Amitree does not receive any payment or commission for recommending any of the tools below.

Real estate agents are busy people. There are days where it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything a successful real estate agent needs to do.

If you’re tired, overwhelmed or burnt-out, it’s going to be hard to succeed in this business. That’s why incorporating some very essential tools for real estate agents into your workflow is a must.

Having the right tech tools helps you get more done, in less time. And your clients will really be impressed.

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Real estate technology has been taking off over the last few years. There are a lot of great, and some not-as-great tools on the market. We’re going to cover some must-have tech tools for real estate agents. These will give you the biggest ROI on both the cost of the tool and your time.

So here’s our list of 10 essential tools for real estate agents to help automate and streamline your daily workflow.

These Top 9 Tech Tools for Real Estate Agents Will Help You Boost Your Productivity and Wow Clients

1. Real Estate Website Builder Tool

A good website is everything in the real estate business these days. More and more client interactions are moving online and your website is often a client’s first impression.

But your real estate website not only has to look great, it needs to be functional and easy to update — which is why a website builder is essential.

Propertybase is a great option that lets you have a powerful website with drag-and-drop software and professional-looking templates to control the look and layout. With this tool, you can create a fully branded agent website with IDX search, area profiles, SEO and lead capture functions.

2. Customer Relationship Management Software Tool

The right customer relationship management (CRM) software can dramatically improve your sales growth and even your client satisfaction. If you find yourself asking, “Did I call her back?” or “Is Jane working with the Smiths?” — you definitely need a better CRM.

The predictive real estate CRM from BoomTown is one of the best options out there. It helps agents monitor client relationships, manage lead generation and move real estate deals through your pipeline.

A CRM can help you match clients up with the right specialist at your brokerage, organize and sort your leads, set follow up reminders, and even automate your lead nurturing efforts. 

3. Lead Generation Tool

More leads means more opportunities for sales. It’s essential that you develop a system for getting a steady supply of quality leads into your sales pipeline.

Leads can come from many sources, including word-of-mouth, website visits, and social media. Successful agents take a proactive approach, marketing themselves where buyers and sellers are — real estate portals like Realtor and Zillow.

Realtor Pro is one of the best lead generation real estate tools for Realtors® looking for buyer leads. Zillow Premier Agent is another top choice with native advertising opportunities on both Zillow and Trulia.

For more about these two lead generation tools, check out Amitree’s comparison here.

4. Email Marketing Tool

Buyers and sellers don’t always immediately jump into a transaction with an agent. Sometimes they take their time. Which is fine as long as they don’t forget about you.

Email marketing is a great tool for staying top of mind with these prospects.

You can send out listing notices, open house schedules, market trends, and other helpful information for perspective home buyers and sellers. Best of all, these tasks can be largely automated, saving you significant time.

Mailchimp is probably the best-known email marketing tool and for good reason. It’s easy to get started, build a strategy, track real-time marketing data, and automate your process.

5. Social Media Management Tool

Most agents know it’s important to be active and visible on social media, building your brand, adding valuable insight and making new connections. But managing your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and more can be draining and time-consuming.

The most successful real estate agents are using tech to save time and automate their social media management as much as possible, and so should you.

Hootsuite is one of the leading options for managing all your social media needs. You can organize all your scheduling and publishing in a single content calendar. Plus, monitor all your activity from different channels and engage with your followers in one place.

6. Video Editing Tool

Nothing builds a connection with clients faster than a great video. Whether you’re planning to showcase your listings, tout testimonials or introduce yourself, video is a great option.

Video is currently one of the most impactful tech tools for real estate agents to have in their toolkit. Sure, it can be intimidating to roll up your sleeves and start making and editing your own video marketing content, but with the right tool, anyone can do it.

Animoto is one of the most user-friendly video editing tools available. The drag-and-drop editor, versatile video templates and background music library make it easy to put together clips you can share with clients that make you look like a pro.

7. Marketing Templates Tool

Always having the right marketing materials at your fingertips can really put you ahead of the competition. The catch is that it often takes a lot of time to make real estate marketing materials.

With free marketing templates, instructional tools and more, Breakthrough Broker can really save you a lot of time.

You can find ready-made templates for your real estate flyers, brochures, postcards, buyer presentations and more. This makes Breakthrough Broker one of the best real estate tools for agents.  

8. Electronic Signature Services Tool

Obtaining signatures the old-fashioned way can be time-consuming and inconvenient. But electronic signature services have changed that for real estate agents across the country.

