Coming into the real estate industry as a new real estate sales professional you would be remiss not to realize how competitive an industry you are entering and that efficiency is king. The beauty of being new to the industry is that you can bring fresh ideas to the table about how you go about your daily activities. When we talk efficiency, we mean efficiency in a specific context: the ratio of the useful work performed by a machine or in a process to the total energy expended or heat taken in.

The most effective way to do this is by doing more electronically. From marketing to administering your deals.

On the marketing side, the playing field has been leveled. In the past those with smaller marketing budgets had difficulty competing with the seasoned professionals with big budgets for bench ads, calendars and sign advertising. These conventional marketing mediums have just about been eclipsed by the emergence of social media. Through social media you can market yourself and listings, establishing a vast network of connections – all electronically. Digital marketing through social media or even through real estate specific platforms – both available online and through mobile apps – increase your exposure and a client’s accessibility to you.

In deal administration, the real estate industry has been inherently burdensome on the paper side. Between contracts and agreements, listings, sales comps and the myriad other collateral a real estate sales professional may bring to a meeting, more can now be done electronically.

Meeting a client at your office

• When a client comes to your office to meet have 2 things ready:
  • GeoWarehouse loaded on the computer – to quickly view property information with the client (either their property, or properties they would like to see)
  • ViMO loaded on your tablet – if the client wants to engage you, you can electronically prepare the listing or representation agreement and sign it electronically
• Rather than copying identification and other material the client provides – scan it!

Meeting your client on the go 

The old way – purchase:

• Pre-prepare representation agreement
• Meet the client
• Have the client sign initial agreements re: representation
• View properties of interest – take photos if necessary
• Go back to the office, research the property, if there is an offer to be made, prepare the offer
• Meet the client again to sign the offer
• Email or fax the offer to the other side

The electronic way – purchase

• Ask the client for properties they may be interested in seeing and research some of your own
• Attend the appointment armed with sales comps for the properties you will be seeing in the event your client is interested
• Meet the client – ensure you have your tablet
• Prepare the representation agreement on your tablet and have your client sign it electronically
• On the road the client spots a property for sale that wasn’t yet appearing online
• Using your ViMO app on your tablet, stand in front of the property and using augmented reality, snap a photo that reveals all property related information
• You check ViMO app to see if the other real estate sales professional is online, and they are – you send them a message and they send you the lockbox key
• You show your client the property and they love it – you message the other side to expect an offer shortly
• You prepare the offer electronically and transmit it to the other side using ViMO

…. And the rest is history….

So as a new real estate sales professional you can see that investing in technology and investigating online tools for real estate sales professionals both online and through mobile apps will make you more efficient and prepared to compete the seasoned pros.

GeoWarehouse and ViMO let you do far more, on the go, in real time. Efficiency is easy with these two. Find out more at www.geowarehouse.ca and www.myvimo.ca.

Fortunately, for real estate sales professionals the companies who serve you are listening. An increasing number of companies that provide services to real estate sales professionals in Ontario are pursuing mobile solutions to provide you with more capabilities when you are on the go and the Real Estate Information Solutions team at Teranet is no exception.

In the spirit of enabling real estate sales professionals to be able to offer better service to their clients, thus making the value of using a real estate sales professional glaringly clear, we have elected to focus on technology that is geared to the real estate sales professional as opposed to the consumer.

In 2014, the Real Estate Information Solutions team at Teranet will be releasing a new mobile app, ViMO (Virtual Mobile Office), which will provide real estate sales professionals in Ontario with the tools to do much more. Not only will you be able to access vital information about properties and sales, you will also be able to retrieve key demographic information about the people, schools, and other vital information about an area that makes all the difference when someone is trying to determine if a particular area is right for them.

The government’s initiative to allow for electronic signing of real estate documents will mean that, by using ViMO, you will be able to go paperless and sign and finalize your deals with your clients right on the spot using your tablet.  You will be able to connect and collaborate with other real estate sales professionals and more. This app has been developed solely with the real estate sales professional in mind, not the consumer. The point is to give you the ability to shine when dealing with your customers as opposed to your customers thinking that they can manage on their own.

What is very promising though is that more real estate apps mean more business for everyone as the easier it is for consumers to buy real estate and for real estate sales professionals to service them, the more opportunities are created for all. Mobile apps are the way of the future, so having one that has been developed with your needs in mind is key.

For more information about ViMO, or any of the services offered by the Real Estate Information Solutions team at Teranet, please contact us at 1-866-237-5937 or visit us online at www.geowarehouse.ca

In today’s technological world, it is becoming increasingly difficult to walk down the street without noticing someone on a smartphone. It seems as though everyone has some form of mobile technology, and most do not hesitate to pull out that device to accomplish a variety of tasks – most of which have nothing to do with making a phone call. Some real estate sales professionals have a negative perception of the impact of mobile technology, arguing that things such as instant messaging and social media take away from face-to-face interaction and engagement. However, we think it is the opposite. One thing is certain, communication is critical – so can you just ignore tech advances? We argue no – with the majority of the population embracing mobile technology, ignoring its importance is out of the question.

In Canada, professionals, no matter the industry, are relying more and more on the advances made (and thus the opportunities created) by mobile technology. According to a recent news report from CBC News, smartphone usage has soared over the past year. The report stated that 56% of Canadian adults use a smartphone – this is up from 33% at the beginning of 2012, and this is estimated to continue to rise over the new few months. This 56% represents over 13 million people. And according to digital marketing company Mediative, 73% of these individuals access the mobile web on a daily basis.

How are professionals using mobile technology to do things more quickly? A number of different applications, not to mention email or text messaging, have made our professional lives a great deal easier.  Smartphone applications that make doing business more efficient are becoming progressively more popular. According to CTV News, the average smartphone user has 30 different apps installed on their phone.  And many of these are business related, everything from apps to digitally sign documents (DocuSign), to apps that help you track expenses (Expensify), to networking apps (LinkedIn).

What about real estate sales professionals specifically? Many of the apps popular for business are great in the world of mobile real estate; and many can be used to make your work faster – giving you access to everything you need, on the go. We are now starting to see companies that serve the real estate industry developing real estate specific mobile apps.

Mobile apps are remodeling the future. Doing business in this tech age essentially means being tapped into the world of mobile web, so those of you attempting to hold out may need to rethink that strategy. Embracing mobile technology for use in your everyday life will actually work to make things far easier in the long-run.

For more about mobile web and how you can leverage mobile technology to close more deals, faster, please contact GeoWarehouse by calling 1-866-237-5937 or visit www.geowarehouse.ca.