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.
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We've built Folio: the first AI email assistant for professionals.
Folio plugs directly into your work email inbox and automatically organizes your email, giving you contextual access to all the information you need to increase your productivity in minutes.
We are a team of passionate product people and engineers that gets excited about solving complex processes and creating value for people.
We're a venture funded company backed by Accel Partners, Vertical Venture Partners, and other leading venture capital firms and angel investors such as Ash Patel and Jerry Yang.
