Admin

Technology

By
Real Estate Agent with Champions Real Estate Group

 

 Technology

Wow, im suprised to see that not many people are up to date with technology.  Technology is great and will make your life a heck of alot easier. 

One piece of technology that all Realtors should have is a GPS Navigation system.  Wow i can't imagine life without it.  I remember when we first got in the business we were using mapquest to print out maps and directions, but try mapping out 5-7 properties.  It was a hassle trying to drive and look at the pages at the same time.  I remember i was showing an out of town buyer and we felt so bad because we could not find a property.  We kept doing turn after turn and it was just unprofessional.  After this i rushed over to best buy and purchased a GPS Navigation system for under $300 Bucks.  And let me tell you that has been one of our best investments ever.  Its like master card, "Don't leave home without it!"  We take it everywhere we go and i has been great.  I look back at times and wonder how the heck we showed properties without it and realized that technology makes life soo much easier!! 

 Garmin GPS

Another Great technology that Realtors should have is a PDA or Smart Phone.  I was very disorganized with numbers, leads, appointments and just always had 101 things running through my head.  I needed something to organize myself so i bought the T-mobile Dash and it is Fabulous.  It has everything a phone could ever need.  Everything from emails, to wifi, to full page browser internet, a QWERTY Keypad, blue tooth an mp3 player a document reader and soo much more.  One of my favorites is the calendar because it allows you to set appointments ahead of time and it allows you to choose how soon you want a reminder.  It also allows you to send and receive emails, which is very important because if you get internet leads it is important to reply to them ASAP.  It also has a full page browser so if you needed to pull up a listing you can log into HAR and have instant access which is great. 

 

 T-mobile Dash

A laptop is also very important,  we do many of our listing presentations on our laptops through power point and we connect it to our clients televsion.  It is just amazing and we have a remote that allows us to change the pages without touching the laptop so the presentations look great.  All you need is a cord that will connect your laptop to an output for the television. We also carry our laptops around with us everywhere so if a client wants to see properties at a coffee shop we have access to HAR at all times. 

Technology might seem scary to some people that are not accustomed to it but if you take some time to learn about it and ask for help it will make your life alot easier and will make you wonder how you ever worked with out technology.

 

Show All Comments Sort:
Derek Bridger
Mortgage - Albany, NY
I absolutely agree.  I'm a Blackberry fan myself but I occasionally get "Thumbitis" lol.  I like to price out clients at open houses for their financing and pretty much all of the above covers what's in my briefcase!  Great post!
Jan 15, 2008 05:13 AM
Jennifer Esposito
JenRan Realty, LLC - Woodstock, CT
I'd be scared to have all this stuff in my vehicle, with my luck it would get stolen.  I'd like to get a GPS to find property corners; as far as a PDA goes-I don't think I'd have the patience to learn to use one.  LOL
Jan 15, 2008 05:18 AM
Larry Brewer - Benchmark Realty llc
Benchmark Realty LLc - Nashville, TN

Leo - you are so right . I bought a Garmin 4 years ago after a frustrating day of looking a rural property. I kept missing turns because the signs were gone. So I wasted hours of the customers time and mine, because truks had knocked down the street signs. Now I'm like you,l I don't leave home without it.

 I also have a treo 680 for internet access,e-mail,text messages, and it also works as a phone. One of the most useful programs I have loaded on it, is a mortgage calculator. I have a point2agent website that sends text and e-mail messages straight to my phone when someone inquires about a listing.I think both tools are necessary today for a busy real estate agent.

Jan 15, 2008 06:57 AM