I heard someone say one time, "Work smarter, not harder." It's good advice, but also can be hard to follow because we are people of habit. We build our lives and our business and our habits around how we think and how we do things. And that means that we can find ourselves in a rut if we're not careful. Also, at times, we are afraid of change because change is hard and scary. What if it doesn't work? What if it takes a lot of my time? What if it costs lots of money?
Yep, those are legitimate questions...until and unless you find yourself stuck. Or even worse, no longer growing your life and/or your business.
A couple of years ago, we decided to do the things we needed to do in order to be able to be fast, effective and leaders in Real Estate in our part of the world.
Here's a few things we have changed and a few we have implemented.
1. We moved from Windows to Apple.
When Windows 8 was being released, I needed a new computer. But I was tired of buying Office and quite frankly, tired of the amount of work it took to keep my trusty Dell laptop running fast and clean. So we made the move. Today we run Mac computers, Iphones and Ipads. Why? Because everything is quickly interchangeable. If I take a picture on my phone, it's already on my Mac when I get back to the office. The MLS operates fast and clean for us. And the best and most important part...we don't spend hours and hours running annoying virus cleaning programs and dealing with Windows issues. No more trying to pack up your laptop only to be told there are 34 updates being downloaded and don't turn off your computer.
Now hear me here. I'm not poo pooing Windows. More people use Windows than Mac and if that's your system of choice, I have no doubt that it probably works for you. It did for us for years. We use Apple products now only because they make what we do easier, faster and with less headaches.
So how is Real Estate different in an Apple Computing World?
- If I put a document, picture or contact on one device, it is on all my devices instantly. For example, I can edit my Listing Presentation on my laptop and use it on my Ipad immediately. Or visa versa. I love that.
- When I open my Mac Book each morning to begin working, I can begin working. Instantly.
- Pages and Word are interchangeable.
- I text all day long (when I'm in the office) from my laptop.
And just to be fair, Apple isn't perfect. There are things we don't love. But the interconnectedness is superb for if you need things to work and go fast in your busy Real Estate business. And, if Windows ever becomes better than Apple for us in Real Estate, then back we'll go!
2. Open Home Pro
I'll do a full review of this app at another time. But for today let me say this. If you have an Ipad, get this app. Pay for it. It's worth every dime. Once you enter your new listing and upload the pic, you can customize whatever questions you want to use for your open house or broker's open.
We have found that everyone is way more open to giving feedback on the Ipad than they are writing it down. And we gather their contact information better than 90% of the time through the contact info questions.
And here's the best part of this app. When your open house is over or the broker's open has wrapped up, you can email all the feedback to your seller immediately. My sellers love that!
3. Digital Paperless Real Estate
Right about the time we were shifting computer systems, we also ventured into "paperless" real estate by implementing Docusign. Docusign and Dootloop are programs that allow you to convert paper documents to PDF documents and then send them via email for signatures.
And here's what's really cool.
You can also create pure original PDF documents and never touch a piece of paper.
You can send your docs to your buyer or seller anywhere in the world where they have an Internet connection. I sold a house to a gentleman who was going to be retiring from the military and moving to Oklahoma. At the time he was stationed in Germany, so all our contract docs went through Docusign to him and back to me within minutes. It was awesome.
One last thing in regards to digital paperless Real Estate. It doesn't mean you never use paper. Of course you do.
It just means you have another way to connect with customers and others in the Real Estate Industry.
And here's the best part of using a digital doc program like Docusign.
No more storing old paper files from years ago in your garage.
So there you go.
If you're still thinking about what technology to use, my advice is this. Check out Apple and Windows both. And then go with the system that works best for you.
Just be sure whichever one you choose, it is reliable, can go fast and gives you many different ways to access your data.
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