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The number of real estate apps available today is mind-boggling. The right real estate apps can enhance your buyers’ customer experience, make it easier to close them and result in future referrals.
Would you like to create a five-star buyer showing experience for your buyers? If so, add some of these highly useful apps to your showing arsenal.
In the car
A five-star showing experience begins with creating the right mood. Before your next appointment, ask your buyers what type of music they enjoy. Next, use the Pandora or iHeartRadio apps to stream their favorite music as you drive to showings.
If your clients inquire about the for-sale sign that just popped up this morning, use the Vlingo app to call, email or text message the listing agent. You can also use Vlingo to search social media for photos or videos of the property, all completely hands-free. Vlingo allows you to conduct business without breaking the laws against texting and driving.
At the property
If the buyer doesn’t like the exterior or wants to envision what a garden would look like in the barren backyard, use the iScape app. The app allows you to stage the landscaping and the hardscapes virtually.
IScape is perfect for people who want to make exterior changes to a property. It’s a great way to see what they will be getting before paying hefty fees for a landscape architect.
When your client is interested in the property and wants to know more about the local lifestyle, use the AroundMe app to locate restaurants, recreational facilities, gas stations, etc. You can also use AroundMe to provide open house visitors with a quick snapshot of what the lifestyle is like in the local area.
During the showing, if the buyers ask whether the floors are even, the iHandy Level app can provide the answer.
The app has five different functions including a ruler, a plumb bob (this measures the verticality of lines or walls), a bubble lever bar, a surface level and a protractor to determine if that corner is really at a 90-degree angle.
If your buyer asks you how much the house two doors down the street is worth, especially if you can’t see the address from the street, just snap a picture of the property using the Homesnap app.
Using your phone’s GPS plus MLS and public records data, Homesnap can tell you everything about a home. It can tell you how many square feet it has, the number of bedrooms/bathrooms, estimated price and more. And it can do so even if the house is not on the market.
Homesnap is also a powerful tool for last-minute listing appointments. For example, if a neighbor who is attending your open house wants to know how much her house is worth, walk outside, take a picture of her house, and the site will generate not only a price but also a wealth of other public record information as well.
Close for the offer
Most buyers would like to know how much it costs them to live in a particular property. If your company or MLS has adopted TLC Engine, you will be able to provide them with commute times and costs, property tax information, home energy costs, etc.
This tool also allows buyers to sort properties by their lifestyle preferences such as nearby schools, golf courses or even their favorite nightspot.
At the end of the day, your buyers might be somewhat confused about which houses had which features. The Notability App can help your clients keep track of what they see.
Here’s how one agent says that he uses this tool:
“First, I upload all the MLS property sheets, county data and any other pertinent data so the clients can make notes as we see the properties.
“Next, I email them their notes at the end of the day. We use a paperless system in our office, so I can also email their notes into my file. My clients love it, and this app makes the search process much easier for the buyers and for me.”
When your clients decide to write an offer, use one of the digital signature apps as well as a transaction management app.
During the transaction
If your clients need a referral to an excellent local service provider, you can use the Homekeepr app or the Dizzle app.
Both apps help real estate agents to create their own personal Angie’s List of their preferred service providers. Moreover, these apps are highly useful during the entire time that your buyer lives in the home.
Post-closing
Once the transaction closes, stay in touch with your past clients with a tool (not an app) from GetKeep.net. This tool sends out a branded email four times a year on your behalf. The email contains a financial update specific to the recipient’s home or mortgage and fits every device beautifully.
Although you won’t use every one of these apps on every showing, having them at your fingertips shows that you are super tech-savvy.
Even more importantly, five-star buyer showings mean repeat and referral business for many years to come.
Bernice Ross, CEO of RealEstateCoach.com, is a national speaker, author and trainer with over 1,000 published articles and two best-selling real estate books. Learn about her training programs atwww.RealEstateCoach.com/
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