Need to Know: Protecting Your Online Reputation

We all know that reputation matters. A bad reputation can absolutely destroy a real estate sales professional’s success. The internet and social media has significantly upped the stakes. Any unhappy customer can, at the click of a mouse, post reviews online about their experience with you. Then, when others search for services that you offer, that negative content can be produced as a result. Would you contact a company to purchase a service who had negative reviews about them posted?

 

This makes protecting your online reputation critical – and really it is not that difficult to do.

Google yourself – Want to find out what people are saying about you? Google yourself, your company, etc. and see what comes up. ‘Like’ positive comments and take negative ones as an opportunity to resolve the customer’s issue openly and transparently.

Control your image – some real estate sales professionals shy away from social media because they are afraid of potential impacts if someone decides to post something negative. When you have more owned social media presences you are in a better position to resolve complaints and also control the message.

Also, part of controlling your online reputation means ensuring that there is a lot of positive content coming up online related to you and what you do. Blogging, getting interviewed or quoted (even in free news sites), etc. are all ways for you to get online publicity. Make sure that when your name is searched these portray the image you want.

Reviews - do you really need a reviews section? As you know, your Google Places, Facebook pages, etc. may have the ability for the public to leave a review. You cannot remove someone’s review – however sites like Facebook offer you with the ability to choose whether or not you will have a review section at all. Some professionals opt to remove review sections where possible to reduce maintenance and avoid possible negative reviews that they can’t remove.

Communication policy - Have a strong communication policy for resolving customer complaints. One thing paying attention to your online reputation can do is heighten your awareness of what your customers’ perception of their experience was with you – good or bad.

At the end of the day if you offer superior services your customers will be happy, right? While you hope so, keeping on top of your online reputation takes little effort but can make a massive difference in terms of being able to leverage positive learnings and mitigate the damages of negative events.

For more about boosting and maintaining a strong online reputation, check out ViMO, your virtual mobile office, by visiting www.myvimo.ca.

Training Time: How to Sign your Electronic Forms in ViMO

Now that electronic real estate forms are here it’s time to learn how to use them. The marketing team at ViMO has released an e-book about everything you need to know about how to prepare and sign electronic documents as well as how to generate, sign and share electronic real estate forms using ViMO. You can download the free e-book here http://myvimo.ca/free-e-book-electronic-documents-in-real-estate/.

Home Staging Tips to Knock Your Open House Out of the Park

A client calls you, they want you to come and see their home about a possible listing. When you arrive at the home it is a terrible mess. Excessive furniture, cluttered, dated décor, perhaps even a musty odor… What do you do? The only thing you can do: tell your client the truth and get staging.

Staging involves cleaning areas, removing furniture, rearranging furniture and maybe even adding some art work. In some cases, this might also involve painting and making small cosmetic changes. A little bit of staging goes a long way and the networks are catching on. Shows and magazines like HGTV http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/15-secrets-to-selling-your-home/pictures/index.html and Canadian Living http://www.canadianliving.com/life/money/top_15_home_staging_tips.php  have all released content on home staging!

Here are some small things that your client can do to prepare their house to sell so that you can knock your open house out of the park:

·        Clear the Clutter – Less is more. Excess furniture and clutter will have to go. If your client is not prepared to purge, consider a portable storage unit like the PackEdge portable storage containers that can sit in the client’s driveway. This can go a really long way.

·        Clean – and we mean really clean! If walls and trims are dirty, they will need a fresh coat of paint. Grout between tiling needs to be cleaned. If painting, focus on neutral colors. Particular emphasis should be placed on the cleanliness of kitchens and bathrooms and if possible you should have fresh bedding in your bedrooms.

·        Furniture Grouping – a unique idea discussed in the HGTV article providing home staging tips is to group furniture along the walls to give the perception that the room is larger.

·        Depersonalizing – the Canadian Living article highlighted the importance of depersonalizing and making the space generic/neutral so that a potential buyer can picture themselves living in your client’s home.

·        Smell Matters - recommend that your client air out their home, use air fresheners and natural elements to make the home smell fresh when prospective buyers come through. You too can do this when showing a home for an open house.

·        Outside – make sure the grass is cut, the driveway and walkway swept and washed, shrubs and plants trimmed. Ensure that there is no garbage or clutter whatsoever outside the house. 

If your client decides to take your advice it may greatly improve the probability that their house will sell sooner and for more money. Properties in poor condition receive the highest volume of low ball offers and can be on the market longer which can negatively impact the home’s salability for a long span of time.

For more about making your open house a smashing success, call ViMO today at 1 855 999 8466 (VIMO).

Real Estate Gone Paperless – Tips to Save You Time!!

The idea of going paperless, whether your office or you are looking to do this, may seem like a monumental task. The shining light at the end of the tunnel is that technology has eased the pain and by using your iPad and the right apps you can significantly reduce the overall amount of paper you are using, also increasing the speed at which you work. 

