Real Estate Investment, Asset Management
Article | May 25, 2023
Real estate technology has revolutionized the real estate business. Most real estate developers today use technology to meet the needs of customers who are becoming more knowledgeable, give them the best service possible, and remain competitive.
Real estate agents are turning to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software to manage all communication and interactions with customers and prospects and improve operational efficiencies.
What is a real estate CRM? A quick glance
A CRM system for real estate is a system that helps manage all communications with leads and clients. It functions as an online database, allowing you to manage your contacts while saving time and effort on manual data entry. Email and text messaging, lead tracking tools, and click-to-call capabilities are some of the key features you will find in the top real estate CRM.
A productive realtor must multitask, including keeping the database of clients, locating properties, communicating with clients, using websites and social media platforms to advertise and communicate with new clients, etc. This is where a CRM software plays a critical role because time is money and CRM software allows saving a considerable amount of time, minimizes effort and resources by sales automation, inventory management, automating contacts, managing customer interactions, and performing other data operations.
Before selecting a comprehensive CRM solution for your real estate business, you should consider a few key aspects and features
Sales process automation
Manage your sales pipeline with end-to-end sales automation features that let your sales team focus on tasks that bring in more money while routine tasks are automated.
Inventory Management Platform
A cloud-based dedicated digital inventory management can let you remotely manage vast quantities of inventory across various projects, buildings, floors, and units. You can use the automation feature to organize and sort a large amount of real estate inventory, as well as to ensure that inventory is selected based on the buyer persona and criteria.
List management
Your CRM should allow you to personalize your data in order to generate lists based on transactions, dates, offers, events, and incentives
Automate tasks and workflow
Realtors must be able to quickly respond to property queries without having to browse through their inboxes. Once a client interacts with an agent, the system initiates real-time push alerts, sends follow-up emails or texts, manages calendars, and enables the customer to select other preferred contact channels
Post sales automation
Using CRM, the sales team could maintain customized payment schedules based on projects, send automated payment reminders, handle inventory payments, create and share documents online relating to bookings.
Seamless cross-platform accessibility
The CRM software must provide cloud access in addition to phone, desktop, and any smart device. Compatibility with other platforms — compatibility with products like as Microsoft Office and Google Docs is of tremendous assistance, so include it to your list of must-haves. In addition, ensure that the system is user-friendly for individuals who may lack technological expertise.
Feedback and reporting
The core of your company's success is gathering client feedback. A software that provides insights into your data through centralized reporting and real-time client feedback is ideal for making quick decisions that help you improve sales and boost customer engagement and retention
Scalability
Scalability is another factor to consider; will you have the flexibility to simply add users as your business grows? You need a CRM platform that is versatile and reliable, able to handle ever-growing business operational efficiencies and not suffer from regular system downtimes, lags and data losses.
Conclusion
Whether you are a seasoned realtor or a newcomer, investing in CRM software that provides you with a variety of options for time-and cost-efficient customer data management has become critical. Despite the wide variety of CRM options available on the market, the most important thing is to find the one that is best suited to your specific real estate needs. Once you know what you want, you'll be able to make better decisions about your real estate business.
Read More
Real Estate Technology, Asset Management
Article | May 10, 2023
Is your real estate business set up for long-term success or do you hop from transaction to transaction, seeking clients who are ready to buy or sell immediately? Buyers and sellers who are ready to act now are great, but they’re just the bottom of a well-thought-out lead funnel.
Most leads you receive could be anywhere from three months to a year or two away from making their transaction. If you plan to still be in real estate when the time comes, those leads could be incredibly valuable.
Understanding Lead Nurturing
One of the biggest decisions people will make in their life is whether or not to purchase a home. Most people will want to do some research and find out what exactly a real estate transaction entails before they become serious. As the first professional they talk to, you’re in a great position to close the sale…if you’re willing to work within their timeframe.
Read More
Real Estate Technology
Article | July 25, 2022
For first-time homebuyers, making the transition from renter to homeowner can be exciting, overwhelming, and scary all at once. Yet as Gary Keller and Jay Papasan write in the second edition of Your First Home, “Those who live the most fulfilling lives base their decisions on facts, not fears.”
