Time is one of the most precious commodities when it comes to real estate. For real estate agents, organization and task efficiency are fundamental ingredients in being the best agent you can be. You have to juggle multiple client obligations at once, including managing listings, communicating with buyers and sellers, drafting contracts, scheduling inspections, and so on and so on.
The good news is there are a few great ways to leverage technology to win back time in your schedule. Once you identify these areas where tech and automation can improve your workflow, you’ll be an A-player in no time. Let’s get into the tech tricks every agent should know now.
1. Share Your Outlook Calendar
A real estate agent’s calendar is their bible. From scheduling showings and client meetings to remembering contract deadlines, knowing where you’ll be when is one of the biggest parts of the job. This is where sharing your Outlook calendar with clients and colleagues can make scheduling meetings markedly easier and reduce the likelihood of double bookings.
Sharing your calendar means everyone involved is on the same page with appointments, availability, and key dates. It eliminates all of the back-and-forth trying to find a time that everyone can do. You can open up your calendar this way by learning how to share the Outlook calendar.
2. Use a CRM Tool
Managing clients, leads, and transactions is a total nightmare without a system in place. Customer relationship management (CRM) tools are there to help real estate agents manage client interactions, track leads, and automate repetitive tasks. With a good CRM in place, you can manage all your client information in one place and delegate your time and attention to everyone you work with.
There are several CRMs for real estate agents, and they have features like property tracking, automated drip campaigns, and integration with MLS (Multiple Listing Service) databases. Some popular ones are Zoho CRM, HubSpot CRM, and Contactually. These will help you manage relationships and stay on top of your pipeline.
3. Virtual Tours and 3D Home Staging
More than ever before, home buyers are searching online before ever stepping foot in a potential home. That means virtual tours and 3D home staging are more important than ever for real estate agents today. Offering virtual tours can give buyers a full view of a property from the comfort of their own home. That widens your reach and saves time by weeding out the tire kickers.
3D home staging takes it a step further by allowing buyers to see how a space can be transformed with different furniture and decor.
Tools like Matterport and BoxBrownie allow real estate agents to create immersive experiences that can make a listing stand out in a busy market. These are especially useful for vacant properties where buyers struggle to see the potential of an empty space.
4. Provide Property Access With Remote Access Lockboxes
Property access can be a nightmare, especially when you have multiple listings. Remote access lockboxes like SentriLock and Supra iBox make it even easier. These smart lock boxes allow you to assign temporary access codes to authorized individuals so only those with permission can get in.
Seeing the entry logs in real time adds an extra layer of security to see who got in and when. Integration with mobile apps makes it even more convenient to manage access on the go, even at short notice. The best part of these remote access lockboxes is how much time it will free up in your schedule. Beyond that, you’ll be able to manage more prospects interested in viewing your properties!
5. Automate Your Social Media
Social media is like a digital billboard for real estate agents. It helps showcase listings, connect available home opportunities to prospective buyers, and build the brand of the real estate agent. However, handling multiple social media accounts is practically a full-time job in and of itself. That’s where social media automation tools come in.
Social media planning tools like Hootsuite and VistaSocial let you schedule posts across multiple social media platforms at once. Not only can you plan posts ahead of time, but these tools will also share opportune posting times for each social platform. That means you can plan out your content for the week, or even the month, in one sitting and have a consistent online presence without the daily hassle.
6. Set up E-Signature Tools
The days of printing, signing, scanning, and emailing documents back and forth are gone, thanks to e-signature platforms. These tools, like DocuSign and Adobe Sign, let you send contracts and other important documents to clients for electronic signatures. They’re great in the sense that they speed up the process and provide a secure and legally binding way to manage agreements. They also unify the paper trail of actions into one digital space, meaning there’s less likelihood that something will get lost in the shuffle.
E-signature tools are especially useful when dealing with out-of-town or busy clients. With a few clicks, they can sign and return documents from their device. It can condense hours of back and forth into minutes.
Lead the Charge as an Innovative and Savvy Agent
Much of what it takes to be good at real estate involves being friendly and capable in your field. Leveraging technology to optimize your work tasks will leave you more room in your day to focus on cultivating great client relationships. And beyond that, you’ll have a well-oiled tech stack of tools backing up your every move.
If you’ve not tried some or all of the tips above, give them a shot. You’ll likely find that your performance reaches new standards after automating the most time-consuming parts of your workflow.