With an e-signature service like DocuSign, you can reduce paperwork and obtain client signatures securely.

DocuSign notifies agents when important documents have been viewed and signed by clients. Everything is securely managed in the cloud, allowing documents to be signed from anywhere on any device.

DocuSign is the official provider for the National Association of Realtors® and its electronic signatures are legally binding in all 50 states.

9. Transaction Management Tool

One of the biggest challenges every real estate agent faces is moving transactions through the closing process. Managing these transaction communications manually through your email can be a chore, which is why having the right tech tool matters.

Folio (Disclosure: This is our tool) is a powerful tool to help you manage your real estate email and transaction communications.

Folio’s AI-powered approach intuitively organizes your email inbox, saving you hours of extra work every week. Our algorithms understand how to identify and sort emails by transaction, saving you from ever searching for an email again!

Best of all, Folio is free to use to manage up to three transactions. Try Folio Today

The right tech tools can have a major impact on your success as a real estate agent. It’s a challenging business, with many tedious tasks that can be a drain on your time, productivity and sanity. Make sure you give yourself an edge by utilizing the tools that are really going to make a difference and lead to success.

The post 9 Essential Tools That Every Real Estate Agent Needs for Success appeared first on Amitree.

Like much of daily life, real estate marketing has moved online. The best real estate marketing tools for agents are now digital — helping you connect with leads in email and text, as well as get ahead of the competition on the web.  

It may seem like there are a million different online real estate agent marketing tools, and there are a lot. In this post, we’ve narrowed it down to 20 of the most effective marketing tools for real estate agents and brokers. 

Whether you’re thinking about upping your game on lead generation, social media, or email marketing, we’ve got you covered. Here are our picks for the best marketing tools for real estate agents. 

1. Propertybase for All-in-One Online Marketing

For online marketing for real estate agents who are just starting out or those looking for a complete marketing solution, Propertybase has you covered with a full-service suite of tools, from a website builder to lead generation and email marketing. 

2. BoomTown for Lead Generation and Nurturing

As a purpose-built real estate CRM and lead generation tool, BoomTown is a great way to organize and manage leads, contacts, listings and workflows. This tool set helps agents and brokers maximize marketing ROI for your team.  

3. Realtor Pro for Premium Marketing Services 

With its premium subscription service features, Realtor Pro is one of the best tools for growing your online presence. Get started with a free account and then use premium features to capture and engage home buyer leads. 

4. Zillow Premier for Real Estate Services Tech 

Zillow Premier is the pro tool for agents looking to maximize their Zillow and Trulia marketing efforts, with a suite of premium tech tools to turn qualified leads into into buyers and sellers. Check out Amitree’s in-depth comparison of Zillow Premier and Realtor Pro for more info. 

5. REDX for Prospecting and Automatic Dialing 

Using a real estate prospecting and automatic dialing tool like REDX helps take the frustration out of calling through your list of leads manually. REDX offers a full prospecting platform to help you set more listing appointments. 

6. SimpleTexting for SMS Text Marketing 

Many real estate clients love the immediacy and personal touch of texting with their agent. SimpleTexting offers an all-in-one SMS marketing service to send SMS marketing campaigns or communicate one-on-one with leads.

7. Follow Up Boss for Sales Acceleration

Staying organized when you have a bunch of leads can be tricky, but Follow Up Boss makes it easy to track your leads, prioritize hot prospects, and easily respond to all your missed calls, texts and emails. 

8. Calendly for Appointment Booking 

Scheduling calls and meetings can be a hassle sometimes, with back and forth emails, text messages and phone calls, but Calendly makes it easy with a simple calendar integration to schedule meetings without the hassle. 

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9. Structurely for AI Lead Qualification

Artificial intelligence (AI) tech is helping agents qualify leads and schedule appointments automatically. Structurely uses an advanced chatbot to respond to prospects, ask the right questions and book your appointments 24/7. 

10. Leadpages for Landing Page Conversions

Getting your prospects to the right webpage can be key. Leadpages offers a powerful tool that lets you easily create code-free websites and landing pages to maximize your conversions and drive sales. 

11. Sendinblue for Email Marketing

Email marketing is a great inexpensive way to communicate with clients, nurture leads and build your brand. Sendinblue offers an all-in-one digital marketing toolbox for sending out newsletters and listing announcements.

