A client’s experience during a home inspection can make or break the client-agent relationship. Buying a home is one of the largest purchases many people make in their lifetime, and understandably, clients want to ensure they are making a sound investment. As their agent, it’s your responsibility to guide them through the process and provide expert advice. Skipping an inspection and discovering damage later can severely damage your reputation as a trustworthy agent. In real estate, reputation is everything. This blog will equip you with the knowledge to guide your clients through the inspection process effectively. You’ll also receive a free checklist to share with your clients, helping them identify potential issues and determine if additional inspections are necessary before signing any closing documents. Let’s dive in!
The Importance of Home Inspections
A home inspection is an objective assessment of the property’s condition, conducted by a trained and licensed professional. It involves a comprehensive examination of all major systems, from the roof and foundation to the electrical and plumbing systems. The inspector meticulously checks for any potential defects, safety hazards, or signs of wear and tear that may not be readily apparent to the untrained eye.
By uncovering these hidden issues,a home inspection empowers you to make informed decisions about your purchase. You’ll gain valuable insights into the property’s overall health and potential repair needs, allowing you to negotiate with the seller from a position of knowledge. Not to mention that by identifying potential problems early on, you can address them proactively, preventing further deterioration and minimizing future financial burdens.
It’s a real estate agent’s job to advocate for the importance of home inspections and guide homebuyers through the process. It’s common for agents to recommend qualified and reputable inspectors as a way to ensure that homebuyers receive a comprehensive and unbiased assessment of the property.
Become a trusted advisor with Listedkit, where you can facilitate negotiations, protect your client’s interests, and manage inspection documents. Start a free trial today!
Anticipate Client Questions and Build Trustworthy Client Relationships
As we’ve mentioned, home inspections provide valuable insights that empower buyers to make informed decisions about their investments. However, the prospect of an inspection can also raise questions and concerns. To help you navigate this important stage, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about home inspections.
1. What does a home inspection cost?
The cost of a home inspection typically ranges between $300 and $500, depending on the size, type, and location of the property. This fee covers the services of a licensed home inspector who will meticulously examine all major systems within the home, including the roof, foundation, electrical system, plumbing system, and HVAC system.
2. How long does a home inspection take?
A comprehensive home inspection typically takes between two and three hours to complete. The inspector will need to dedicate sufficient time to thoroughly assess each system and component of the property. This detailed examination ensures that no potential issues go unnoticed.
3. When should I schedule a home inspection?
Scheduling a home inspection as soon as possible is advisable. Ideally, it should take place after a purchase agreement has been signed but before the closing date. This timeframe allows the buyer to review the inspection report, address any identified issues, and make informed decisions before finalizing the purchase.
4. What is a home inspection contingency?
A home inspection contingency is a protective clause included in a purchase agreement. It allows the buyer to back out of the contract if the inspection reveals significant problems with the property. This contingency provides the buyer with an opportunity to negotiate repairs with the seller or withdraw from the purchase without losing their earnest money deposit.
5. Does every property require the same type of inspection?
No, the scope of a home inspection varies depending on the specific type of property being inspected. For instance, an inspection of a newly constructed home may differ from an inspection of an older home. The inspector will tailor their approach to address the unique features and potential issues associated with each property type.
6. Who should be present during the inspection?
While not mandatory, the buyer’s presence during the inspection is highly recommended. Being present allows the buyer to ask questions, gain a deeper understanding of the property’s condition, and receive direct feedback from the inspector. The buyer’s agent may also attend to provide support and guidance. The title company and closing agent typically do not need to be present during the inspection.
7. Can I perform my own home inspection?
While some buyers may have experience with home repairs, it is generally not recommended for them to conduct their own inspections. Licensed home inspectors possess extensive expertise and specialized training that allows them to identify a wider range of issues, both major and minor. A professional inspector will also provide an objective and unbiased assessment of the property’s condition.
Please note: The answers to the FAQs provided in this blog post are generic and may not apply to all situations. Agents and buyers should always feel free to update the answers to match what is true in their case.
Ultimate Buyer’s Inspection Checklist
As a real estate agent, you understand the importance of guiding your clients through every step of the home-buying process. A crucial aspect of this journey is the home inspection, which can often be overwhelming for buyers. Arm yourself with our comprehensive checklist to ensure no detail goes unnoticed and you can confidently support your clients throughout the inspection process.
Our detailed checklist covers every aspect of a home inspection, from structural integrity and electrical systems to plumbing and more. By staying ahead of potential issues, you can prevent surprises that could strain your relationship with clients and derail the transaction.
Download our FREE checklist today and position yourself as a trusted advisor who prioritizes your clients’ best interests.
Additional Inspections: When Are They Necessary?
