise (2009) will automatically install the .NET Framework if required on your computer, so you won't have to do anything complicated. Most modern versions of Windows (i.e., XP and Vista) have .NET pre-installed.

Landlord will not run on Windows 95 or earlier. Please also ensure that Internet Explorer 6 SP1 or later is installed on your computer (especially important for Windows 98 users).

Your Responsibilities as a Landlord

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:52:58 -0500

Your Responsibilities as a Landlord by Gerald Mason There are many responsibilities that you need to become familiar with to be a good landlord. The fact of the matter is that becoming a landlord can be a lot of fun, while also affording you the ability to make tons of money. But with that in mind, there are also many landlord responsibilities that you will have to keep up with. If you do not, you will never be a great landlord and if you slack off on your responsibilities there is a good chance that you will not make it very far in this business. Luckily, your landlord responsibilities are not anything that you should not be able to handle. As long as you know what you have to do, actually doing it will not be as difficult as you may think, As a landlord one of your biggest responsibilities is to make sure that your building meets all of the codes that are required by law. If you do not stay up to date on these codes you will end up getting yourself into a lot of trouble. This is one of the biggest landlord responsibilities that you must be familiar with. You can get information on codes from your local county office. Another landlord responsibility is making sure that you collect payment from all of your tenants on time. They should know when to send your money, and in turn do it on time. Out of all the landlord responsibilities this is the one that is most fun. After all, who doesn't like to collect money month in and month out? To go along with this, you will also have to be prepared to take action against a tenant if they are not going to pay you on time, and the amount of money that they owe. This is not one of the better landlord responsibilities, but one that you must be familiar with nonetheless. There are many landlord responsibilities that you must become familiar with before you get started. The good thing is that you can learn about these responsibilities well in advance. But even then, you will probably run into some details along the way that will surprise you. If this happens, the only things that you can do are roll with the punches and then work everything out to the best of your ability. Download free advice that can help you make great profits as a Landlord: http://www.freelandlproperty.com/landlord.htm Article Source: Free Articles ArticleSnatch Article Directory

Announcing Release of Property Management Software for Landlords

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 12:48:56 -0500

Jul 05, 2009 – Provericon Software Development Inc. (“Provericon”) is pleased to announce the newest release of its flagship Property Management software, LANDLORD ENTERPRISE, for Windows-based computers. LANDLORD ENTERPRISE allows the landlord or property manager to store, manage, and analyze information about units, tenants, and leases. It comes with powerful reporting capabilities, vendor management modules, equipment/asset management features, and maintenance/repair log capabilities. Also included are accounting and budgeting features. Suitable for most mid-sized organizations, LANDLORD ENTERPRISE is cost-effective and its streamlined workflow makes it extremely easy to use. LANDLORD ENTERPRISE permits an unlimited number of tenants and units, and is available for $179.99 USD. The software will run on Windows 98/NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista. A free, non-expiring trial version is available for download from the product website at www.landlordenterprise.com. Provericon develops custom software applications for various business domains, including the property management industry and other vertical markets. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Steve Moores, President Telephone (403) 263-9111 www.landlordenterprise.com

RealAgent Accelerator Featured on BitsDuJour for 24 hours only 80% discount!

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Sat, 30 May 2009 10:25:16 -0500

RealAgent Accelerator Featured on BitsDuJour.com
for an 80% discount - 24 hour sale only - May 31st !

Regular Price: $179.99
24-Hour Discounted Price: $36.00

Visit the Bits Du Jour website for more information

What is Bits Du Jour?

Every day we offer 24 hour discount deals, on a Windows software application, or a web service. We feature our deals at a substantial discount; the discount is available for that day only.

We don't process the sales; we just arrange the discounts and provide the links. You buy the program right from its vendor. Everything we feature is a legal, current version of the product.

What is RealAgent Accelerator?

No one needs to tell you that the real estate market is not what it used to be. Today, the real estate agents that continue to thrive in this struggling market are those who manage their businesses efficiently, actively cultivating a steady stream of referrals by maintaining close relationships with their clients.

RealAgent Accelerator is the all-in-one toolkit for real estate professionals, enabling you to effectively market your services, manage clients, keep track of appointments and tasks, create and send email templates and newsletters, and track commissions.

