Every few years a new tool for real estate agents comes along that is truly groundbreaking. There was the fax machine, pager, car phone, personal computer, laptop, Blackberry and now — the iPad.
The iPad is a phenomenal tool for real estate professionals to enhance their business. Aside from the amazing apps to make life easier and more productive, it is a device that still has a wow factor. When you pull it out with clients, it makes a statement.
There are a ton of different tablets on the market. I have a huge bias toward the iPad. Not only is it hands down the most stylish tablet on the market but most importantly, application developers tend to develop for it first and foremost. And it’s the different applications, or “apps” that really make the iPad the productivity powerhouse that it is.
Outlined below are some of the must-have apps for real estate professionals and tips on how to incorporate them into your business:
Open Home Pro ($11.99)
- This app is designed to help real estate professionals collect contact information at open houses
- All information gets saved in a database that you can download at a later date (no need to decipher handwriting anymore!)
- My personal favorite feature is an email that is automatically sent out to each person thanking them for attending
KeyNote ($9.99)
- KeyNote is an app that allows you to create a full listing presentation, very similar to PowerPoint
- If you have a Mac, you can even build your listing presentation on your personal computer and transfer it over to your iPad
- Once you’ve finished your presentation, you can pull up the paperwork and have your client sign right there on the iPad
PDF Expert ($9.99)
- PDF Expert allows you to have your clients sign documents on your iPad
- There are a number of different PDF manipulation apps out there but this is hands down the best one
DropBox (Free up to 2 GB of space)
- This app allows you to share and back up files with ease
- After you download the app, you’ll need to set up an account. A 2 GB account is free, and this is more than enough space to start with. You then install DropBox on your desktop, and on any other devices with which you’ll want to be sharing files
- When installed, it places a folder on your computer called ‘My DropBox.’ When you save a file in this folder, the file is automatically backed up on DropBox’s server and is also available through the DropBox app on your iPhone/iPad, or whichever other device on which you have installed DropBox
- You can share any of the folders in your DropBox with other DropBox users. This is where it comes in extremely handy for real estate professionals, as you can now create a client folder, pop in all related files and your client can access them
- DropBox also helps facilitate getting your listing signed on the iPad. Before your presentation, you can prep the paperwork on your main computer and instead of printing it, save it as a PDF in the relevant DropBox folder and you’ll have it right there on your iPad whenever you need it
Brad Sage, OREA Guest Blogger
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