Apple Mac - Real Estate Agents Making The Transition
I finally returned home to Macintosh after a 18 year exile into the realm of DOS & Windows. Going from the Apple GUI to Wordperfect in 1990 was a shocker and then having to learn the command line to maintain my own 3 node coax Lantastic network was a major step backward in computing for me. I had no choice. Apple did not support the software I needed to run my business back then and it was only until after Apple moved to the intel chip with OS X did I finally have some hope to free myself of the bondage Bill Gates has kept me in for a long time.
Unfortunately the Real Estate industry believes the fax machine is an advanced business tool and our software vendors only know how to write for Internet Explorer using Active X. These limiting attitudes are crippling to a business that is all about promotion and the exposure of our client’s properties.
Apple’s move to the intel chip allows our industry to finally make a 90% break away from the Microsoft anchor and work with computing tools that are easier to use and far more efficient. While the cost to move to a Macintosh may be a concern, the efficiency and the material you can create quickly takes the sting out of the move. The following is a list of what you will need to make the switch.
MacBook Pro 15” - You can get away with a lower model but if you plan to use video, then this is the machine to get. Also the 15” has a backlit keyboard and a large display for showing homes while out on the road.
iWork 09 - Goodbye Microsoft Office!!! iWork will make the beginning computer user look like a professional desktop publisher in minutes. I am not sure how to convey here how this program blows Office out of the water. As a real estate agent I have to communicate ideas in a sales setting. Microsoft Office produced documents look like kindergarten finger paintings next to iWork documents. The ability to manipulate pictures and charts is so fun and easy I am looking for excuses to open up iWork every day to see what I can create. Apple’s drag and drop genius is taken to new levels in this productivity suite. 
If you are a Power Point user, you will never go back after using Keynote. I will challenge you to a presentation duel if you don’t believe it. Again the quality of the graphics, transitions and builds leaves Power Point in the dust. I have already used Keynote at the Women’s Council of Realtors Luncheon, a business tech seminar I gave, a PDF training class I did for real estate agents and I will present next week on real estate video. I will have a Keynote listing presentation worked out soon.
Numbers - the replacement for Excel, is a statical communicator’s dream. The charts and graphs are far higher in quality over Excel and the manipulation is 100 times easier.
Looking at the Excel chart (the first chart) compared to the iWork Numbers chart, it is pretty easy to which chart from the most basic chart settings wins.
The iWork suite builds on Apple’s 25 year tradition to make all the commands similar between products so as soon as you learn one product you can easily move to the next.
A system wide dictionary is built into the operating system so no matter what you are doing your spelling can be fixed on the fly.
Next you will need either Parallels or Fusion. These are virtual Machine programs that allow you to run Windows on your Mac at the same time you are running OS X. If you still have your Windows XP installation disc and serial number then you are all set to run Windows on your Mac. Currently the MLS systems and Win/ZipForms need Active X to run. Having Window installed will give you the ability to use your MLS and Contract forms.
Last you will need Aperture to manipulate your photos similar to photoshop.
There is free software on the internet to work with Microsoft Office documents called OpenOffice. While iWork opens all my Word and excel docs, I had trouble with a form in Excel where the drop down choices did not work in iWork’s Numbers.
What really makes this whole experience even better is that Apple sells a service, “One to One”. For $100.00 you get one hour a week FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR (by Appointment) with a trainer at the Apple store that will help you with any Apple product. This service pays for itself in just the first couple of visits.
Real Estate Agents of today and the future have to be mobile, tech savvy and be able to communicate visually. If you are considering another desktop computer you will be making a big mistake. While your files and contracts are anchored to your home office or regular office I will be on WIFI in Starbucks showing homes on the MLS to my clients on my MacBook Pro enjoying a Cafe Latte.
A blog post is a hard place to go into detail and properly extol the virtues of Apple’s offerings, but the mantra that “you’re into graphics so you need a Macintosh”, is a wrong statement. You’re darn right I’m into creating and communicating ideas that make it easier for my clients to understand, but what gets overlooked, is that a Macintosh as a business tool gives the real estate agent an edge, because a large part of what any sales person does in engage in the art of persuasion. This ability to easily create work to communicate with next to no hassle, puts Windows and Microsoft office in second place.
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