Several factors may indicate the need for additional inspections. These include:
1. Age of the Property: Older homes may be more susceptible to problems such as lead paint, asbestos, and pests. If the home was built before 1978, a lead paint inspection is recommended. Asbestos, a hazardous material used in construction until the 1970s, may also require an inspection.
2. Location: Radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas, can be found in all parts of the country. However, some areas have higher radon levels than others. If you live in an area with high radon levels, a radon inspection is recommended.
3. Visible Signs of Issues: Visible signs of mold, water damage, or pest infestations may warrant additional inspections. For example, if you notice dampness or musty odors in the basement, a mold inspection may be necessary.
4. Buyer’s Concerns: If the buyer has any specific concerns about the property, such as the presence of pests or potential structural issues, additional inspections can provide peace of mind.
Guidance for Real Estate Agents
As a real estate agent, it is crucial to guide your clients in making informed decisions about additional inspections. Here are some guidelines to consider:
1. Assess the Property: Carefully review the property’s history, location, and visible condition to identify potential risks.
2. Educate Clients: Inform clients about the potential for issues that may not be covered by a standard inspection.
3. Recommend Specialized Inspectors: Provide clients with contact information for qualified inspectors who specialize in specific areas of concern.
4. Encourage Transparency: Encourage open communication with the seller to address any concerns raised by additional inspections.
Closing Thoughts
While additional inspections may add to the upfront costs of the home-buying process, their value cannot be overstated. By identifying potential problems early on, buyers can make informed decisions about repairs, negotiations, or even walking away from the purchase if necessary.
A comprehensive evaluation, including both standard and specialized inspections, provides greater peace of mind and protects buyers from unexpected expenses and potential health hazards down the road. By advocating for additional inspections when warranted, real estate agents can demonstrate their commitment to their client’s best interests and contribute to a smoother, more informed homebuying experience.
Overall, additional inspections serve as valuable tools for assessing the true condition of a property and protecting buyers from potential surprises. Real estate agents play a crucial role in guiding their clients through this process, ensuring that they make informed decisions and proceed with confidence toward homeownership. Facilitate negotiations, protect your client’s interests, manage inspection documents, and become a trusted advisor with modern transaction management software. Start a free trial today!
When we first designed ListedKit, we wanted to tackle the relationship between real estate agents and their clients. But, behind every successful real estate agent is a robust support structure – from their brokers, to their administrators, to their transaction coordinators, countless professionals inside of a real estate business collaborate to make sure a closing reaches the finish line.
After our launch, our most frequent question from customers was “when can we get our whole business switched over to ListedKit?”. With the launch of ListedKit for Teams, everybody in a real estate transaction – clients, agents, brokers, and back office staff, can work together in real-time and from end-to-end.
Team Roles
With the launch of ListedKit for Teams, real estate agents can now be part of a broader team, with a consolidated user role called “Admins”. Now, each team can have an unlimited number of Admins like brokers or transaction coordinators, and an unlimited number of Agents.
Agent:
Can view and manage their clients and transactions
Starts new transactions for their clients
Invites their clients to the Client Portal
Can complete tasks assigned to them or tasks assigned to their clients
Can upload their own headshots, update their agent profile, and their agent bio
Admin:
Can view and manage clients and transactions for all agents on their account
Can start new transactions on behalf of their agents
Can complete tasks assigned to clients, tasks assigned to agents, or tasks assigned to Admins
Can complete special Admin-only tasks, which are hidden from clients
Can complete Compliance Reviews
Can manage their team’s access and set up branding and processes for the business
Admin roles are only available in our ListedKit for Teams plan.
How to set up ListedKit for Teams:
When you are signing up for a new ListedKit account, select the option below to indicate that you manage transactions for multiple agents:
This will establish your first Admin account for ListedKit for Teams.
Once you log in, you can add your company branding, update your standard processes for buyers and sellers, and invite more Admins and Agents to collaborate with you.
Are you already a ListedKit user and want to upgrade to ListedKit for Teams? Contact us and we’ll hook you up.
When new agents are invited, your company’s branding and default ListedKits will pre-populate in their accounts, making their adoption super quick and easy. Each new agent can set up their account in less than two minutes.
How to Manage your Team
When Admin users log in, they’ll have access to a summary of their team just below our Broker Command Center. From this card, Admins can view their team members, their status, send an email to the agent, or follow the link to view the agent’s profile and pipeline.
On the My Team page, Admins can see an expanded view of their team and add new team members.
When new team members are added, the branding and default processes for the account are automatically loaded into their profile, reducing new user setup time to just the basics like setting up their password or uploading their own headshot.
From the My Team page, Admins can also view each agent’s list of transactions and clients:
Agents or other Admins can be deactivated by clicking on their agent profile. Also, users’ roles can be upgraded or downgraded at any time.
