Real Estate Sales Professional A.K.A. Environmentalists – 5 Tips to Go Paperless

Going paperless just makes sense on so many levels – efficiency, space, time, office expenses and the environment. While going paperless makes sense – doing it on the other hand requires some planning if you want to take a less turbulent leap.

Here are our top 5 tips for going paperless:

1.       Equipment – Before going paperless we recommend you have the following equipment: smartphone, tablet, laptop and scanner. Choosing the same manufacturer of as many as possible will improve connectivity. For example, if you have an iPhone and then buy an iPad tablet, you can sync the 2, meaning that all devices can share the same information.

2.       Organization – Going paperless means that you will want to look at how you will organize all the documents that you would otherwise have in your office in files. On doing so you will want to think through a system for file hierarchy and naming system for different documents.

3.       Document storing – Next you are going to want to look at cloud document storage. At the same time you should have in mind the fact that sometimes you need to send large files when going back and forth on an offer. By investigating document storage that enables you to also transmit large files and for others to transmit large files to you, this will alleviate the need to have a second app for sending/receiving large files. Dropbox is a very popular tool that does all of the above.

4.       Sharing documents – Speaking of sending/receiving large files, if you decide that you are going to store documents locally and not go with a cloud storage solution, apps like We Transfer and Hightail enable you to send and receive large files to one another. Even more exciting is that now that real estate documents in Ontario can be signed electronically, many real estate sales professionals use ViMO, which is a mobile app for real estate that is capable of facilitating the preparation of real estate documents and signing them electronically. It also enables you to share and collaborate with the other real estate sales professionals working on a deal.

5.       Administration – One of the hardest ways to do away with paper is in the arena of note taking! Here is the solution: apps by Evernote like Penultimate - when used with a stylus-style tablet-pen, enable you to take hands-free notes right on your tablet. You can also drop images into your notepads and make notation right on images.

The initial 5 measures above will help you lay the groundwork/foundation to go paperless. Once you have this organized you can dive even deeper into real estate specific apps and other apps that you can integrate into your workflow.

For more about these apps and others that let you go paperless please visit www.myvimo.ca. 

Are You Ready for the Spring Real Estate Boom?

Spring has sprung and like many real estate sales professionals you must be happy to be coming into what should be one of the busier seasons of the year. Many people wait out the winter and list their homes for sale in spring so things definitely pick up during the spring months. The real estate industry can be feast or famine with ebbs and flows, and while things can slow down in the winter, this is often offset by a strong spring season.

Priming up to be ready for those primo spring months can mean that you will maximize your potential for profitability during this time. This means a strong plan for marketing and also to process the business you land quickly.

The beauty of mobile apps and mobile technology is that they have made real estate sales professionals far more agile and able to do much more on the go. Simply looking at apps that help you reach more prospects and also work while out on the road can significantly increase your efficiency and profitability.

Now, no one wants to clutter up their smartphones with too many apps so it pays to spend some time to ensure that you are adding apps that enable you to do the most. Here is a list of the key apps that you would need:

Communication apps – so that you can see what is happening in your social networks as not to miss out on opportunity and also that connect you to suppliers, colleagues and other professionals you do business with.

Prospecting apps – apps that enable you to prospect properties for your clients, access information about a particular neighbourhood, etc…

Back office apps – apps that enable you to prepare and electronically sign documents and research other information.

•  ViMO is an example of a real estate specific app that you may use to connect with other colleagues who use ViMO, promote listings, manage and market to contact bases, research properties and neighbourhoods, source listings, prepare and sign documents, etc. all from an iPad.

• What’sApp – this is a great app for marketing. You can actually use this app to send out broadcast messages of listings, for free, to anyone you are connected to: http://www.wikihow.com/Send-a-Broadcast-Message-on-WhatsApp.

• Facebook Page Manager App is an app that anyone with an active Facebook business page will find adds significant value by immediately making you aware of comments, reviews, messages and other activity on your Facebook page.

Investigating and looking at apps now will mean that you are ready and waiting for the next burst of business to really do more with far less!

For more about the best real estate apps that let you do more, including ViMO, please visit www.myvimo.ca. 

Spring Property Staging Tip

Property staging has become commonplace in real estate, and for good reason. A property that presents well, both in photos and in person, attracts more visitors and interest than one that is not – it’s just that simple. This is in addition to the fact that some have argued that, post-staging, a home may be able to be sold for slightly more than initially thought.

There are many great property staging tips online so we have picked out some of our favourites.

CityLine released a blog and video which groups how you should tackle home staging into 4 categories: sight, smell, sound and touch http://www.cityline.ca/2014/06/fool-proof-home-staging-tips-to-sell-your-home/. Interesting because if you look at many of the tips offered in popular home staging blogs, each tip fits neatly into the categories listed above.

Top Home Staging Tips released by CanadianLiving.com: aside from de-cluttering, which is a common theme amongst home staging blogs, this blog places a high emphasis on cleanliness. Many of the tips deal with replacing linens, towels, giving the kitchen and bathrooms intense cleanings, paying attention to the condition of everything in the home, cleaning all furniture, fixtures, lighting, etc… http://www.canadianliving.com/life/money/top_15_home_staging_tips_2.php.

HGTV’s http://www.frontdoor.com/photos/staging-to-sell-or-stay-in-spring also had a great blog covering spring property staging tips. Their blog follows a very similar theme: de-clutter and make sure everything is clean, sparkling clean. They even go as far as to recommend buffing floors and washing walls.