With RealAgent Accelerator, you’ll be able to leverage the power of today’s hottest technologies to ensure you’ll always be two steps ahead of your competition! Imagine using a web form on your website that allows you to pull buyer and seller leads directly into your RealAgent Accelerator software. And you won’t believe this – RealAgent Accelerator will even send you a text message on your phone every time a new lead comes in! No more missed opportunities!

Everything that you need to know about your clients, properties, and lenders is organized and maintained by RealAgent Accelerator. Task management and calendaring become second nature, and you can even see your client’s properties mapped by Google Maps for easy reference. And, while you’re tending to your stable of existing clients, RealAgent Accelerator will also be helping you to generate new leads by producing email campaigns and newsletters that will serve only to expand your reach. You can import client lists from any CSV format file!

You’ve never seen your real estate business run as efficiently as with RealAgent Accelerator! A full set of features helps you to manage income and expenses and calculate commissions automatically, and a plethora of reports and forms helps you to generate the documentation you need in a snap. All reports and forms can be customized for your logo and presence and exported as PDF, Word, Excel, HTML, or TIFF format for the ultimate flexibility!

RealAgent Accelerator - Business Management Software for Agents - New Pricing

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:36:08 -0600

RealAgent Accelerator, our all-in-one business management software application for agents, is now available for $179.99. There are no recurring fees, no subscriptions. You get everything for one low price.

With RealAgent Accelerator, you can manage every aspect of your real estate practice. It comes fully equipped with all of the tools you need to effectively market your services, manage clients, keep track of appointments and tasks, create and send email templates and newsletters, and track commission.

Visit our website at www.realagentaccelerator.com for more information and to see screenshots of RealAgent in action.

The Argument Against the Web - Usability and Privacy Food-For-Thought

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 11:49:07 -0500

In deciding to write this post I knew I'd be up against some stiff arguments. After all, to fly in the face of innovation and progress and suggest that "Web 2.0" has flaws requires a thick skin. However, I'd like to propose some ideas, if only for food-for-thought.

For all of its value and wonder, the web still is a very disconnected, ugly wasteland. Web sites don't talk to each other well, though this is improving with innovations like RSS, Atom, and publicly releasable developer APIs. The web is also still quite sluggish, with its request-response model of click a link, wait for the page and its content to be found and loaded, and continue. This concept also is improving, with technologies like AJAX (better Javascript), tried and true Flash animation, and new ideas like Silverlight from Microsoft.

Still, for most of the web, there is almost no drag-and-drop support, no advanced controls like treeviews, dials, sliders, no useful right-click and context-specific menus, no double-click concepts, and no usability heuristics that model the real world.

The best software occurs when the user-friendliness and "richness" of desktop apps meets the connectivity and distributed nature of the web. Things like Google Earth (not to be confused with Google Maps) come to mind - a beautiful, powerful software application taking advantage of the great interface and processing capabilities of the computer on your desk, while connecting itself to a world of information.

The difference with great applications like Google Earth is that we aren't talking about web SITES. We're talking about web SERVICES. And we're talking about desktop software programs that don't suffer from poor web interfaces.

Our software, RealAgent Accelerator, is a desktop application. Our users benefit from being able to use software in a way that's not foreign to them - the controls are responsive immediately, and there is next to no waiting for "the page to load" or to "submit" something.

That is not to say however, that our software suffers because it is not a website. RealAgent Accelerator connects to "back-end" web services that provide the same level of connectedness of any website. Data can be shared with other users, or uploaded and viewed from a PDA. Anything that can be done from a web browser can be done from a desktop application. However, not everything that can be done on a desktop can be done from the web - at least not yet. Have you tried using an online image editor? Terrible.

With websites, there's also an issue of privacy. Are you really sure that your client's personal information is housed in a safe manner? Are you really sure that your data, and that of your clients, are not sold to marketing companies? How would your client feel knowing that their home address, its value, and their mortgage information were stored on a web server in Mumbai, India? I'm can't speak to individual website privacy policies, but I'm not certain as to the legalities of whether your client submits to have his or her contact information posted on a website (secured or not) when he or she agrees to use your services.

Despite Web 2.0, the web still has a way to go. I'm all for innovation, but desktop applications aren't going away any time soon.