2014 has been a big year for technology and the real estate industry: 

·        We began the year with a change to legislation that has led to real estate sales professionals being able to sign real estate documents electronically. This includes listing agreements, representation agreements, purchase and sale agreements and more… This set the stage for you to cut back on the paper and do more digitally. 

·        Real estate sales professionals like John Ross Parks who successfully went paperless, began releasing short videos talking about how one can practically and realistically go paperless. This short video looks at some popular apps that you can use for cloud based storage, organization etc.: http://youtu.be/hLsv74ry7xU. 

·        Blogs began popping up all over Google about the best apps to use to achieve the goal of going paperless.

·        Real estate specific apps like ViMO emerged offering real estate sales professionals the ability to sign documents electronically from an iPad and a host of other capabilities.

In one short year, an interesting number of apps have emerged to facilitate one’s ability to go paperless in the real estate industry. All of a sudden, our tablet dashboards are cluttering up with app icons to perform different functions. 

 

The next natural progression in the app boom, and in the fight to go paperless, is that real estate sales professionals are becoming more informed and choosing apps, even premium paid apps, which do more, thus reducing the number of apps they are using.

So what should a paperless real estate sales professional look for in a comprehensive mobile app?

Here is the short list that we looked at when developing ViMO:  

·        Post and promote listings

·        View listings

·        Research properties – sales comparables, sales history, generate aerial and street view imagery

·        Research neighbourhoods – sales comparables, demographics, generate aerial and street view imagery

·        Sign forms electronically

·        Transmit communications, listings, requests and documents between other real estate sales professionals and other partners

 

Real estate sales professionals told us that they were looking for the ability to do more on the go and we listened!

ViMO is an example of a mobile app that could replace a handful of mobile apps for real estate offering all of the tools that you need on the go in one central place.

If you would like more info on ViMO please call us today at 1 855 999-8466.

Watch the full John Ross Parks Video here

RECO Bulletin – Using Electronic Signatures in Real Estate

Like us, you are probably feeling the excitement now that your clients will be able to sign documents electronically. So many other industries have this capability and it is no surprise that the government has changed the legislation to allow it in real estate as well.

While it is clear that the ability to sign forms electronically is a capability that will reduce the time and expense it takes to serve your client – what may be less clear is which forms you can sign electronically and whether or not agreements that were executed electronically are actually enforceable.

We decided to share this RECO bulletin as it speaks specifically to the use of electronic signatures and so we thought you would find it useful.

Click here to download

If you are interested in learning more about how you can take advantage of the ability to use electronic signatures visit www.myvimo.ca

Game Time: Want to Sell a Home Fast?

These 4 pics describe what you may have to do. The answer is _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 7 letters.

 

  

Before listing a house, what is one of the first things you suggest to the seller? Take a look at these 4 pictures – what is the common theme?

For more tips to help make you more competitive as a real estate professional, check out ViMO, your virtual mobile office. Contact us today by calling 1 855 999 8466 (VIMO).

In the News: Electronic Real Estate Forms Are Here – Are You Taking Advantage?

Hallelujah! Electronic real estate forms are here! We have blogged about it, tweeted about it, and issued a video on it – why? Because it is a capability that you should be taking advantage of. 

In the old process of negotiating a purchase and sale: 

·        The real estate sales professional brings a prospective buyer to see a property – the prospective buyer likes the property and decides to make an offer.

·        If the real estate sales professional is prepared with a hard copy of the documents that the client could sign, they may be able to have the offer signed right there.

·        If the real estate sales professional didn’t bring a hard copy or brought their laptop, the documents could be prepared but then the real estate sales professional would have to return to their office to print them and provide to the client for signing.

·        How many deals require negotiation after the initial offer? Many! This can lead to multiple meetings with the client to sign, make amendments to the purchase and sale agreement, notwithstanding offers and counter-offers.

This is why the law changing to permit the electronic signing of forms is ground-breaking.  

Armed with an iPad and the ViMO app the real estate sales professional now:

·        Brings a prospective buyer to see properties in a neighbourhood. He/she has prepared a list of properties to view.

·        When driving down the street they notice a property is for sale that is not on the list.

·        Now they can pull over, pop open their tablet and locate the property on ViMO. They can electronically message the other real estate sales professional through ViMO to request to see the property and see the other properties while awaiting a response.

·        Then visits other properties with the prospective buyer who ends up finding a property they like and wants to make an offer.

·        Opening their tablet, the real estate professional uses the ViMO app and reviews the property’s sales history, sales comparable and demographics in the area with their client to determine a fair offer.

·        Prepare all documents within ViMO on their iPad, and the client can sign on the tablet using their finger!

·        Transmits all documents to the other real estate sales professional who can send them to their seller to electronically sign.

 

Electronic forms are bringing real estate sales professional so many cost benefits: reduced travel expenses, reduction office supplies costs, a streamlined process for the client leading to delivery of better services, and maximized time savings.

More efficient signing and delivery leads to you getting the job done faster!

For more about how ViMO can save you time and make you more competitive and consumer friendly, check out ViMO, your Virtual Mobile Office. Call us today at 1 855 999-8466.

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