Use Cases
With ListedKit for Teams, brokers, team leaders, or independent transaction coordinators can leverage ListedKit to manage their real estate businesses and collaborate with their coworkers and clients. All key contributors can have visibility and access to ensure their contributions are made within each transaction.
ListedKit’s permission levels can be scaled up or down to meet the needs of any business. Have questions about how to structure your account? Contact us today for a free consultation.
Effective marketing has proven to be one of the most lucrative and valuable components of any real estate agent’s business, so we’ve compiled our top real estate marketing tips to help guide your enterprise.
Create a Comprehensive Real Estate Marketing Strategy
The first step in any marketing endeavor is to outline a comprehensive plan. Successful real estate marketing will help you close more deals, and give potential clients the information they need to find the right agent or home for them.
Conduct Market Research
Market research will help you base your real estate marketing strategies on facts. The research will allow you to find out what people in the area want, what your competitors offer, and the relevant trends in your region.
You can use online industry articles and resources, but it’s also important to learn from other agents and leaders in your market. Real estate forums offer information such as property demand and commission rates that may help you identify gaps in the market.
Describe Your Target Audience
Before you start any marketing initiatives, you must understand your audience. Determine who your ideal audience is, what they need, and which of your services are the most suitable. Age, location, education level, income, and other characteristics can all be used to define your target audience.
Assess Your Competition
While you’re assessing your market, evaluate the competition. Use online tools to see which brokerages are currently active in your region and what business they’re currently doing. At the same time, you can learn what they’ve been doing in their recent marketing efforts.
After your research, it’ll be easier to create something unique that stands out. Knowing your competition also helps you evaluate the pain points experienced by clients receiving real estate services from other companies, which enables you to identify more market gaps.
Articulate Your Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
A USP is the one thing that makes your real estate business stand out from your competition and creates a positive impression with potential clients. Your USP should be the brand message you will use to market yourself. It’s similar to a tagline in advertising or slogan in any other business.
Construct a Timeline With Milestones
Create a timeline with milestones that will guide your next steps in the campaign. A timeline will show how long it will take you to implement each step. It helps you determine how quickly you achieve your real estate objectives.
Develop a Clear Budget Plan
A budget plan will help you organize your expenses and maximize the results of your efforts. It is also essential to have a budget plan to know if the strategy fits into your overall business goals and financial objectives.
Select Your Media Channels
A media channel is any platform you use to connect with your audience. It can be traditional, such as newspaper or TV ads, or it could be digital, such as social media and blogs. The main goal when selecting a media channel is to find a way to reach the most people in your target audience.
Video Advertising: TV & YouTube
Use television ads to promote your real estate services. TV commercials can get leads quickly because of their extensive reach, but are more difficult to target to specific audiences.
YouTube allows you to build up authority on your channel by creating and sharing videos about your business. The more popular your videos get, the more people will find them when searching for your brand or service name.
Audio Channels: Radio & Podcast Advertising
Use podcasts, radio ads, and audio programs to connect with a large audience at the right time. Audio channels are excellent for presenting a brief message that keeps your client’s attention. Podcasts and radio ads educate and inform people about the local market trends.
While online advertising is more targeted, podcast advertising is a great medium to reach the local community. Podcast listeners share their favorite recordings with friends, family members, and potential clients. It brings in new leads for your business and increases your visibility as a professional brand in the real estate industry.
Print & Digital Publications: Newspapers and Magazines
Newspapers and local real estate magazines are great ways to reach your target audience. In addition to gathering information locally, they allow you to build customer loyalty by providing helpful content such as relocation guides and home buying tips.
Develop Your Social Media Strategy
Social media allows you to connect with potential buyers and sellers directly while they are online. Social media is a great way to grow your audience and build authority in the industry. It’s also easy to share both videos and written content published on your website.
Use social media to reach your target audience in a variety of ways. Facebook offers the opportunity to connect with current clients and showcase your expertise, whereas LinkedIn provides a platform to share industry insights and help build thought leadership. Twitter connects you with influencers in the area and shows insight into local market trends that may affect your business model. Instagram and Pinterest allow you to share appealing photos that attract potential clients.
Your social media content strategy should provide valuable real estate information relevant to your audience.
Tap Into Referrals and Testimonials
Referrals and testimonials are the perfect methods to spread the word about your business. When you gain a new customer, don’t forget to ask them to share their positive experience with your business with their family and friends.
Referrals are an indirect advertisement that perfectly demonstrates a person’s trust in you and your abilities.
ListedKit’s referral assistant helps you generate new referrals from satisfied clients.
Tip from the Team
Testimonials show potential clients that you are an experienced, reputable real estate professional.