12. Grasshopper for Custom Vanity Phone Numbers

A memorable custom phone number can help you build your brand and get more inbound leads. With Grasshopper, you can choose a toll-free or local phone number to call and text clients and receive calls. 

13. Breakthrough Broker for Marketing Communications

With Breakthrough Broker, you get a one-stop shop for real estate business communications including convenient and helpful templates for business plans, marketing letters, listing worksheets and closing checklists. 

14. Planoly for Instagram Management and Scheduling

You can now optimize your social media management and scheduling efforts with Planoly. Plan and schedule your marketing content for Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter with one simple tool. 

15. RPR Mobile for Property Reports

National Association of Realtors members can take advantage of the new RPR Mobile app. Access the Realtors Property Resource database and send clients customized property and neighborhood reports all from your phone. 

16. AreaPulse for Market Data Reports 

Save time and effort by using AreaPulse to send your leads and clients professional-looking market data reports. The tool can automatically generate great looking charts and graphs that clients will appreciate. 

17. Parkbench for Local Neighborhood Marketing

You can build your network and reach new prospects in your preferred neighborhood with geo-centric website content on the Parkbench platform. You can become a local expert while building relationships and referrals. 

18. Animoto for Video Editing and Sharing

For a user-friendly way to whip up videos for property listings and client testimonials, Animoto is a great tool even if you’re not super tech savvy. Create and share polished, professional-looking clips then share online and with clients.

19. Videolicious for Video Creation and Marketing 

Splice together your shorter video clips, add watermarks, branding and logos and share your walk-through videos with Videolicious, including tools for teleprompter scripts, lower thirds, and background music. 

20. REveo for Virtual Property Tours 

Virtual walk-through videos are a must in today’s virtual real estate market and with REveo it’s easy for agents to make live or on-demand tours for clients that require no special tech or apps and can be viewed anywhere. 

Online marketing for real estate agents doesn’t have to be complicated. With the right tools, you can save lots of time, nurture more leads and close more deals, all without leaving your computer. 

Speaking of time-saving tools, if you are looking for a way to streamline your real estate transaction communications, consider trying out Folio. Folio is our AI-powered add-on that integrates seamlessly with your email account, filtering and organizing your inbox automatically. It helps you manage your transaction communications so you can close on time with ease. 

The post Top 20 Online Real Estate Agent Marketing Tools To Try Today appeared first on Amitree.

Gmail is part of Google’s G Suite which offers paid plans that go much further than the standard free email and apps that Google is known for. Google’s brand is known for their cloud based services accessible from anywhere.

Outlook is part of Microsoft 365’s suite of products and apps which has a variety of plans for both personal and business usage. Microsoft began as a server-based service before adapting to the times to build a cloud-based solution in Microsoft 365. 

As you move into utilizing a productivity suite to align your team, check out the breakdown below to compare G Suite and Microsoft 365 for real estate agents. Each service is priced per user per month and while there are many similarities in what they will accomplish for you and your team, they each have their own standout features.

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Gmail with G Suite

G Suite can be paid on a monthly basis, but the first 14 days are free regardless of the plan you choose.

Each G Suite plan also includes a Gmail business email, a professional touch that is a necessity as a real estate agent.

G Suite begins with a basic plan priced at $6.00/user/month and has access to all of the same applications as the two higher-priced plans. The main difference between the included apps is that the Business ($12.00/user/month) and Enterprise ($25.00/user/month) plans include unlimited cloud storage.

In addition, the Business plan supports Cloud Search, a smart search across G Suite, and the Enterprise plan supports Cloud Search within and outside of G Suite.

To compete with Microsoft Teams and Zoom, Google offers Google Meet video and voice conferencing. Google Meet differs from Google Hangouts which is available to anyone with a free email account. It includes Google’s robust and secure global infrastructure.

Google Chat is also included in all three plans to help teams collaborate.  

All G Suite plans include 24/7 support. From there, the security features are more extensive and robust the higher the plan. Depending on your needs, additional security could provide peace of mind for you and your team.

Gmail includes certain features that will make real estate agents’ lives easier, including:

• The option of adding extensions and add-ons that allow you to customize your email to your exact needs. For example: Zoom for Gmail lets you start Zoom meetings from within Gmail as well as check schedules, upcoming meetings, and webinars. While Microsoft 365 supports add-ons as well, the ecosystem is smaller and there are fewer options.
• Adding multiple labels to emails which allows you to organize emails into more than one category. 
• Customizing email notifications by only allowing alerts for emails of high-priority.
  

