Real Estate Technology & Tools

The RealBird PRO listing marketing suite is only $1 for the rest of the year. That's a 96% savings over our regular monthly fee.We are practically giving the house away :)Please note that this is a new PRO member special.For existing free RealBird members:If you already have a free RealBird account, you can upgrade to PRO for only $1Make sure you log in via this link to be redirected to the special upgrade page:https://www.realbird.com/member/login.aspx?int=t6fu7yrnshywY8Don't have a RealBird account yet?You can create an account via the registration link below and follow the instructions to upgrade at this 96% discount for only $1https://www.realbird.com/member/register.aspx?p=register&int=t6fu7yrnshywY8Sharing is much appreciatedIf you have real estate friends, coworkers, and partners... 11/27/2024

As a busy real estate professional managing multiple rental properties, your schedule is hectic enough as it is. The last thing your rental business needs is a tenant-related issue, leading to an eviction, property damage, late payment, or vacancy – ultimately, lost revenue. That’s why we at RealBird were happy to partner with RentRisk to bring you free tenant screening to add peace of mind in your day to day. Our hope is that this partnership adds one more tool in your toolbelt to bring value to both your business and clients in a practical way.Proper tenant screening is crucial for any real estate professional – it helps mitigate risks and ensures you find responsible, trustworthy tenants. However, there is a low standard in the industry when screening. Some think that basic credit ch... 11/27/2024

Hey guys!This year, I have been focusing on helping our clients get up to speed with Privacy compliance related to their website, and I’m recommending a solution I use on my own website, Termageddon.If you missed my Active Rain Presentation a couple of weeks ago - check out the presentation slides below!Yeah, I know - you think because I am a affiliate that I get a commission and that is why I recommend them. Well, I AM an affiliate AND a reseller - but I don't recommend them because of this. I have personally worked with Termageddon since 2018 and their product and customer service is TOP NOTCH. There are other privacy policy generators I could have partnered with but these guys are the best and THAT is what I want for my clients. Plus....they give my clients a discount, which makes it... 11/26/2024

Avoid Feeding the Beast‼️ Using discernment to determine which tech tools work for business sake and what is a potential waste of resources, I was recently invited to sign up for REO listing opportunities, again. The following paragraph was part of the call to action:It read:" With the season of gratitude upon us, we want to thank you for being a valued partner. To show our appreciation, we’re excited to assist you in reinstating your eligibility to receive listings by offering you our largest promotion of the year."• For a Limited Time‼️• Sign up by November 29th‼️• Before this opportunity passes you by‼️ My response:"No thank you. After signing up a few times, hoping to earn some business, I never received any - NOT ONE LISTING‼️ Perhaps too many other agents are better connected, tho... 11/27/2024

50 Proven SEO Tactics for Real Estate Agents - SEO – Search Engine Optimization or maybe you’ve heard of SEM, which stands for Search Engine Marketing, are essentially the same thing. It’s setting up your online presence, be it your website, blog or social media presence, for the best possible return on investment, time and energy. Simply publishing a website is not going to get you the leads and traffic you want. As with anything, you have to take the time to nurture it, work it, hone it, and perfect it to really get it to work for you. Once you get that snowball working, but once it does, it can be quite the machine. While there’s no ONE way to do SEO or ONE tactic that will work, we can implement a few of them to really start making an impact. I have reached out to 50 real estate pro... 11/21/2024

My relo family was ready to write on a property they fell in love with, and told them I usually call, and have the offer up on their computer to go over line by line.He then said -- can we bring up the contract on a shared screen and go over?   Sure, I can send you a oom request.   He asked if I had used Microsoft TEAMS.   No, cannot say that I have.   BUT, then again, we usually have our clients in town when writing an offer.   He uses this system for his team meetings, as usually the employees are scattered over the US.   It is quite reasonable for a business.It was very similar to Zoom, but I wasn't able to get into CTM through the share button, so he shared his screen.   It worked, we all got to talk about it all and got it done and sent! 11/23/2024