Adopt Email Marketing
Use email marketing to send out leads to potential clients interested in your company or product. Email is an efficient way to engage with your audience and drive them to complete the next action in your marketing strategy. As a real estate agent, you should create a high-quality email newsletter that encourages people to sign up for it.
Email is also a direct contact method when consumers have inquiries about your business. You must respond to the queries promptly, which is why it can be helpful to set up an autoresponder or use email software for reply automation.
Email marketing tools are online lead-capturing tools that allow you to create an opt-in list and make it regularly available for subscribers. Once a prospective client signs up, it will go straight to your inbox and appear on the landing page of your website.
Create Your Real Estate Website
Your website is the hub for your digital marketing campaigns. The site serves as a platform to showcase your services, capabilities, and expertise. Potential clients must find you easily through search engines and learn about the real estate industry in a way that applies to their needs.
Focus On User Experience
The website design should be user-friendly and easy to navigate through. Organize the site’s content into an easy-to-follow structure, making the pages comprehensive and searchable for people searching for information about the real estate industry.
Your real estate website acts as a virtual brochure. You can share house descriptions and provide valuable content like videos, podcasts, or articles published on other websites.
Prioritize Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Search engine optimization is a strategy that helps your website to appear higher on search results for keywords. With the extensive use of keywords in your content, you attract targeted traffic from targeted users.
PPC Advertising
Search engine advertising helps to increase web traffic, whereas pay-per-click (PPC) advertising helps to convert those web visitors into customers.
Real estate businesses can learn how to utilize PPC effectively by generating high-quality leads, increasing website traffic, and improving ROI. Make sure you have a well-defined budget and a specific target market, so your PPC campaign will meet these targets.
Find a Professional Photographer
A professional photographer produces high-quality imagery that vividly depicts your properties. They should portray the essence of the property in a way that will attract buyers when placed on your website.
Emphasize Data and Identify the Metrics To Employ
As a real estate agents, you must have your own goals and KPIs to measure the quality of your marketing.
The metrics associated with each channel should be collected and analyzed so that you can view data in an actionable way. This information helps you to determine your ROI and make changes based on the metrics generated by different campaigns.
Website traffic volume is a straightforward metric that shows the number of visitors to your website. The metric gives you insight into how your site performs during different periods.
The Click-through rates (CTR) metric helps you measure website performance. The metric reveals the number of clicks on the website’s ad compared with the total number of impressions resulting from your marketing efforts.
The conversion rate metric helps you evaluate the effectiveness of your website. The conversion rate tells you the percentage of website visitors who convert to a lead or a customer.
Cost per acquisition (CPA) is another helpful metric calculated based on the amount of money spent on real estate marketing and the number of leads generated. As a real estate agent, you can compare your CPA with the CPA of a competitor to find out who performs better.
Every business needs to determine its marketing efforts’ ROI. The online and offline marketing ROI metric helps you analyze the quality of your campaigns and understand which channels are performing to generate leads.
The ROI analysis illustrates the effectiveness of your digital real estate marketing efforts. The ratio shows how well you have spent money on marketing using a particular media type compared with the profitability you achieved from those investments.
Evaluate online and offline marketing activities or compare their effectiveness by calculating their combined ROI ratio. The higher the value for this ratio, the better your performance in generating leads for your business.
Get Listed
There are many business marketing applications available on the market. Some apps help you generate leads, while others allow you to find and list properties.
Zillow
Zillow is a real estate website that enables users to search for properties and research details on local markets. As a realtor, you have the opportunity to get your business information listed on Zillow by filling out their online form.
List your services free of charge with the option to include photos of your work, choose what you want others to see, and provide detailed information about specific properties. Once this information gets published on the site, potential customers can find you and contact you for a consultation.
Google My Business
Google My Business helps real estate agents to advertise, market, and share information about their businesses online. The site provides a suite of tools that you can use to promote your business and generate leads from potential customers.
The first step in using Google My Business is creating a verified site listing. The listing enables you to get more customers by including links to your social media profiles and official website.
Once you verify the account, you can add or remove details about your business like address details, street view images of your property or office building, office hours, phone number, and email address.
Organize Engaging Events
An engaging event to generate leads and attract clients is a great way to advertise your real estate business. The event will help market your services more effectively and grow your business.
You can then utilize ListedKit’s CRM tool to maintain developed client relationships.
Tip from the Team
Host Home Viewings: Real and Virtual
Hosting a home viewing is a great way to encourage potential buyers and renters to visit your listing. Visitors will have the opportunity to view your property from all angles, ask questions and give you their feedback before they choose whether to contact you and ask for a real estate consultation or make an offer.