Outlook with Microsoft 365

Rather than being billed monthly, Microsoft 365 requires an annual commitment (but at the time of this writing, the Business Basic plan comes with the first 6 months free. This offer ends on June 30, 2020). All plans include an Outlook business email.

The Business Basic plan priced at $5.00/month includes web and mobile versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel while the two higher plans include desktop versions of the Office apps. 

The Business Standard plan ($12.50/month) includes Microsoft Teams. The Business Premium plan ($20.00/month) includes advanced cyberthreat protection and device management as well as Microsoft Teams.

Outlook incorporates some unique features that help real estate agents stay organized, including:

• @ Mentions: If you’re emailing a large group of people but only need a reply from one or a few of them, you can add an @ before their name. This alerts them to their need to reply by adding their name to the subject line and their name is highlighted in the body of the message. 
• New item alerts that tell you when an incoming message meets certain criteria, so you won’t miss an important email, and you won’t spend all day opening your email.
• The ability to ignore email threads that you don’t need to read but may get sent to you anyway.

Choosing the best productivity suite

Choosing the best productivity suite for real estate agents may come down to comfort level and the services ability to keep up with changing times and technology.

If you have been using Gmail and the various Google apps that are tied to it, Google Docs, Google Slides, etc, sticking with the Google product G Suite may make the most sense.

If you and your team have been utilizing Microsoft products such as Word, PowerPoint, etc, then continuing to use what the team is familiar with makes sense. 

In 2018, Microsoft 365’s set of cloud-based services dominated productivity suites, holding 87.5% of the market as compared to Google’s 10.4% (source). From there, however, G Suite saw a 15.6% growth in 2018 as compared to Microsoft’s 8% (source).

Microsoft has been a player in the productivity suite space for longer than Google, but as Google catches up, they continue to innovate and change the playing field. 

Folio works with both Gmail and Outlook to provide email organization services that make staying on track simple and streamlined.

The post Gmail vs. Outlook: The Best Email for Real Estate Agents appeared first on Amitree.

Although some states are easing stay-at-home orders, social distancing guidelines remain in place and open houses are off the table in most places. For this reason, virtual tours of homes are becoming the go-to choice for showing homes to prospective buyers.

There are ways to create virtual walkthroughs that are free, or very low cost, as we covered in a previous post. More advanced options include 3D renderings.

But if you want to set yourself apart and give your prospective buyers a home buying experience that has adapted to our current conditions, investing in creating a stunning virtual showing experience will do just that.

A study cited on Matterport.com showed that listings with 3D tours sold for, on average, 9% higher price and 31% faster.

Estate Agent research revealed that 75% of the interviewed potential real estate buyers stated that they preferred interactive virtual tours over normal photographs. Further, these virtual tours had a significant influence on their purchasing decision.

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Virtual Tour Creation

There are a number of companies that are offering 3D modeling and virtual tour creation for real estate listings. These companies offer a variety of pricing options and supported cameras – some requiring only an iPhone to capture images of the home.

If you decide to create a virtual showing on your own, there are many tools that can help you produce professional quality videos and 3D virtual walkthroughs.

Ricoh Tours

With Ricoh Tours, you can create a 3D virtual showing of the home that allows buyers to navigate through the home at their own pace. A monthly subscription is $45/month, and an annual subscription is $495/year (saving you the equivalent of one month). In addition to the cost of the plan, you will need to purchase the Ricoh kit that includes a Ricoh Theta V camera and VR camera stand.

Matterport

Matterport is one option that offers a 3D rendering of the home, allowing home buyers to “walk through” the property, see a dollhouse view and includes a floor plan. Matterports can even utilize 3D goggles for a truly immersive experience. 

Plans start at $0 with limited options. From there you can choose from $9.99/mo, $69/mo, or $309/mo, depending on your needs and number of listings. One benefit to Matterport is that you can use an iPhone or 360 camera (uses supported cameras– Insta360 ONEX, Ricoh Theta V, or Ricoh Theta Z1).

According to a study conducted by Sebastian Diessel, a real estate technology consultant, listings with a Matterport 3D tour sold 20% faster for a 4.8% higher price than listings without.

EyeSpy360

One option is EyeSpy360 service. This service allows you to hire a professional, or you can do-it-yourself using a 360-degree, DSLR, or smartphone camera to capture images of the home and turn them into a virtual tour. 

EyeSpy360 has a free plan along with paid plans that give you more options and capabilities.