I had a very busy day Tuesday, and had many details to attend to prior to a Zoom call for Managing Brokers with our local MLS.   Then off to a meeting at our Board.    While on the Zoom, they talked about Cubi Casa which is an app for floor plans.   I again went into my apps and remembered I had deleted it, as something weird came up last time I tried doing some floor plans at a new listing. While going into Google Play Store to again download it, Play Store had two options - password or biometrics.  WHAT????   As usual, was in a hurry, and decided, OK will work on the biometrics.   OOPS.    Put a lock on my phone, wouldn't let any of my emails come through my gmail account, and all of a sudden was stressed.   Anytime you have changes with any Google product, you have more issues than y... 11/20/2024

Many seem to fear that AI is coming for our jobs. With the rise of generative AI, white-collar workers—including coders and lawyers—look to be especially at risk...maybe even doctors...probably NOT real estate professionals...WHEW!!There are a lot of opinions about AI and the future of work. And here are the facts: Nobody really knows what will happen.Chatbots can ace high school tests, medical licensing exams, and the bar exam. They can summarize meetings and even write basic news articles. Many researchers deny that any of that is evidence of true smarts. Even if it were, there’s a lot more to most jobs than what those models can do.A lot of jobs have many tasks within them—and employers are figuring out which can be reliably outsourced to AI and which cannot. Remember, there’s a huge... 11/16/2024

How Effective Is Your Real Estate WebsiteTechnology is constantly evolving in real estate. Your "silver bullet" from five years ago could be nothing more than a piece of lead in 2024. Agent real estate websites seem to fit this mold. Consider my websites over the years... 1) Early Days My Century 21 Website-- Back when dinosaurs roamed the coast (2008) I had my Century 21 Agent website. For me this was nothing more than an agent office directory. Did I use it effectively? Absolutely not. I was more worried about getting my ad ready for Cablemart! 2) Generation Two Z-57--This was a giant leap forward. I could take my listings and put them directly on the website. Of course it was up to me to change the status or record any price changes. Guess how well I did that? Z-57 became sort of an ... 11/12/2024

Introduction to the Shift: Real Estate’s Online ImperativeReal estate professionals are witnessing a gradual but significant shift in how clients engage with listings, agents, and services. Today, many prospective buyers and sellers turn to search engines as their primary resource. Real estate agents, therefore, face a pressing question: how can they ensure their visibility amidst a growing sea of digital content? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) appears to hold part of the answer, although its effectiveness relies on more than quick fixes or keyword stuffing.SEO’s Promise in Localized SearchOne of the most promising areas for SEO within real estate lies in localized search optimization. By refining content to match local search intent—phrases like "condos in Miami" or "realtors in Denv... 11/06/2024

Reblogging to save for future reading. Getting a LAANC flying a real estate video mission. A new property listing, you already have the on the ground still images and video loops to edit. But the drone fly over footage is missing. You want to collect the stills and video files to round out the real estate listing story.  You are in a no fly zone restricted air space to fly your real estate drone. Now what? No overhead media and call it a day? No way. Put in the request early and don't wait. The process is streamlined now. But not if you put off the LAANC request for authorization to fly your drone until the last minute. Racing out the door with fresh batteries, an SD card with plenty of recording space. The weather conditions are perfect, Mr Sun is parked in the perfect place for lighti... 11/05/2024

Getting a LAANC flying a real estate video mission.A new property listing, you already have the on the ground still images and video loops to edit. But the drone fly over footage is missing. You want to collect the stills and video files to round out the real estate listing story. You are in a no fly zone restricted air space to fly your real estate drone.Now what? No overhead media and call it a day? No way. Put in the request early and don't wait. The process is streamlined now. But not if you put off the LAANC request for authorization to fly your drone until the last minute.Racing out the door with fresh batteries, an SD card with plenty of recording space. The weather conditions are perfect, Mr Sun is parked in the perfect place for lighting and effect.Then Rut Rho.The FAA air char... 11/04/2024

My buyers will be here later this week, and they provided a list of homes they would like to view.    Many are upgraded with the finest quality.   There was one home that listed they had installed the Control4 system throughout their home.   I hadn't ever heard of this system, so I had to Google it.There is a Dashboard, and you control -  blinds doors garage doors gates cameras security systems water heaters water shutoff generator thermostat You can look by room, and ask for Spotify, Netflix, play music and so many other things!   Here is a video with all their info.  Everything is at your fingertips on your phone.This was very interesting to my buyers, and think even if they buy another home without this system, they probably will look into it for the home they do purchase. 11/04/2024

