Real Estate Related January 12, 2010

Don’t be a real estate Dinosaur, 5 ideas for 2010!

So it is 2010 which means it is time to analyze your business and make sure you are relevant with technology in the eyes of your customers. I have broken this down to 5 items.

1. Do you understand the power of social media? Are you engaged in the world of Facebook, and Twitter? If you aren’t then watch this video.

2. Phones... Take your phone out of your pocket or purse, look at it. If it can’t browse the web, send text, take a picture, sync with mail, be used as a GPS, and open attachments then you need a new phone. Here are my recommendation. Blackberry, Droid, or Iphone. Think about this for a second. I’m a buyer and I walk into your open house with my I-phone and you are armed with a base line phone that can only make a call or text, if that is the case then who has more info in the room at that point? “The person in the room with the most information wins.”

3. Laptops…. Desktop computers are a thing of the past. In real estate today you need to live in a mobile environment. Laptop computers with a wireless air card is your best bet.

4. Professional Photography. Why do agents still take their own pictures of their listings? Your job is to display this home in its best light so that it looks great to potential buyers. Your a real estate professional not a professional photographer.  It would be like your heart surgeon saying “hey we are going to save you some money today. I happen to have my own anesthesia machine so I’ll just do the surgery and anesthesia today sound good?” NO! Hire a professional. Read this article.

5. Listing Syndication. Are you able to articulate what listing Syndication means? Do you know where your listings are syndicated to? Do you understand the value of syndication. If you aren’t then I suggest finding out if your company supports syndication and if so they should have some information available for you to use to better educate your sellers. This tool alone can help you get that new listing.

PS:  here is an extra that I decided to throw in at the last min. Get a Flip camera. This thing is awesome.

It is that simple.

Thanks for taking the time.