The company charges $21 to create one virtual tour + 3D model and floor plan (upload up to 15 360-degree photos and they do the rest) or $27.99 for a monthly subscription which includes all features and unlimited hosting. 

The Right Gear

While it is possible to create a virtual walkthrough at a low cost using your existing iPhone, taking it to the next level and creating a walkthrough that is truly stunning may require more specialized gear. This gear includes a 360º camera, high-quality camera stand, and an investment in video creation software.

Some companies can use the video from an iPhone, but many recommend using a 360-degree camera. The most commonly recommended are the Insta360 ONEX ($449.95), Ricoh Theta V ($379.95), or Ricoh Theta Z1 ($999.95).

If you’re looking to keep costs a little lower, consider borrowing the necessary equipment from another agent or splitting the cost of the camera with other agents in your office.

Either way, choosing the right gear can mean the difference between a mediocre creation and one that leaves no doubt in the buyer’s mind that this is the property for them.

Hire an expert

Choosing an expert will require doing some research in your specific location. Many experts and companies offer creation of 3D virtual tours along with photography packages. 

Companies such as VPiX and Real Estate Exposures have professionals that can create incredible walkthrough videos of the home. Many of these companies also offer creation of 3D walkthroughs, meaning that you won’t have to pay for a subscription or plan as it is included in the professional’s cost. 

Hiring a professional could also be the right move if you’re looking to be efficient. Since this is their area of expertise, they will be able to get the necessary photographs and scans from the most optimal angles without the learning curve of doing it yourself.

Some 3D and virtual tour companies also offer their own professional services. Matterport, for instance, offers an option to hire a professional to capture your images if you want to save time and upfront costs.

Keep in mind that professional companies are location specific, so you’ll have to research professionals in your area.

Today, virtual tours and showings are essential to continuing to do business during the time of the coronavirus. Creating an experience for potential buyers that highlights the home and gives them freedom to view it at their pace serves to increase the home’s appeal and ultimately lead to a sale.

The post Creating a 3D Virtual Showing to Increase Buyer Interest appeared first on Amitree.

By lunchtime, you have answered emails, made calls, met with a client, showed a property and scheduled an open house.

Being busy is good. Being busy is how you make money. But, how can you keep up with everything and still provide the same level of exceptional service your clients have come to expect from you?

Here are some of our favorite tools to help you maximize your results while minimizing your effort:

Canva

Canva is an amazing tool that lets you create professional-looking promotional materials with little time and effort. Using their templates, you can create flyers, brochures, posters, pamphlets, business cards, marketing materials, newsletters…and so much more.

A free Canva account offers access to thousands of templates and images, letting you create professional-quality promotional materials to showcase your listings and your business. 

Breakthrough Broker

Breakthrough Broker offers an amazing collection of business templates for real estate brokers. These templates include customizable business plans, marketing letters, and many other business communications.

This website is a one-stop shop for real estate business communications. Need a closing checklist template? How about a worksheet for homeowners to prepare them to list?

Anything you can think of, Breakthrough Broker has a template for you. All you have to do is download the content, customize them for your needs, and you’re ready to grow! 

HomeJab

Before you can even get the showing, you have to get buyers excited about the listing. HomeJab offers exceptional HD photography, 360 home tours, virtual staging, aerial tours using drones and much more.

How about a home tour in 3D? HomeJab can provide home buyers with an exceptional sensory experience before they even step foot on the property.

Compelling marketing materials engage and inspire the imagination, increasing views and showings and getting buyers in the door.

All you have to do is contact HomeJab to arrange an appointment, and they will do the rest.

Folio

Not to brag, but Folio is an amazing tool to help you manage your real estate email and transaction communications. When your business depends on staying in touch, you need to have a tool to help you filter through the noise and find what is most important in your email.

Folio is an add-on that integrates seamlessly with your email account. It uses powerful AI tools to keep your email organized and reduce the work you need to do to keep everyone you’re working with on track.

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You will be prompted to create Smart Folders that are tied to different clients or properties, and the tool will intuitively organize your incoming emails into the appropriate folders. It will show you all the related attachments, contacts, and dates whenever you’re viewing an email.

This helps you get to the information you need quickly, without having to scroll through pages and pages of spam or perform endless searches in your email to find that one document.

What’s more, Folio integrates with many common business products, including Microsoft Office365, Gmail and Google Calendar, Dropbox, and more. You can even set up transaction timelines through our integration with Google Calendar, keeping you informed and on-track and automate reminders for everyone involved in the deal.

