Selling homes is not easy, and the competition is stiff. Believe it or not, there are over 106,000 real estate brokerage firms in the US.
Consequently, agents are forced to stand out from their competitors if they want to make a sale in a reasonable amount of time.
Fortunately, there are plenty of tools available to real estate agents who want to sell faster. Let us talk about some of them!
1. Online Listings
Any real estate agent would be foolish not to upload their listings onto various online listing platforms. Buyers are often limited to what they can find on these sites.
For this reason, it is important to have a presence on these listing tools and to maximize listings for the most clicks.
However, online listing tools come with several new tools to help market your home that you should not neglect. Here are the most important ones.
VR Tour
You cannot go to ten open houses each week. It is simply not feasible.
Luckily, the pandemic gave the real estate industry one good benefit, and it is the rise in 3D virtual reality tours. By using VR tours in your strategy, potential buyers can essentially "visit" a home without ever setting foot in it.
Not only does this give potential buyers a good idea of the "feel" of the home, but it helps them envision a future there and possibly eliminate the need for certain in-person viewings, saving you time, money, and allowing you to sell faster.
On a similar note, floor plan visuals can also help viewers understand the layout of the house, especially when used with 3D models.
Virtual Staging
Virtual staging has become extremely popular in the past few years and allows potential buyers to look through photos and envision how a room would look full of furniture and decor.
Companies like Hommati can take empty rooms and fill them virtually with couches, beds, tables, and anything that would make sense for that room. They can even remove or replace old and outdated furniture and add items that are a bit more modern.
While the virtual staging does not translate to the 3D tours, it still allows buyers to unlock all of the possibilities a room or space has to offer.
Aerial Tours
Lastly, some listing platforms will even offer aerial tours to help viewers gauge the property, roof, zoning, and area. By offering a wide array of viewing options, you show that you have nothing to hide as a seller.
When users are accustomed to seeing a few pictures of the inside and outside, seeing a listing with virtual staging, a 3D tour, and aerial view of the house will help your listings stand out from the competition.
2. Your Website
Online listings are a great way to build organic traffic from home shoppers, but having your own website is even better. While websites are not a substitute for online listings, they are a great supplement.
Whether you sell for an agency or you are an independent contractor, building your own real estate website will have enormous long-term payoffs and will help you sell homes faster.
Also, anything you would be putting into an online listing can easily be transferred to your website. Once it is up and running, the need for ongoing maintenance is minimal.
Website Building Tools
Let us be honest, there is no substitute for hiring a professional web designer. Most users are used to seeing high-quality websites across the internet, and it is hard to compete with that.
However, many agents will not have the resources to hire these services right away, and that is okay!
Fortunately, there are great web design tools online like WordPress or Squarespace where you can design a quality website if you are willing and able to put in the time. With a little research and time, you can build a responsive website that's perfect for real estate listings.
Building Traffic
Of course, paying for ads, using newsletters, and marketing on social media will get you some traffic, but why stop there?
By simply building a quality website and using the right keywords, your website could begin to rank on Google when people search for homes in various cities or neighborhoods. This is called search engine optimization (SEO).
If you manage to show up on the first page for these homes, your traffic could blow up and your website could become the existing listing site for your area.
If you are in this for the long haul and intend to continue selling, then investing time or money into SEO now will have enormous payoffs down the line.
3. Open House Management Software
Having some type of scheduling software available to help you manage open houses, offer them to potential viewers, and remind you and viewers ahead of time is very helpful in the industry. Often, real estate agents are juggling several interested viewers at once, which can lead to scheduling conflicts.
For that reason, we recommend using apps like Calendly, which allow both you and potential buyers to agree on a time, have it in writing, and have reminders sent to both of your emails ahead of time.
If you use the app consistently, then you will not have to worry about scheduling conflicts again! Plus, viewers and clients can cancel meetings on their end whenever they want and you will receive an update right away.
4. Home Valuation Tools
Home valuation tools are another helpful way to find the right price and get your new buildings listed and sold fast. With the right seller tools, you can add a location and get an immediate estimate for the home's value.
Once you have that, you can add the valuation to your listing, which may give you more leverage in negotiations.
Alternatively, you can spend money on a professional appraiser to come down and view the house. It is up to you!
Also, mortgage calculators, investment property calculators, and other tools are widely available online to offer fast information to clients and viewers upon request!
5. File Storage Tools
Secure file storage tools like DropBox or Google Drive are very helpful when it comes to sharing information. All the time, you will need to share contracts, reports, and forms with clients and viewers, and other technology can pose challenges.
For example, when you use certain files like PDFs, they could be zipped, infected with malware, or incompatible with a user's system.
However, Drive and DropBox work for anybody with access to the internet, and they offer secure file-sharing options. Either one is great, so use whatever works best for you!
Also, it is much easier to share these files than to make an attachment in an email and type out a message. Both of these platforms have "share" buttons to allow for instant and safe file sharing.
6. Accounting Tools
Accounting can eat up a lot of time in the office, which takes away from selling.
Unlike other accounting apps, QuickBooks Self-Employed offers a lot of great features for real estate agents and plans start at $7.50 a month.
By snapping pictures of your receipts, uploading expenses/revenue, and more, the app takes care of all business tracking behind the scenes, making tax time a lot easier!
Not only that but when you download the app, it tracks your location, allowing you to accurately report business mileage at tax time. If you are constantly driving to and from open houses, this is a life-saver!
Also, you will need to send proper invoices to your clients at the time of closing, especially if expenses come up with the sales. Having a system in place to track these expenses could make for a quick turnover.
7. Location Tools
Real estate agents are busy and nobody wants to waste their time. One common concern is people showing up to the wrong addresses, especially in larger cities.
For that reason, using tools like My Maps by Google can help you quickly send locations over to clients to avoid errors in communication.
We have all experienced a time when we have typed something into a GPS differently from a person whom we are meeting. This simple tool can help avoid that.
Sell Faster Than Ever
Now that you know some of the best tools of the age to help real estate agents sell faster, why wait? The sooner you put these tools to use, the sooner you can start making sales!
Stay up to date with our latest real estate tips and feel free to contact us with any questions or for help with your sales!