The last year taught all of us to quickly adopt new technologies to stay connected with family, friends and loved ones. Just as you would want to be connected with the important people in your life, real estate agents need to be connected with their clients. This has led to a number of tools that have shaped the real estate industry over the last 12 months and changed the way agents interact with their clientele.
There are a lot of different technology providers out there with a wide array of different tools. We’ve rounded up a few of our favorite tools to use as a real estate agent.
Zoom
Zoom is by far one of the most popular tools discovered by people in the last year. This video conferencing tool gives everyone the opportunity to connect with people from the convenience of their phone or computer. In just a few clicks and by one running one program, you’re able to video conference with anyone. For real estate agents, this has made virtual tours a breeze. Now, an agent can walk through a home and show their client features of the house through a virtual platform. It makes it easy on the client and as an added bonus, agents can record the conversation to review it later on.
FaceTime
Similar to using Zoom, iPhone users can use internal video conferencing through FaceTime. This offers the same benefits and allows agents to perform virtual tours with their clients. To use FaceTime with your clients, you just need to make sure you have an iPhone running the latest operating system software and a reliable internet connection. If you’re not sure if your iPhone is up for the challenge, take it by your nearest tech repair company.
An IDX Driven Website
While you for sure want to have a presence on real estate apps like Trulia or Zillow, you still need your own website to showcase your featured listings and show people who you are. A website gives you the ability to have a brand, a logo for your business and really show off. Plus, when you use 3rd party websites and apps, you’re reliant on their changes.
If you’re looking into creating a website, it’s very important to include IDX functionality with the website. This technology is what allows you to pull in real estate listings from your local MLS and is needed to refine or filter those listings. For example, if you wanted to create a page of listings for specific neighborhood, you can pull the datea from the MLS and refine by zip codes, community names, specific coordinates, etc.
Being An Early Adopter
The real estate industry has been around for a long time and we’ve seen a lot of different technologies come and go. Those who are the most successful with technological changes are the people who are quick to adopt new technologies. Nobody envisioned virtual tours happening a year ago due to the health crisis, but those agents who were quick to adopt things like FaceTime and Zoom are now prospering and have happy clients.
Be an early adopter of new technologies and stay ahead of your competition.