Virtual home viewing is another excellent way to market your property online. You can create virtual tours of your listings and share them on online platforms. This content allows potential customers to see what your property looks like and helps them understand the quality of the unit in more detail.
Give Buyers a Neighborhood Tour
A neighborhood tour allows potential customers to learn more about the real estate site and helps them decide when choosing a property for sale or rent.
You can organize the tour in advance or accompany clients at their request. Your clients may want to discuss different properties with you and find out how close their properties are to schools, parks, and other facilities.
Wrapping Up
Real estate is a business that requires you to do considerable work. As a real estate agent, you need to market and sell your properties to generate leads for your business. These real estate marketing tips will help you promote your business more effectively.
Are you a real estate agent looking for technology that can help you run a more successful business? Do you need transaction management help, lead generation tools, predictive analytics software, or accounting technology? If so, you’re in the right place.
We’ve gathered the top 10 tools for real estate agents to develop their businesses, generate more referrals or leads, and boost their digital marketing capabilities. Keep reading to learn more about the best tools available for the real estate industry. Let’s jump in!
1. ListedKit Transaction Management and Collaboration Tool
The ListedKit transaction management and collaboration software tools provide you with numerous features like:
CRM use
Vendor list
Referral assistant
Open transactions pipeline
Task management
Client Portal
Document storage
All of these impressive features benefit agents and brokers, especially the referral assistant feature. With it, you’ll be able to produce more referral leads from satisfied clients. The best part? The referral assistant is free and included with a ListedKit subscription.
You can also use ListedKit to create and manage a custom vendor list of home inspectors, real estate attorneys, contractors, and more.
ListedKit can also help you maintain contact with your clients and communicate with clients on the go. The technology allows you to look up client names, listing addresses, and transaction data quickly and easily.
You can also better manage tasks with ListedKit to decrease bottlenecks and boost efficiency with to-do lists and streamlined workflows.
A ListedKit subscription includes all features for only $29 per month.
Looking for More Tools?
Trust your closings to ListedKit. Get started with our free real estate checklists and email templates for walk-throughs, referral asks, closing instructions, and more.
RealScout is an effective lead generation tool that focuses on using MLS to find listings relevant to your clients. Realtors can find perfect homes and properties for their clients using the RealScout tool. The technology can even send well-formatted emails directly to your clients showing the listings available to bid on.
The lead nurturing tool allows you to pick from as many as 400 different criteria. That way, you will ensure your clients get listings with features that match precisely what they’re looking for.
The RealScout tool also has a branded home search portal. The portal includes precise MLS data, applications to generate leads, and ways to foster team functionality.
The RealScout tool costs $39 per month for each real estate agent, or $500 per month for brokerage firms.
3. Revaluate Predictive Analytics Technology
You can also generate more leads with the Revaluate predictive analytics technology. The technology can make a big difference in converting your cold-calling leads and campaigns into clients who sign on to buy or sell a property.
The application uses social media data along with consumer and demographic data and machine learning algorithms to better predict who is looking to sell and buy a new home, and analyzes millions of data points to get you the results you need.
You can choose from either the Reveal or the Reside product from the Revaluate company. You can grow your real estate business with Reside, as it allows you to pick new geographic locations for customer growth. Reveal lets you score and segment your database to understand better who in your client base may move within the coming months.
Revaluate costs $139 per month for as many as 2,000 contacts.
4. Redx Realtor Prospecting Software
If you’re tired of cold calling and want a more effective system in place, check out the Redx realtor prospecting software. Redx software is a great alternative to cold calling and the best investment you will make for identifying possible prospects.
The real estate prospecting software provides a unique way to find new prospects. The software includes access to older FSBO listings and expired listings that allow you to create a new list of prospects. Once you’ve determined your list, the Storm Dialer application will make your calls through automatic dialing while providing important information for you to view during the call.
The software will help you set up more appointments with clients to get more listings on the housing market. Furthermore, the technology helps you organize your client database, leads, and past customer information all in one place.
The Redx realtor prospecting software will cost you $60 per month.
5. DIY WordPress Website
Are you a tech-savvy individual looking to create a real estate website on your own to grow your business? If so, you may want to utilize a DIY WordPress website. The learning curve is relatively high, but the outcome is excellent, as you can make beautiful websites and choose from multiple templates.
If you have the technical skills, you can build a great WordPress website and attract clients online with the right branding. If you are not very technically oriented, you may take a while to learn how to use WordPress. However, the process is much easier than building a website from scratch.
You can get WordPress for free or pay up to $5,000 or more per year. You will need to pay extra to incorporate factors like IDX listings. Most realtor websites, however, include these types of listings, so the price for your WordPress site may vary.
