Real Estate Blog

The other day I was thinking about how much the technology has changed over the years and how productive a realtor has become these days. So, I decided to write about the 5 most important gadgets in a realtor’s life. It might not apply to everybody nor be the most complete, but in my opinion those tools are a must in our profession.

1. The Smartphone- this gadget is at the top of my preferences.It’s a “tool” that is absolutely necessary in the realtor’s daily life. With a smartphone, you can organize your appointments, have a TO-DO list ready to view at anytime, sync your emails, receive emails in real time, search listings on MLS, connect your phone to the laptop for an easier browsing experience, and even be able to use your phone’s infrared option as a Supra key. There are so many other things that can be accomplished with a smartphone, but I will get into that in another article.
   My preferences in terms of smartphones selection are:
   • the Blackberry models, 7000-series, 8700-series and my favorite, the new Pearl
   • the Treo phones(650,700p,700w,700wx and the upcoming Cingular Treos 680 and 750)

   The Blackberry smartphones are known for their push-email capability, an email function that seems to be better than the competition’s. But, if you would like to have more software choices and have a phone that is very close in functionality to a computer, then the Treo is definitely the best choice.

2. The Laptop/Tablet PC- this gadget needs no introduction, these days we all have a laptop or know somebody that has a laptop. I just want to point out why I added the Tablet PC next to the laptop. I find the new Convertibles Tablet PCs (a laptop that has a rotating screen that turns it into a Tablet) to be very useful in my profession. The Tablets offer the capability of annotating Web and Word documents, Excel sheets. Here is how basically I use my Tablet PC when I’m ready to meet a buyer: I sign into MLS, I choose the listings that I want for printing, but instead of sending them to the printer, I save them as PDF files, and then I write on them all the important informations that I might want to show my customer, or I can actually add a screenshot with the Map directions to the properties. After I’m done editing my PDF files containg the listings, I can just send them for print. Bottom line, I highly really recommend the Tablet PC over a regular notebook, since it has the same capabilities as a laptop, but with added Tablet functions. The learning curve is short, so there should be no major obstacles on learning how to use a Tablet PC. My recommendation here, as far as the brand, goes to the IBM X-series.
3. The bluetooth headset- yes, I really think this gadget is really useful for us, the realtors, since we do a lot of driving during the day and we answer tons of phone calls. First, it’s a safety issue, for us and for the people around us, the roads are much safer when both hands are used for driving. Also, when you are on the phone with your customers trying to search, email or print some listings for them, it is nice to have both hands available for a more productive activity.
   Two of the bluetooth headsets manufactures that I recommend are: Motorola and Plantronics. They make some great headsets in terms of voice quality/volume and comfortable fitting around your ear.
4. Portable printer-very, very useful device that really makes my life easier when I’m not at my desk or near a printing center. Printing listings, contracts or any other important documents, On-The-Go, has never been easier. They are so small in size that you can comfortably carry them around in your car. The best ones are those with a bluetooth connection since you can wirelessly connect them to your laptop without having to deal with the wire issues. As expected, the most popular brand is HP.
5. Digital Camera- the last but not least useful gadget, is the digital camera. Good quality pictures can increase the chances of getting more showings or sell the property faster. I know some brokerage companies offer free marketing in terms of pictures taken or virtual tours with professional photographers, but some realtors don’t have this privilege, and hence the importance of a good camera. Also, when researching investment properties for my developers, very often I have to go and inspect the property before the developer decides to come out and take a look, and sometimes I felt that having a digital camera on hand, would have been very useful in saving some of my investor’s precious time.

I have two specific recommendations in this category: the Sony H3 or H5 and the Canon S2 or S3. Those cameras are semi-professional and the pictures’ quality are amazing. Also, the prices are very competitive in compare to the SLR professional cameras, without sacrificing picture’s quality.