One person can only do so much but by leveraging tools such as Canva, Breakthrough Broker, HomeJab and Folio, you can increase your productivity, simplify your workflows, improve your marketing and keep it all together.

The post 4 Real Estate Tools Every Agent Should be Using appeared first on Amitree.

If your email is compromised, it can put you and your clients at great risk. Wire fraud has become a multi-billion dollar problem in real estate, where hackers access real estate agent and title officer email accounts and attempt to redirect funds at closing to their bank account. 

So, how do you prevent unauthorized access to your email? Here are 5 simple steps to secure your email account.

1. Use caution when clicking links

A common tactic used by hackers to gain access to your email is to send you a message with a link to a document or a website (for example from a “prospective offshore buyer” who sends you a link to a document with some properties they want to see). 

You click the link in the email and it takes you to a sign in page that looks like it is for your email account, but really it’s a fake page designed to collect your password. 

You can avoid falling into this trap by:

• Carefully looking at the URL of the page
• Never signing into a page you reached by clicking a link in an email from an unknown sender, rather directly type in the URL of the service
• Check the actual email address of the sender, not just the name that appears in the “From” field
• If you know the sender of the email, check with them first to verify that they sent you the link before signing in

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2. Use a unique password

This seems obvious to some, but most people actually reuse their email account password elsewhere. Reusing a password increases the chance that a hacker can access your email account. 

If a service you use is hacked and your password for that service is exposed, the first thing hackers do is go to commonly used services and see if the hacked password will work there as well. By using different passwords for every service, you can minimize the exposure you have to a hacking of any one service. 

Your unique password should consist of lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Do not use a name, birthdate, anniversary, etc. 

But now that you have complex, unique passwords for every service you use, how can you remember them all? We’re glad you asked… 

3. Utilize a password manager

Remembering a unique password for every service you use is hard. You have enough on your mind as a real estate agent and you certainly don’t need to memorize 47 passwords. 

Luckily, there are password management tools out there that will do this for you!

Password managers are a great way to be able to safely store all of your passwords in one tool. 1Password and Dashlane are two of the more popular password managers that you can utilize.

Both feature excellent security, the ability to generate strong passwords, payment storage (for remembering your credit card numbers and details), as well as auto-fill capabilities.

Dashlane offers a free account for up to 50 passwords on one device. We recommend having the password manager you use on all of your devices so you’re never left without access to a service you need. 

Dashlane’s paid account (which allows for multiple devices) is $4.99/mo where 1Password starts at $2.99/mo. 

4. Enable 2-Factor Authentication

One of the best ways you can secure your email account is by using 2-Factor Authentication, also known as 2FA. 2FA works by requiring you to enter a time-sensitive code that is generated by a 2FA service. 

For instance, with 2FA on, when you go to sign into your Gmail or Outlook account, after you enter your password you will be prompted to enter your 2FA code. You then open your 2FA app, find the current code for your email service, and enter it to log in. 

2FA ensures that even if someone gets ahold of your password, they still can’t access your account because they don’t know the 2FA code. 

Google Authenticator and Duo are the most widely used 2FA apps. You can download either from Google Play or the App Store depending on whether you use an Android or Apple device. Enabling 2FA is simple and is one of the best things you can do to secure your email.

5. Use Folio’s sensitive email alert feature

Folio offers a feature that will send you a text message any time you send or receive an email related to deposits and money transfers. This allows you to be alerted if someone is using your account to send or receive messages related to transferring money. 

By following these 5 simple tips, you can sleep easy at night knowing that your email account — and your business — is protected and secure from prying eyes.

The post How to Secure Your Email: Real Estate Edition appeared first on Amitree.

The average real estate transaction closing time in the U.S. is 42 days. Combine this with the average house being on the market (not including closing) for 25-51 days and you can see the need for having a steady stream of clients and for moving through your transactions efficiently. 

Getting those clients can be incredibly difficult though and so can staying organized and efficient during the transactions themselves. Real estate is one of the most competitive professions out there and you need to perform your best to make it. The better the tools you have in your arsenal, the higher quality and faster results you will get. Everything from social media to communication between colleagues and clients is important to your brand and your ability to close more deals. 

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We have chosen four indispensable tools (not including Folio) that will enable you to grow your business.

1. Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media management system that makes managing multiple social media accounts incredibly easy. In today’s world, the most successful real estate agents have a strong social media presence. 

