The Apple iPad for Real Estate Agents
The newly introduced iPad has taken the ideas behind the iPhone and the compact efficiency of a netbook to create what promises to be an essential tool for anyone with their real estate license. Not only does the iPad have everything you could need right there at your fingertips, it also looks really cool.
All of the apps currently available on a real estate agents iPhone are also available on the iPad, and new apps are becoming available every day. One highly anticipated app will have state approved contracts for real estate transactions allowing you to use your iPad to pull up a contract, fill it out, and have that contract signed online. Fully executed contracts can be emailed to all interested parties from right there.
The technology offered by the iPad is quite impressive, especially to potential clients. Touch screens and 3G wireless internet capability from almost anywhere is a fantastic way to knock your clients socks off with the wealth of information available to you with the gentle touch of a finger. Instead of scheduling meetings with clients that may require days to synchronize schedules for can be done on the spot with those clients that are also using the video chat technology. Every successful real estate agent and broker understands that time is money. Having the ability to have that online meeting right now instead of waiting days or weeks translates into faster closings and happier clients.
Something widely underused by many established real estate agents is video on their websites or social media sites. The newest agents that are just receiving their real estate license are going to be using all of the latest technology available to help them stand out in the crowd. Seasoned real estate agents are going to have to get on board as clients become more and more technology savvy. Many potential clients do a great deal of research on the real estate market, and well as the agents themselves, using the internet. If you cannot set yourself apart from the masses marketing yourself, clients will think you cannot effectively market their home.
The price point of the iPad is comparable to many standard laptops and surprisingly significantly less than other notepads with touch screen technology and Wi-Fi capabilities. Even at its introductory price of between $499.00 and $829.00, the iPad is competitively priced, and those prices are likely to go down even further by next year to between $199.00 and $299.00, roughly equal to the current price point of a netbook.
Having answers to every possible client question or concern is urgent in building a solid reputation as a knowledgeable real estate agent. To know everything you need the latest technology at your fingertips to be able to find the most updated information for your clients when they ask the question. The iPad has combined what the iPhone is with what the Netbook should have been to create what is sure to become a necessity to every successful real estate agent.
Please contact Shaun directly shaun@shaunkimmins.com to discuss whether it's a good time for you to buy or sell and please feel free to comment on this or any of my other Blogs or visit me at my Century 21 In Town Realty website.