RealAgent Contact Management Software New Pricing Structure

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:06:43 -0500

New RealAgent Accelerator
Pricing Structure Effective Immediately

In response to the needs of our user community, we are pleased to announce a new price structure for RealAgent Accelerator.

RealAgent Accelerator is now available for a limited time for $279.99. There are no recurring charges - this is a one time license fee.

You will receive a license to use RealAgent Accelerator in its entirety. This includes email technical support and upgrades for 30 days.

You can elect to purchase subsequent upgrades for only $34.95 each.

Our mission is to develop quality software solutions for the real estate industry and to grow our user base by providing value to our customers. In doing so we wish to remain competitive in the marketplace by providing affordable, easy-to-use software packages, backed by friendly and helpful technical support.

To take advantage of this special offer, please click here:

http://www.realagentaccelerator.com/pricing

To download a free trial today visit:

http://www.realagentaccelerator.com/download

Regards,

The RealAgent Accelerator Team

Contact Management Software - Special Discount for AR members

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 10:32:47 -0500

For those of you looking for contact management software, or are looking for an alternative to Agent Office or Top Producer, we've released RealAgent Accelerator, an all-in-one toolkit for real estate agents. We like to call it 'swiss-army software for real estate'.

To get right to the point, we are currently offering two special benefits for AR members:

1. The unique ability to have features you require built right into the software. Our development process and team is quite agile and we are able to build features you request right into each and every new release. New releases are free for all customers.

2. 25% discount off the monthly license fee for AR members only. Enter a special coupon at time of purchase and receive our software at this great discount!

Visit our website at www.realagentaccelerator.com for more information. We've had a tremendous response from the agent community thus far - we'd love it if we can earn your business.

As the co-founder of RealAgent Online Inc., you'll have a direct line to me to discuss any special requirements, or questions you may have about the software.

Regards,

Steve Moores

Why Are Real Estate Agent Websites So Ugly?

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 00:20:02 -0500

As an observer of the real estate industry from a technology standpoint, I’ve always marveled at the relative ugliness of agent websites.

Now, before we go any further, I’d like to clarify a few things – first, that I certainly don’t want to paint every agent with the same brush; there are some outstanding agent websites out there that are both highly functional and beautiful.

Secondly, that beauty is of course in the eye of the beholder, and this holds true for design and user interface layout. I don’t claim to hold a monopoly on what’s esthetically acceptable, but I can offer food for thought.

Templates

The majority of agents wisely look to a third party to develop their website (as opposed to a do-it-yourself approach). Most agents spend their money on the hosting and management of the site, and spend little or none on the look and feel, opting instead to select from a variety of supposedly customizable templates. While fees for this sort of service vary, one thing is obvious – the development company that developed your website is turning a profit because they sell the same set of templates over and over – leaving customization options (sometimes very little) up to you. It’s a great economy of scale and it works very well for web developers, but it doesn’t make you stand out from the crowd.

One big offender here (in my opinion) is Point2. I can spot a Point2 website a mile away – just about every one of their websites has the same font styles, the same layout, and the same “generic house” or “happy family” imagery. These sites also have the same focus on lead generation – almost ad nauseam – with every link promising ‘free information’ or ‘find out what your home is worth’, just type in your email address and phone number please!

My feeling is that while it may cost more up front, the benefits of a custom designed website that doesn’t look like it just rolled off an assembly line are hard to ignore. I would find it difficult to select any professional if they did nothing to demonstrate that their services are unique, high-quality, and not like the pack.

Links

A huge usability barrier that I see on many agent sites is the vast number of links and menu options. Exacerbating this is the fact that many of these links point to the same information or end point, which lead users into circles of redundancy – and frustration.

A key decision to make is to really decide what side of the transaction your website should cater to – buyers or sellers. The focus should be tailored to that – if your business deals with both, separate those into two distinct sites (you don’t need two domain names, just two sites that don’t overlap) and really streamline your site to what’s really important to someone who is trying to select a reliable, competent agent.

Listing-centric or Client-centric?

Another issue that I see with many agent sites is that some go to great lengths to show me ‘featured listings’. This is a great feature when done tastefully, but with the mish-mash of listing engines and feeds, it’s rare to have this displayed seamlessly on your site – which adds confusion when your visitor clicks a listing and is whisked away to ‘listings-R-us’!