Below, we’ve outlined four powerful facts from Your First Home to help move anxious homeowners toward the fulfillment and abundance Keller and Papasan nod to. Delivered with empathy, care, and your expertise – these facts can help ease fears and move clients closer to experiencing all the bounties homeownership brings.
Fear 1: “I can’t afford to buy a home now.”
Fact: Until you do the math, you don’t know what you can or can’t afford.
If you are currently paying rent, generally you can afford to buy. From a financial point of view, in the United States, the tax savings on mortgage interest alone usually make up most of the difference between your rent and mortgage payments – the tax write-offs you get at the end of year will generally help you save a lot of money.
Additionally, depending on your credit score, you can end up affording more than you realize. Note: The credit scores used for mortgage lending tend to take on a much larger picture of your overall credit score.
Finally, although there may be a higher initial cost to buying a house, if you’re planning on staying in one place for a few years, the equity you build can end up being a financial boon.
Fear 2: “I should wait until the real estate market gets better.”
Fact: There is never a wrong time to buy the right home.
Whether “right” means the right price or the right property for you, waiting for the perfect market timing seldom works to your advantage. If you don’t believe us, look back to the Great Recession when the bubble around the housing market burst, GDP declined 4.5% and unemployment rose to around 9.5%. Everyone still feels the impact of this incredible financial event. But, like those who endured the Great Depression, the people who lived through the Great Recession made it through, and benefited from an era of financial growth. In fact immediately following the Great Recession, the United States entered the longest period of rising prices and general prosperity since World War II. The fact of the matter is, even the biggest economic downturns are, well, normal. Even when there were some events that threatened to dampen the economy, like the COVID-19 pandemic, the housing market still continued to thrive.
In the end, there are two ways to make money in real estate: timing and time. That is you happen upon the right moment to purchase your home before the price appreciates, or you hold it for a long enough time so that appreciation makes your purchase investment right. If you miss the first, you can most certainly count on the second.
Fear 3: “I don’t have the money for a down payment.”
Fact: There are a variety of down-payment options available to you.
While many people believe that making a home purchase requires a substantial down payment, as as much as 20%,, this is seldom true. Options are always available to you that require much less than this number, as low as 5%, some even less. Moreover, most states have down-payment assistance programs that can help you afford to buy.
House-hacking can also be a great way to make homeownership a more affordable option. House-hacking is when you purchase a piece of real estate and lease out one of the bedrooms or units. This rental income can then be applied toward your mortgage. Or, you can participate in home rental programs like Vrbo or Airbnb. While it may not be ideal all of the time, you could always make your month’s mortgage payment by renting your place while you’re on vacation.
Fear 4: “I can’t buy a home because my credit score isn’t good.”
Fact: A less-than-perfect credit score won’t necessarily prevent you from buying a home.
Although it’s valuable to have a good credit score, a poor one shouldn’t necessarily prevent you from talking to lenders to explore your options. You can expect that a good loan officer (or mortgage specialist) will be able to help you resolve your credit challenges, often simply by showing you how to move or consolidate your debts, or by referring you to a credit counselor who will put you on a plan.
If you’re facing the challenge of having no credit history because you are new to the workforce or have not made regular purchases on credit, there are still possible solutions that you may want to explore. One is to secure financing with the help of a cosigner, such as parents or a close relative, who is willing to stand by your ability to make the payments. Another can be finding a lender who is willing to use alternative forms of history such as student loans, rent, and utilities.
Looking For More Homeownership Resources?
Head over to the Your First Home webpage for freebies, including information on how to build out your real estate dream team and for your clients, a resource on how to determine their homeownership criteria.
Read More
Article | April 29, 2020
If you know what you are doing, buying an investment property can be a lucrative venture with long-term financial rewards. However, not all investment properties will generate good returns. Therefore, it’s important that every real estate investor knows how to evaluate deals. Luckily, you don’t have to use spreadsheets to find the best investment properties. With the right investment property calculator, you can do your investment property analysis easily and more accurately.
Read More