For spring they go on to recommend:

• Swapping out colour themes where possible with light, bright springtime colors.
• Open drapes and blinds to get as much natural sunshine shining in as possible.
• Improve the aroma – look to scented candles to create a fresh aroma throughout the home.
• Make sure you have taken down any exterior fall/winter décor and put out fresh flowers.

Your client may also want to consider what can go. Perhaps a spring garage sales is at hand, not only to get rid of unwanted clutter but also to raise funds for home staging.

Finally, with spring here, exterior staging is also important. Some spring tips for exterior home staging include:

• Gardening – trim the trees and plant some flowers.
• Rent a power washer to wash your entrance way, walkway and driveway, the garage door, front door and windows. If they still look dirty consider a fresh coat of paint, including on the driveway. Paint is inexpensive and really freshens things up.
• Get rid of junky looking outdoor furniture, bring in the kids’ basketball net and other outdoor clutter.

We hope that this blog is helpful and helps you work with your clients to freshen things up for their spring time listing.

Looking for other ways to market your property listings? Check out ViMO www.myvimo.ca.

Mobile App Marketing – How to Market Your Listings on ViMO

In the mid-2000s, social media emerged and has since become an invaluable marketing tool to most. In the past 5 years, mobile apps and mobile app marketing have surged onto the scene as 2 more great ways to market yourself and your listings.

There are so many apps that you can take advantage of, but the best apps are ones tailored to your industry and ones that enable you to do more in one place.

ViMO is Teranet’s iPad app that is tailored to real estate sales professionals. Using ViMO, real estate sales professionals can access property information on properties of interest or entire areas on the go. This is why your listings can’t afford to not be there!

Real estate sales professionals that use ViMO also communicate and collaborate on deals right from within the app – another reason why your listings can’t afford to not be there.

Here is our “How To” guide about how to add your listings to ViMO http://myvimo.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Add%20Listing%20in%20CREA%20DDF-4%20-%20updated%2011172014_Agent.pdf.

Don’t have ViMO? Contact us to find out more about how you can get the amazing app that lets you do more on the go: www.myvimo.ca. 

Twitter Marketing Cheat Sheet – Real Estate Marketing Online Part 2

Twitter is for Tweeters!! If you want to learn how to turn Tweets into $$ check out this cheat sheet about how you can leverage Twitter to promote yourself. Real estate marketing online is competitive and can get very expensive, but marketing within Twitter is something that you can do yourself and can use it to generate new relationships and more business.

Make yourself more marketable, and better equipped for your clients, with ViMO, your virtual mobile office: www.myvimo.ca. 

Facebook Marketing Cheat Sheet – Real Estate Marketing Online Part 1

Real estate is by far one of the most competitive industries to be in. Where real estate marketing online is concerned, social media is one of the most affordable ways to reach the most possible prospects because it is something you can do yourself to market yourself. That’s precisely why we created this Facebook infographic, complete with a banner dimension cheat sheet.

We hope you find these real estate specific Facebook marketing tips useful.

For more real estate marketing tips please visit www.myvimo.ca. 

Impact of the BOC Jan 2015 Canadian Interest Rate Cut

This past January was the first time in over a year that the Bank of Canada has cut the Canadian interest rate. The Canadian interest rate cut announced was .25%, reducing the rate from 1% down to 0.75%.

According to a recent article published by CREA, the Bank of Canada’s decision to reduce Canadian interest rates was thanks to the recent sharp drop in oil. The article quotes the Bank of Canada as saying that the recent drop in oil “will be negative for [economic] growth and underlying inflation in Canada.”

So what does all of this mean for the real estate market? Economists are constantly speculating about the future of the real estate market.

In the past few months alone, Deutsche Bank and the IMF both published reports stating that the value of Canadian homes are overinflated and that the Canadian housing market is headed for a slowdown. These opinions were based around a number of factors, including the amount of debt that Canadian families are carrying.

All of this speculation makes it a constant challenge for real estate sales professionals to keep on track of what homes are worth, and what could be in the cards for a particular neighbourhood or the market as a whole in the future.

Agree/Disagree? Real estate follows supply and demand and while some economists are calling for a cool-down in the real estate market, it also would seem logical that lower interest rates will lead to more people wanting to buy and so more demand in the real estate market.

Shortly after the Bank of Canada announced the Jan 2015 Canadian interest rate cut, the Star reported that the big banks had cut their prime lending rates: http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/01/27/rbc-cuts-prime-lending-rate.html. Nothing is more enticing to someone thinking about buying a home than lower interest rates.

Realistically speaking, since the Bank of Canada has not changed Canada’s lending rate in more than a year, no one knows how long it will last – if it will go down again, remain the same, or be increased in the near future. Adding to that, if the most recent rate cut was a result of the low oil prices, if oil prices begin to climb again, so may Canada’s lending rate.

On the front line, the most recent Canadian interest rate cut represents an opportunity to you. Canadians have real incentive right now if they were planning on buying a home or moving to another home – to buy now instead of waiting. 

If you would like to keep on top of the Bank of Canada’s scheduled Interest Rate Announcements, you can do so here http://www.bankofcanada.ca/core-functions/monetary-policy/key-interest-rate/.

Wondering how to assess the value of properties or the accuracy of a listing value? Try ViMO, a mobile app for real estate that you can access to view listings and also pull sales comps when on the go. Visit www.myvimo.ca.