One thing to consider is that the type of customer that is web-savvy enough to even seek out and find your website is probably knowledgeable enough to use MLS-based websites, for example, and already has an idea of the homes they want to purchase. What they *are* seeking is a reputable, trustworthy agent to provide them with respectful service first, and listings second. MLS sites may have won the game of publicly accessible listings, but they can never replace good, quality relationships and customer service. I’m not saying you shouldn’t have listings on your site, but do focus on the battles you can win.

Site Rot

Site rot is what I call websites that take up space on the internet and are like old billboards on dusty roads. Sure, they have information, but it’s stagnant.

Thankfully, with the proliferation of blogs and other dynamic content (RSS feeds, etc.), site rot is less of a problem than it once was. The best thing you could do as far as ‘keeping up appearances’ on your website would be to have some content on the first page dated for TODAY. It means you’re active, you’re in the mix, you work for a living. The death knell for me would be to visit an agent’s website and see “Last Update: 2005” or a posting about median home values in 1999! Don’t just have a website to seem “with it” or because everyone who’s successful has one. It’s like a corn field – you reap what you sow.

Bottom Line

I’m a technology guy – I make a living helping people select technology solutions that harmonize with how they work in the real world. I don’t claim to know all of the nuances of real estate marketing – but I can tell the difference between a website that resonates with me, and one that has zero pizzazz. How you answer the phone, how you stage a home, how you dress and speak – all of these are a reflection of you – and your website is no exception.

The Problem With Off-The-Shelf Real Estate Software

Steve Moores (Provericon Software Development Inc.) — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 21:26:48 -0500

Most of us can see the value in computer software these days - there's a lot to be said for the kind of productivity and efficiency that comes from having a computer automate as much as possible. The trouble with most software that you can find in stores is simply that it’s too complicated.

Off-the-shelf software is too complicated because it tries to be all things to all people. Programs like Quickbooks, ACT!, and even Outlook offer too many features simply because they’re designed for the butcher, the baker, and the candlestick maker. While it’s true that most people really only use the same 30% of the functionality of any program, it’s also true that the other 70% of the software makes it bloated, slow, complicated, and cluttered.

From a real estate standpoint, the problem with most contact management or accounting software is that there isn’t much in the way of fields specific to real estate or the way you track buyers, sellers, and listings. Sure, you can look at your clients as “customers” in Quickbooks, and collect “payments” and post “sales for services rendered”, but is this really how you want to track your most valuable assets, your clients and your listings?

As far as ACT! and Outlook go, the same problem exists – you can create “contacts” but can you really track things like ‘desired neighborhood’, ‘square footage’, or home photos?

So we can certainly make the case that you really need an all-in-one solution, not a one-for-all solution. We designed RealAgent Accelerator to be an “organically” grown program that grows according to how our users want it to grow – we don’t charge for support and we answer all of our email – there’s nobody overseas to deal with, just friendly staff that developed the product and know it inside and out. RealAgent was designed by agents (imagine!), so it contains the sorts of things that we ourselves use to better manage our clients and improve the way we do business.

Any thoughts? We’d love to hear your thoughts on your experiences with software – good or bad. What kinds of things frustrate you about software? If you were designing software yourself, what one feature would it *have* to have? Let us know!

Real Estate Software & Technology Blog

Our new website: Advertise Your Rentals for Free : No strings attached.

Landlord Enterprise Rentals - Free to List, Free to Use

Other News:

It's finally here! Announcing theLandlord Enterprise Rental Board

Advertise your rental properties for free on the Landlord Enterprise Rental Board

Other News:

It's finally here! Announcing theLandlord Enterprise Rental Board

Announcing Landlord Enterprise Property Management Software for Landlords and Owners

Common Questions about Landlord Enterprise and Property Management Software in General

Your Responsibilities as a Landlord

Announcing Release of Property Management Software for Landlords

RealAgent Accelerator Featured on BitsDuJour for 24 hours only 80% discount!

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It's finally here! Announcing the
Landlord Enterprise Rental Board

It's finally here! Announcing the
Landlord Enterprise Rental Board