6. Coffee & Contracts Social Media Template Software
Are you looking for a simple way to reach your customer base on social media platforms? Are you completely lost when it comes to social media marketing but you lack the funds to hire a social media manager?
If so, the Coffee & Contracts social media template software provides an avenue where you can use trending, popular, and beautiful templates for the Instagram social media site. You can use the software to target your specific audience and increase your client transactions.
The best part is that the learning curve for the product is relatively low and you should easily pick up how to use the software.
Coffee & Contracts costs $54 per month to utilize the product and improve your marketing efforts.
7. FreshDesk Communication Management Software
If you want to connect with your clients in a simple and streamlined manner, the FreshDesk communication management platform is an option. FreshDesk allows your clients to contact you through whatever channel they choose, such as Facebook Messenger, iMessage, WhatsApp, and more in a single messaging inbox.
The software program has an automation feature that sends the communication form or message to the right person in the real estate company, allowing you to respond to your clients much faster. Your leads can also contact the right realtor at the right time, which ensures you can quickly convert a lead into a client.
FreshDesk will cost you either $18 per month or $180 per year.
8. Cloud Attract Real Estate Landing Page Template Tool
When developing an effective real estate website that can generate leads for your business, you will need eye-catching landing pages. If you’re looking to target home buyers and sellers, add the Cloud Attract real estate landing page template software into your repertoire.
You will have plenty of choices to produce attractive landing pages, as the template tool has more than a dozen well-designed landing page templates. Pick out what type of info your real estate agency needs to convey to your audience and then the landing page gets automatically generated.
You can personalize the landing pages with your logo and brand, specific photos, Google analytics info, and content with your preferred fonts, and get notified of new leads from the pages.
The Cloud Attract bundle for real estate agents costs $99 per month.
9. Quickbooks for Real Estate Accounting Software
Are you looking for a results-driven and effective realtor accounting software program? If so, the Quickbooks Online tool can help.
The software also provides you with a simple way to track real estate agent expenses, such as the costs behind tracking mileage and car expenses. You can also integrate the product with tools like Salesforce Sales Cloud, and DocuSign.
The real estate accounting software includes a Simple Start plan, which costs around $25 each month.
10. Realtyzam Accounting Software for Real Estate Agents
If you’re looking for accounting software developed specifically for real estate agents, take a look at Realtyzam accounting software tools. The program offers a more affordable option next to Quickbooks for realtors.
The software tools will provide a quick way for you to manage your accounting and save time, including a straightforward system for monitoring expenses and producing reports for tax payments.
Realtyzam costs $12 per month or $120 per year.
Wrapping Up
These great tools for real estate agents can help grow a business, generate more clients, and better handle documentation or accounting strategies. Which software product is your favorite? What are you considering adding to your workspace?
Real estate has always been a notoriously competitive market sector, and the stakes are only getting higher.
In early August, Forbes reported a 30.7% increase in the annual pace of active listings—for the third month. As housing options continue to expand and diversify, sellers face a crucial problem: sharpening their competitive edge without cutting too deeply into returns.
Thankfully, there are simple yet effective measures you can take to make your real estate business stand out in such a competitive market.
Use this guide to up the ante and make your properties more appealing.
What Makes A Real Estate Business Competitive?
Certain factors contribute to any business’s competitive edge.
Leaders can make profit-driven decisions that increase their rates of return. Companies can diversify their reach, expand their marketing efforts, and invest deeply in their niche. But the real estate market is unique: barriers to entry are low, and commission costs and brokerage fees are relatively stable.
Real estate professionals must exercise creativity and flexibility in developing competitive features. The most important feature of a successful business is professionalism and organization.
First, learn to manage your essential responsibilities so you have time to focus on offering more. Use a task toolkit to organize your transaction pipelines and automate basic tasks. Once you’ve organized and streamlined your tasks, ask yourself what else your business can offer.
Researchers have found that most successful real estate businesses offer non-financial services of unmatched quality. While you won’t have to cut deeply into your profits to help your organization stand out, you’ll need to boost the reach and quality of your products and services.
While there are many different initiatives you can try, they will inevitably contribute to the quality of one of the following: products and resources, customer service, and outreach.
Each of the initiatives below offers a quick and easy path to improving one of these three domains, so you can get started now and reap the rewards quickly.
1. Identify Your Niche
The first step to boosting your business’s appeal is finding your niche.
A niche is a particular target market segment that displays specific characteristics. For example, a real estate developer might cater new condominiums to young professionals moving into a growing city.
The principle of niche marketing—identifying and catering to one population segment—is somewhat counterintuitive. Some business owners perceive niche marketing as a means of excluding clients. However, choosing a niche is integral to developing expertise.
