6 Tech Tools Every Realtor Should Consider Using

Good news for real estate agents: there is technology available to do virtually anything when it comes to organizing and managing your business. Bad news for real estate agents: it’s hard to decipher what’s worth your time and money and what will just eat at your credit card every month. Do you relate to this dilemma?

Whether you’re a newly licensed agent or you’re a technology-shy veteran, we put the legwork in to help separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to tech tools. These are tools that our members rave about, or we’ve used ourselves, and might just save you significant time and energy while furthering your business. 

What to look for in a real estate tech tool

When assembling this list, there are a few factors that we prioritized. Every tool on our list should do one if not more than one of the below things for your business.

• It should save you time.

Time is your most valuable commodity when running your own business — and real estate is no exception! If a certain tool can take minutes or hours off of your day so that you can spend that time talking to clients or reaching out to your sphere, it may be worth the cost.

• It should save or make you money.

While some tools may save you money in a more obvious way (a budgeting app, for example), others will save you money in the long-run by making better use of your time. Either way, this is a win and should be tracked and reflected in your monthly budget.

• It should improve your client experience.

The final factor we looked at is if it will improve the client experience. While your phone calls and personal interactions are the keys to your success, throwing additional touch points or special videos into your experience can put you that extra notch above the competition.

The top tech tools to consider by category

For Security: Password Manager

In our opinion, a password manager should be the first tool you invest in for your business. Not only is it essential for keeping your information (and your clients’ information) secure and away from the eyes of hackers, but it streamlines your workflow so you aren’t constantly hitting that “forget password” button. Bypass that embarrassing moment of trying to log into an account in front of a client and forgetting a password, and make sure you are organized and buttoned up every step of the way. 

For Email Communication: Mailchimp

Our team runs on Mailchimp and can’t say enough about the ease-of-use and functionality it provides. If you are looking to reach out to your contact list with a regular newsletter or update, it’s worth signing up for a free or basic package that allows you to do so. You’ll have the ability to design an elegant email using their drag-and-drop templates that will likely fit your brand aesthetic better than a typical CRM email. Plus, you can easily see who opened and interacted with your emails, which is a great gauge for putting together your daily call list. 

Lastly, Mailchimp also makes it easy to share email templates! You can consider purchasing premade templates or sharing templates with others if you prefer to hand that process off to someone else. 

For Designing Marketing Materials: Canva

This is potentially our most-loved tool, and something our team couldn’t live without. Canva makes it incredibly easy to design everything from business cards to open house flyers to pre-listing presentations. You can design using their templates, or opt for pre-designed templates like those available in our marketing shop. Check out our How-To Canva blog post if you want to know more about the different memberships available and what you need to do to get started.

For Communicating with Clients: Zoom

In today’s industry climate, Zoom is a really great option to have on deck if a client is unable to meet in person due to health concerns. While a phone call works wonders, sometimes a face-to-face interaction is essential for important meetings like pre-listing conversations and when presenting offers. You want to be able to read body language and facial cues, and Zoom will allow you to do just that. You can easily take Zoom calls on-the-go, and it’s free to use if you keep your meetings to a 40-minute limit. 

For Warming Leads & Staying in Touch with Past Clients: Bomb Bomb

On the subject of the power of video, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Bomb Bomb. With Bomb Bomb, you can easily record and email videos for clients in seconds. These are great to use for those newsletter sends that we mentioned above, but also for providing day-to-day communication to clients. Rather than sending a text or leaving a voicemail to update a client on a showing, why not shoot them a quick video update? It’s a personal touch that can put your client experience slightly above the norm.

For Everything Else: CRM

Every Realtor needs a CRM, period. And while we won’t recommend one CRM over another (since every agent has different needs), we will stress the importance of using one from the day you start your business. If you're curious about which CRMs are the most popular and what to look for in your search, check out this blog post on all things real estate CRMs.

The most important factor for Realtors to consider

Above all, the most important factor to consider when choosing your tech tools is whether or not you will actually use them. Be realistic with yourself and consider the way you work. Does the tool appear too complex for you to learn? Is using the tool something you can fit into your daily schedule? You’ll also want to add any additional costs into your budget and revisit it during your budget review. If you aren’t using it, get rid of it. The one exception to this rule  is the password manager. Don’t put your private information at risk, and invest in a password manager right away!