RealBird has partnered with RentRisk to integrate their tenant application and screening services directly into our rental listing syndication platform, (available in the USA). With this integration, you can now easily add a tenant application and background check option to your RealBird rental listings when you publish them, or directly from the listing’s marketing page in your dashboard.How Does It Work?Activating this feature in your RealBird dashboard is a one-click process. Once enabled, RealBird automatically generates a RentRisk tenant screening link for your rental property. This link is stored in your RealBird dashboard, where you can easily copy and share it with potential tenants. Additionally, the single property website that RealBird creates for your rental will include an ... 11/03/2024

It does feel like we are drowning in a sea of new technology! To be honest, I was hesitant about using it, mostly lazy! I didn't want to learn anything new! I have always said though "if you ain't learning, you ain't earning!" So I decided get off my lazy behind and check out some new technology and hopefully make my business easier.   My 3 Tech Tools That I Started Using 2024 It does feel like we are drowning in a sea of new technology! To be honest, I was hesitant about using it, mostly lazy! I didn't want to learn anything new! I have always said though "if you ain't learning, you ain't earning!" So I decided get off my lazy behind and check out some new technology and hopefully make my business easier.  1. CHATGPT  I have no idea what it stands for but my office had a zoom training ... 11/05/2024

For some, the search for their dream home feels like a year-round 'Nightmare Before Christmas.' .  It does not have to be that way But it doesn't have to be that way! Let's work together to turn your real estate journey into a holiday treat.Contact me today, and let's make your homeownership dreams come true.🏠👻#thehelpfulagent #home #houseexpert #listreports #halloween #hallowyay #a103124 #realestate #realestateagent #realtor 10/31/2024

Quality of Life Raise. This post could have started writting many years ago, 2014 to be exact. I started my home inspection business, SLS Home Inspections in 2007. I started with a 13 page pile of paper with components of what to inspect. It matched the primitive report software I was using. It wasn't very expensive to use the report writing software but it did the job for 11 years. I was at a home inspection conferance and met Erin Brockovich, yes the Erin Brockovich. I was standing in line to get a picture with her and the inspector behind me in line and I were chatting about business and inspector stuff. He said he was doing about 300 inspections a year. I was only doing about 200-225 and was having trouble keeping up with the signatures and payments and sending reports. I asked how ... 10/31/2024

Picture this: It’s 2002. I’m sitting at my desk with a big stack of papers, a pager on my belt, and a cell phone as big as a brick! The fanciest tech I had was MapQuest directions printed out and stuffed in my car. Those were the “good old days” of real estate! Fast forward to now, and I’m practically a walking app store. Yep, after over 22 years in the business, I’ve gone from a pager-loving Realtor to a tech wizard. Let me take you on a fun trip through how I became an app expert!Canva: The Design WizardCanva transforms the way I create marketing materials. Whether it's eye-catching social media posts, listing flyers, or property brochures, Canva's intuitive platform makes design simple. Its pre-made templates and easy drag-and-drop features let me produce professional-looking content... 10/30/2024

Finding the perfect home doesn't have to be a 'fang'-tastic challenge.Sink your teeth into your dream house with my expert guidance!  It is a sign of the times as we get ready for the fall buying season.  🦇🏠Contact me today and let's make your homeownership dreams 'battier' than ever.#thehelpfulagent #home #houseexpert #house #listreports #lovebites #loveatfirstbite #a102524 #realestate #realtor #realestateagent #halloween #hallowyay 10/25/2024

Let's all agree, we get WAY too many emails, texts and phone calls from solicitors! There are times I actually read more than the first few words, and the other day I was shocked at the attitude she took in her email.   Even if I was looking for leads, I definitely would NEVER call/email her back. I guess I probably read a bit, and quickly deleted the first one.   The next day I semi-remembered the name and read more than the first few words, and she said - something like - guess you either don't want to work or too lazy to email me back! WHAT????   Wow, wonder if she EVER gets anyone to respond?   Maybe she is a bit desperate, but wow, I was SHOCKED.   If we wrote anything like that, we would be out of business lickety split!  10/24/2024