Every expert, by definition, has a niche. Expertise results from years of experience in one area, and buyers look to real estate experts for their property purchases. If your client is a senior citizen seeking an older, more established community, they will not seek the same property developer who markets to young professionals.
Finding a niche is one of the essential business success principles— real estate is no exception.
How to find your niche
There are several steps you can take to narrow down your niche.
Profile your ideal client: think back to your best client or imagine your perfect buyer. Profiling your ideal client is the best way to identify your niche.
Choose a geographic area: many experts choose a specific location they know and love. You may want to manage properties in the suburb you grew up in or concentrate on bringing quality housing to low-income areas.
2. Build Your Brand
After identifying your niche, it’s time to build a brand with your target market in mind.
There is extensive research to back the power of a solid and memorable brand. What do you think of when you see a drawing of an apple with a chunk missing? What comes to mind when you visit a checkmark on a pair of shoes?
Effective branding not only helps with marketing but also builds brand loyalty. Clients are more likely to remember you and commit to your brand. Good branding will make your real estate business stand out.
How To Build Your Brand
Brand-building is a never-ending process.
You will want to build a brand and then continue to improve, develop, and adjust it according to the needs of your target market. For now, use the steps below to get started:
Upgrade your business cards: real estate is a business built on connections. Your business cards should reflect your value—don’t skimp on quality. Add a QR code that links to your website or social media.
Take professional pictures: your photo is the first thing your clients will see. Ensure your profile is up to date and your listing photos are high quality.
Write strong content: you’ll need text for your website and listings. If writing is not your strong suit, hire someone who can do it for you.
3. Leverage E-mail Lists
Despite the prevalence of social media platforms, e-mail updates are still one of the best ways to keep in touch with your clients.
You can leverage your pre-existing connections to drive sales further and keep your clients looped into any changes. For best results, send a weekly e-mail blast to your subscribers. You can use many free e-mail autoresponders at a low (or no) cost.
Your e-mails should be rich with quality content. Think of what would compel you to open an e-mail from someone.
How To Use Your Active E-Mail List
Use these tips to build an active and effective e-mail list.
Find an e-mail manager: some websites have e-mail services built into their software. If yours doesn’t, you can use MailChimp or a similar service.
Send quality content: your e-mails should be 80% educational and 20% promotional. If your clients begin to expect promotional e-mails, they will stop reading them.
Respond quickly: when a client emails you, respond quickly.
4. Create and Maintain Social Media Accounts
Nowadays, it’s almost impossible to succeed in any industry without social media accounts.
Whether it’s Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook, a social media platform can dramatically widen your audience, generate leads and build brand loyalty.
Additionally, research demonstrates that businesses with robust social media accounts are more likely to experience financial success.
How To Build a Social Media Account
Use the following tips to upgrade your exposure on social media.
Choose one platform first: if you are new to social media, try one platform first—Instagram and TikTok are the most popular and lend themselves well to marketing and outreach.
Share quality content: your posts should not be primarily promotional. Capture your audience’s interest and explore topics of interest to your niche.
Format appropriately: peruse other accounts to understand the platform’s norms, etiquette, and formatting standards.
Boost viewership: use relevant hashtags and instantly reply to the first few comments so your post reaches a broader audience.
5. Build Relationships
The jury is in: one of the most important contributors to a successful business is the quality of relationships with clientele.
If you work in real estate, you are most likely charismatic and personable—if not, there are easy ways to develop your relationships with clients. Most people look for accessibility and trustworthiness in a real estate agent. Because buying a home entails such high stakes, buyers seek sellers who make them feel comfortable and, well, at home.
Referrals are a massive lead generator for clients, so the better your relationships are, the more successful your business is likely to be.
How To Leverage Personal Relationships
Use the steps below to strengthen relationships with your clients and make your business stand out in an often intimidating industry.
Find a simple tool to help you maintain contacts: a comprehensive pipeline that organizes and maintains your contacts is a must.
Go the extra mile: if your client needs something beyond your pay grade, help them anyway. Small efforts have a significant impact and will make your real estate business stand out.
Give time and attention: give your clients all the time they need to make decisions, answer questions thoroughly, and give your buyers all your attention. Kindness goes a long way in a cutthroat industry.
Prioritize relationships over sales: although it may sound counter-intuitive, offer to help buyers and sellers choose the best option for them, not necessarily for you. A kind gesture with no expectation of reward sticks to memory.
6. Provide Free Upfront Values and Additional Services
Clients want agents who go above and beyond.
Offering freebies is a great way to entice potential clients and maintain existing connections. You can send your clients a mini-course on navigating property sales or a PDF to help them assess the value of a home.
Additionally, consider offering free services and tools for your client’s convenience.
Your freebie should not be promotional: give your clients valuable something to them. Don’t send fluff or lead-ins to other products and services; your clients will base their interest on the value of your initial gift.
