Advertisement
Real estate can be a prosperous and lucrative career. Whether you’re flipping homes in Los Angeles to the super-rich or managing a portfolio of rental properties, it’s a great game to be in. Being a realtor can be extremely busy and tiring, but the rewards are always worth it.
If you’re working in real estate – and doing well – you may find that you are getting so busy that you’re running out of time. Days fly by with work stacking up, deals to complete, and clients to call. If this sounds like you, it may be time to try and streamline your work. Take a look at these tips on how to make your job as a real estate agent a little easier.
Manage Properties With Technology
Technology has come a long way in the past two decades. Long gone are the days where a realtor had to balance sheets on paper, use landlines to call clients, or manually type letters to tenants. These tasks can all be managed by real estate technology nowadays. The technology is so simple that it can save you hours every week, avoiding repetitive tasks, while keeping all your data in one easy-to-manage place.
Firstly, all properties should be listed online. This is the new normal, and how many clients will discover you and your properties. With this, you should have a software system to help you manage the property’s online presence. You want to be able to quickly grab your iPad or laptop and check how many views it has had, answer any questions about it, or book viewings at the click of a button. You can manage your viewings calendar, contact clients, and check the status of various deals, all from one central software hub.
For rental properties, the benefit of technology is even greater. If you are managing properties on behalf of landlords, the tasks can quickly pile up. There are tenants to screen, documents to sign, and rental payments to collect, while simultaneously marketing newly available units. The workload is massive! Using technology to help will save you hours of time every week. Many of the tasks listed can be automated, freeing you up more time to do the thing you love the most – showing homes.
Vet Clients Before Showing Homes
One of the biggest mistakes realtors tend to make is taking clients to a viewing before the screening questions are done. You may commit 2-3 hours of your time to this client, only to find out later that they never had enough money to buy or rent the property in the first place. Now you’ve lost a sale and your time.
Whether you use the aforementioned software or not, it’s not too hard to sort screening questions out before a viewing. Most clients will be happy to answer your questions before attending a viewing, as this allows you to recommend properties that will suit them and their budget. Save time, vet clients, then view.
Group Your Viewings
Scheduling viewings is one of the main daily tasks for a realtor. You can’t sell houses without viewings! But, managing the way you book your viewings can help you be far more productive at work.
If you have multiple clients interested in the same property – or even properties in the same area – do everything you can to hold all the viewings in one afternoon. This saves you multiple journeys to or from the office, utilizing your time far better. You should still give every viewing enough time to be thorough, giving your full attention to each client. Simply placing them around the same time gives you more time later to knuckle down on other tasks, instead of wasting time in the car.
Manage Reviews and Referrals
Finally, you want to be busy and you want to be successful, right? Well, the majority of buyers and sellers pick their realtors based on reviews and referrals. Ask your friends and family to constantly refer you to their friends, offering them great deals and hard work. Get your name out there and build a reputation. Make sure that you are listed on review websites and ask successful clients to leave positive reviews. This will help you build your realty brand and keep you busy and the cash flowing!
These simple steps will help your realty business flourish whilst also saving you time and money. The more time saved with automated software and pre-screening, the more time you have to be a great, personable real estate agent that clients are going to recommend over and over again.