However, putting up engaging social media posts can be very time consuming and extra time is not something most agents have in excess. The key to a successful social media strategy is consistency. By being consistent you will grow your social media presence while building your brand and generating leads. 

Obviously you have a ton of content to post, but when do you have the time to get it all done? The worst thing an agent can do is to sit down and publish multiple posts on the same day after not posting for weeks. That can irritate your audience and cause them to stop following you. 

With Hootsuite, you can schedule posts. Schedule a time each week to sit down and create and schedule posts, images, and videos along with relevant hashtags to your social media accounts.

Hootsuite then posts according to the schedule you have created. Upcoming open houses, hot listings, and special features about properties are perfect to marketing potential buyers using Hootsuite. 

2. Trello

Organization is a necessity for an effective agent. Trello is a free collaborative task management system that organizes your projects into boards. This top-tier project management system can be used to manage transactions, listings, and open houses. 

When you are managing multiple listings there are a number of moving parts that can get lost in the shuffle, slowing down closing times. Trello allows you to create a board for each project. Once the board is created you are able to produce multiple task lists for the different stages of your project. Cards are created allowing you to upload documents, add attachments, create due dates and checklists. 

Much like Folio’s timeline share feature, Trello also allows you to invite others to view your boards when multiple people need access to the information.

3. DocuSign

DocuSign is an electronic signature service and is the official provider for the National Association of Realtors. This secure and reliable service is legally binding in all 50 states. 

DocuSign saves time by allowing documents to be signed online. Agents are notified when important documents are signed. Everything is securely managed in the cloud which allows documents to be signed from anywhere on any device. All signed documents are stored online, resulting in easy, organized access. 

DocuSign drastically reduces dreaded paperwork and the wait for client signatures. What does that mean for agents? More deals closed in less time.

4. Animoto

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth a million. 

Every real estate agent needs to be armed with an easy way to put engaging property listings and testimonial videos online for marketing purposes. Animoto is incredibly user-friendly using a straightforward and simple drag and drop interface. 

Animoto has skipped all the complicated features other video maker programs include. The process is exceptionally easy, even for if you’re not super tech savvy. With just a few clicks, you can create polished, professional-looking videos to fit your individual brand. 

You can add text and music soundtracks, add specific colors that tailor to your brand, and even add your logo to your video. Animoto offers quick, painless, and pretty fun video creation that you can share with clients and potential clients on all your social media platforms and real estate listing sites.

Using these simple tools will allow you to grow your business and to become an all-around more efficient agent. We also obviously recommend taking a look at Folio to make your email and work-life even more organized. Folio easily integrates into your existing Gmail or Outlook email account and begins organizing your emails immediately making it easy to find emails for a specific transaction. You can also use Folio’s timelines to keep your colleagues and clients up to date on transaction progress. Try Folio for free today.

The post 4 Tools to Help You Grow Your Real Estate Business in 2022 appeared first on Amitree.

It’s hard to find time to eat lunch, let alone update your website.

Since, at Amitree, we are always looking for ways to help real estate agents do what they do best better, we wanted to share a strategy with you that can help you improve your website and get more leads, without having to spend countless hours.

With some help from Google Trends, updating your real estate website’s copy can be fast and have a significant impact on leads generated over the course of a year.

Why Should I Update My Website When I Don’t Get Leads from It?

Your website is not only the anchor of your digital presence, but it is also a great opportunity to drive leads. Most real estate agents don’t see a large portion of their leads coming from their website. However, this is a missed opportunity to cost-effectively secure a few more clients this year.

What if 1 hour of work on your website could land you even one more client and deal this year?

Seems like a pretty good ROI. But, with the technique below, you’ll be driving a lot more than 1 incremental client per year.

How Does the Copy on My Website Affect Lead-Gen?

Google is the starting point for over 70% of consumers searching for a professional service. Further, organic/search-based leads are second only to leads generated from referrals in terms of likelihood of converting into a client – which makes sense as this person was actively searching for you!

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So, even though your website may not be the biggest source of leads for you, the leads that you generate from your website can be very high quality.

Google Search Results

Google has become one of the largest companies in the world by building a foundation on the best search algorithm.

While we’ll spare you the unbelievably complex details of how Google’s algorithm works (and to be honest, nobody outside of the company knows for sure), it is important to know that Google is using cues from your website in order to figure out what your website is about and when to show it in search results.

You can use this to your advantage and get Google to show your website more often in search results if you match the queries your prospects are searching for.

