So, I recently started working with a new buyer client. He’s looking for something pretty swank! To be specific, a loft with high ceilings, custom design work, a convenient downtown location and unique all around. And he’s got a well-suited budget for his desires.
Also, he’s cool. Hooray!
Interesting thing is, my new client had already been home-hunting for several months before ringing me up. Without much success either, unfortunately.
“The other agents were too slow,” he told me.
(His language was actually a bit more colourful than that, but I like to keep things family friendly around here.)
So slow, in fact, that this gentleman — who, incidentally, is not a millennial — had already lost out on two properties he’d been ready to pull the trigger on.
The reason? His prior sales rep didn’t employ the necessary real estate tech tools available — ones literally at their fingertips, mind you — to put down an offer fast enough.
It got me thinking about the decisive role technology currently plays in how my fellow industry professionals are — or frankly, should be — approaching the market.
Simply put, those of us Realtors utilizing technology are the ones doing most of the deals. And those who aren’t, well, I already told you how I came by my latest buyer.
Technology is changing the business, point blank. From mobile applications to e-signing services and the like, it’s not only reinventing the way real estate is being delivered to buyers and investors, but reshaping the role undertaken by realtors — like myself.
Which means I learned awhile back that I better move with the times, or else watch the parade pass me by!
That’s why I’ve long favoured apps like Collab, that run searches on behalf of my clients, then send me immediate emails when properties of interest get listed. And if said clients are on the other side of the world, we can communicate via WhatsApp, and I can always rely on FaceTime to still conduct a live showing in real time.
Or when it gets down to submitting offers, DocuSign allows me to send them in a fraction of the interval it used to, especially if dual signees are involved. Truth be told, I’ve used a printer and scanner (remember those?) once to do a deal this year. Everything else has been entirely digital.
Similarly, I can pull a file for a client anywhere or at any time with Dropbox, while Scanner Pro lets me scan a copy of a deposit cheque and convert it into PDF form instantly.
I also take great advantage School Locator, which immediately confirms the catchment area for a public school — a real bonus when identifying potential family homes.
And thanks to Waze and various parking apps, I’m not only able but find out where the construction zones and heavy traffic is — so I may avoid them when transporting my clients from one showing to the next — but pull up to each destination as near as possible. Without the accompanying headache, to boot!
Heck, even just by texting, I can get a lawyer to confirm the rule on easements on a moment’s notice, or a mortgage broker to confirm my clients are safe to go in without a financing condition.
Long story short: I’m connected. 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Technology not only makes my job easier, but facilitates me doing it better. In a results-based industry where performance is everything, that’s what counts.
Furthermore, by remaining so plugged in, my clients know they’ll never lose or miss out on an opportunity because their agent failed to put themselves ahead of the game.
This in and of itself suggests another interesting question…
When considering the modern era of real estate we’re in, perhaps technology now equals accountability? It’s definitely something to contemplate — let me chew on it for you guys and we’ll pick up where we left off in a future post!
In the meantime, I have a busy night of showings on the horizon tonight, and in addition to some of the tools I’ve already highlighted, less we forget the app I survive on during busy times – UberEATS – loaded up in case hunger strikes!