I Love Technology – But Please Don’t Make Me TM !

I used to be known as a bit of a technophile; you know, one of those geeky Inspector-Gadget kind of guys, who's on top of the latest gismo that's on, or will be coming onto the market soon.  I have to admit however, that despite my dual subscriptions to Popular Science and Mechanics, my widening separation from a close proximity to the cutting edge seems to correlate directly with my increasing age.

In the Real Estate business, that tendency to separate from the latest-and-greatest can, over time, be a pre-curser to the death of a salesman, a Real Estate Salesman that is. 

I'm an "e-PRO" certified Realtor, which is meant to signify that I have not only been trained to be familiar with the latest and greatest technological tools in the industry, but can actually use them as well.   That's my story and I'll be sticking to it, for the most-part; but I'll have to admit, I'm feeling a little resistance within myself to fully embrace every little watch-ya-call-it that comes around the bend, which is a strange new phenomenon that surprises me about myself.

Here's what I mean.  As a Realtor who should be up to speed with all the latest tools, it would be necessary to do, or already have in my possession, the following:

Establish a private Internet domain.  (Ok, I've done that - fredjaeger.com)

Activate a Real Estate Website using the above domain.  (I'm cheating a little on that one.  I'll explain later.)

Adopt SEO Technologies to be applied to your domain and Website.  (OUCH, busted.  Don't even ask; you don't want to hear about this one, believe me.)

Have an internet-capable PDA "Smart" cell phone.   (Nope. Busted again.  Having my emails chase me wherever I go via Blackberry is probably a good idea, however unsavory, and being able to research listings out in the field would be great; but I'm not quite there yet.)

Abandon Faxing in lieu of scanning important docs via PDF creation software that can batch together multiple items into a single email-capable file.  (Ok, I do this and encourage others to do it too, at every opportunity.)

Try to utilize text messaging and/or try to wrap your head around why the kids think it's better than just calling. (I'm trying on this one; I really am.)

Post all listings out on Craig's List , and other internet portals, in addition to the company Website.  (I am doing this one as much as possible.. the problem is the listings expire and take babysitting to keep current.)

Start a BLOG (WebLog) and make regular postings on topics of interest.  (I started this reluctantly I admit, but have found it to be one of the better networking tools available.  I point my domain fredjaeger.com to my BLOG on the Active Rain Real Estate network.) 

Make use of Virtual Tours and/or Video Software, in addition to just pictures for listings. (I'm all over this one and use it regularly.)

Get a Laptop Computer in addition to your office and home machines.  (My office machine is a laptop, which I find useful for listing presentations and field research while traveling.  However, if I were going to be really snazzy, I'd have a touch screen capable model with Optical Character Recognition (OCR,) and a swivel view screen to boot; but I don't.)

Get a Broadband-Capable Wireless Card for the laptop.  (Ok, I've got one of these, but I didn't get it for the laptop.  I'm still in dial-up hell at home, and use it there.  Does that count?)

Make use of a Virtual Assistant.  (There are various versions of this concept available on the Internet now, the idea being that various secretarial services can be taken care of on-line, like posting transaction documents for internet availability, call forwarding and voicemail, etc.  I'm definitely not up-to-speed on this idea.)

Establish a private Fax-to-Email number.  (I just started this and wish I'd done it a long time ago.  All my incoming faxes now go to my email inbox in PDF format, which saves me TONS of time and energy.)

Purchase a Global Positioning System GPS.  (Ok, I'll have to admit that my inner-geek couldn't resist this from WAY-BACK.  I used to work in the navigation department on an aircraft carrier 20-plus years ago and I just marvel at the modern GPS.  I actually have two units, a hand-held one for my geocaching hobby, and a PDA in the truck loaded with GPS-capable software for getting around on the roads.  This tool has been invaluable when I'm out there trying to find properties in unexplored territory.)

I started out thinking I was losing touch with technology, mostly because I have, admittedly, a slight aversion to the text-messaging thing that has developed over the last few years.  It's unsettling every time one of my twenty-something clients sends me a "TM" because first of all, figuring out how to even begin to read them, let alone respond back, is frustrating, particularly to someone who is apparently becoming as increasingly crotchety as myself.  There's a whole Chat-Room / IM world that the post-baby-boomers play in, that I have a tendency to look on with little more than tempered amusement.

As far as keeping up with it all, I'm glad to be able to say that in the Real Estate world, we're pretty much on the cutting edge, as evidenced by the partial list I've cited of the tools that we use in the industry today. 

If I could just get myself past this Text-Messaging thing, I'd be golden.

Fred Jaeger is a licensed Oregon Real Estate Broker and e-PRO certified Realtor® associated with RE/Max Sunset Realty.  He can be reached directly at 541 598-5449 or fred@fredjaeger.com .