But, how do you figure out what your prospects are searching for? The answer is Google Trends.

Using Google Trends to Drive More Leads

Making sure you are “speaking the same language” as your prospects is key to winning the Google search game. If a prospect searches for “homes for sale in my area” vs “houses for sale in my area” he or she will get different results for each.

Knowing which phrase is searched more often is key to being able to optimize your website to appear in search results more often.

To figure out whether “homes” or “houses” is used more often in the search query phrase above, use Google Trends.

By default, the parameters are set to be looking at US only search volume over the past 12 months in all categories on the web. You can easily play with these parameters to hone in on searches people are conducting in your region, state, city, etc.

We recommend starting from the default parameters and then narrowing down as needed to get more specific.

To continue the example above, if you want to know whether “homes for sale” or “houses for sale” gets more search volume, simply enter each phrase as a “search term”.

Now, to see how that phrase compares to your other phrase, click on “+ Compare” and enter your other phrase.

Once you enter both phrases, Google makes it easy to see which one has higher search volume in the geographic area and timeframe you selected.

Note: Google displays the search volume on a percentile based scale. So, the peak volume of the highest searched phrase you entered will always be 100 and everything else on the chart will be a percentage of that highest search volume.

Taking Action from the Data

In the example above, it’s clear that “homes for sale” gets significantly more (almost double) the search volume of “houses for sale”. So, if you are using the term “houses for sale” on your website, you would want to update that to “homes for sale” in most instances.

But, make sure to check more localized data before making any major updates to see regional trends.

For instance, if doing the same trend search for specific states, you can see that in West Virginia, the two terms are used in almost equal frequency (12-month average of 76 vs. 64) —meaning you would probably want to vary the terminology on your website and use both.

Whereas if you’re based in Colorado, the difference is very large (12-month average of 83 vs. 38) which would tell you to focus heavily on “homes for sale”.

By using the latest technology and tools available, you can make small, but accurate, changes to your website that will result in more traffic, more exposure, and ultimately more leads.

How are you using Google Trends to drive your lead-gen strategy? 

The post How to Use Google Trends to Nail Your Real Estate Website (and drive more leads) appeared first on Amitree.

Hardly a week goes by without some new report on how we’re on the cusp of eliminating entire industries and all the jobs that go along with them. It’s AI. It’s the ‘gig economy.’ It’s millennials!

So where do AI and automation fit in real estate, an industry where expertise and trust are key value drivers? The answer is everywhere. There’s AI that replaces, and there’s AI that empowers. We mostly hear about the former: self-driving cars and post-apocalyptic robots that can open doors and replace warehouses of workers. Man vs. machine.

But we hear far less about the AI that enables a real estate agent to give better advice because she has better intelligence, context, and time to focus on the real value she delivers. We hear far less about AI that makes us better at our jobs. The computer does the stuff the computer is best at so that we can do the stuff we’re best at. We can create immense value and do better work when we can automate the silly stuff.

That’s why we come to work every day at Amitree. We are building the world’s first smart email assistant. It’s not a website, it’s not an app, it’s a new category of software that plugs into your existing workflow and learns how you work. It makes it better.

We started with email because it’s the largest work surface in the world. It’s the one work platform with 100% adoption across all professionals, all industries, in all countries. And it SUCKS. It’s a horrible tool for work.

We use machine learning algorithms to understand the relationships between messages, attachments, and contacts. We detect transactions you’re working on and organize them into Smart Folders. We extract attachments and create document indexes so you don’t need to search for things. We reveal context so decisions can be made and advice is given based on the right information being all in one place. We create shared spaces where people can collaborate, and archive the ones you don’t need anymore so they’re out of your way. We turn your inbox into a powerful database, interconnected with the people you’re working with.

Our first product, Folio by Amitree, powers over 130,000 real estate agents’ workflow, representing over 50% of transactions in the United States and Canada. It’s the first industry we deployed our AI-empowerment technology into, and we’re freeing up an average of five to ten hours every week for each of our customers so that they can spend more time advising their customers and growing their businesses. That’s 700,000 hours every week, 36 million hours per year or 504,000 lifetimes of email and relationship building that our customers get back now.

We’re here to help our customers do what they do best, better. We’re here to use technology to automate the silly stuff so they can focus on the stuff that makes them stand out. We’re here to be the antidote to the AI that threatens to eat the world.

The post Where is the AI that empowers instead of replaces? appeared first on Amitree.