Ask your clients what they need: a responsive real estate professional is an invaluable asset to busy clients. Ask your clients what they need from you and deliver consistently.
Use organization tools to upgrade professionalism: a pipeline for “under clients” is a game-changer. This platform can access contact details, deadlines, checklists, and more.
Use task management tools to cover the basics: a comprehensive task manager will help you cover the basics so you can focus on providing additional services to your clients. Use a task manager to track deadlines, milestones, and more.
Go above and Beyond for Your Clients
Stay on task and never overlook a to-do item. Zoom in and out of your closing timeline to ensure you’re on track. Streamline data collection from your clients and third-party vendors such as home inspectors and photographers.
Word-of-mouth, referrals, and reviews are still the most compelling lead for your real estate business.
Clients trust their friends to recommend quality real estate businesses.
Ask your clients to write positive reviews on your website (or Google). To facilitate the process, you can jot down your clients’ positive remarks, edit them into a paragraph, show them to your client, and ask permission to post them.
How To Boost Reviews and Referrals
There are many ways to boost your reviews and referrals. Use these tips to guide your process.
Remind your clients to write reviews: most people don’t mind writing a check or sending a referral. Ensure that you ask politely and only once or twice. If clients don’t comply after the second ask, they likely won’t respond to more solicitation.
Display reviews on your website: your reviews are a testament to your expertise. Display them prominently on your website for the best results.
Offer rewards for referrals: you can opt to offer tips to clients who write referrals. This will incentivize your clients to follow through.
Use a Referral Assistant: automated referral reminders are a great way to generate new leads. Clients can easily copy or photograph your information and send it to others, generating new leads.
Before You Go
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of marketing tools and sales tips. You might find the prospect of starting a website daunting or worry about your ability to manage the above initiatives.
To manage your workload, use a real estate business toolkit to automate repetitive tasks, keep your contacts organized, store documents, and prompt referrals. Additionally, choose one or two of the above tips to start and build from there.
Remember: expertise is a result of focus and depth.
When in doubt, remember the following fundamental guidelines for good business:
Do whatever you can to make your clients happy without sacrificing your well-being
Ask about—and remember—personal details to help clients feel comfortable throughout the process
Remember your “why.” Keep your passion for your work front of mind. A happy and purpose-driven leader will always make your business stand out.
Ultimately, these tips will make your real estate business stand out, and your business will thrive when you succeed.
You’re a busy agent, so you know how challenging it can be to keep track of all your real estate clients, listings, and data. There’s always something new to check off, remember or, update your clients on–which is why having a good system in place is crucial.
With ListedKit, once you invite clients to the transaction portal they’ll be able to see all the tasks that need to be completed and always have a transparent, up-to-date view of the closing process.
Ready to make managing your transactions easier and invite your clients? In this blog, we outline what your clients will see as they get started.
Add Clients to Your ListedKit
First things first, when’s the right time to invite your clients? Clients should be invited to ListedKit as soon as they’re ready to start the home buying or selling process.
How do I invite my clients? Simply log in to your “Pipeline” and click the “+ New Client” button. Note: You can do this step at any time and you are not required to do so in order to use the app.
Manage Your Client Experience
Now we’ll walk you through the process for new clients: pre-contract and under contract.
Regardless of their status, your client will receive an email that you’ve invited them to create a free account. Once their account is created, they’ll move through the applicable onboarding process, depending on whether you invited them as a seller or a buyer.
1. Seller
2. Buyer
You’ll be notified once the onboarding steps are completed, and your client will be taken to their dashboard.
Your client will then be assigned tasks to complete based on the ListedKits, or transaction templates, that you’ve built for them.
By now, you’re probably wondering how to make sure your real estate clients get a great deal on their new homes. Here’s an example:
You want to help June sell her house, but knew it would be a lot of tasks and work. With everything from contracts to deadlines in the mix, the entire process could get derailed by easily-made mistakes. You decided to go the extra mile and use ListedKit as a way of managing everything. The software tracks tasks, each individual’s responsibilities, and deadlines — all within one simple interface that makes keeping track of everything easier than ever before.
Your clients will appreciate the convenience of being able to view listings and schedule appointments all in one place. This leads to delighting your customers, an increased chance of gaining referrals, and an all-around great customer experience.
Wrapping Up
As a realtor, you know that having an efficient system in place is crucial for keeping your business running smoothly.
ListedKit makes it easy (and free) to invite clients to use the app, so you can focus on what’s important – selling homes! Your clients will appreciate the convenience of being able to view listings and schedule appointments all in one place.
With ListedKit, you’ll spend less time administrating transactions and managing clients and have more time to do what you do best–buy and sell homes.
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