Real Estate Technology

13March

Housing Geared Up to Grow this Spring

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The mercury is rising and springtime is just around the corner.  Regions hit hard by winter storms are starting to thaw and analysts are predicting the housing market will do the very same in coming months.  A tight housing supply continues to keep home prices high making this undoubtedly a seller’s market.  The overall housing market for the year is positioned for continued growth.

Housing industry and home construction real estate concept as two gears or cog wheels shaped as family residential structures as an icon of neighborhood cooperation and community network connections.Demand for housing is still strong and expected to stay this way through the spring according to some analysts.  The Conference Board, a nonprofit association of businesses, found the percentage of consumers who intend to buy a home within the next six months is the highest it has been since 2000.  One reason for this rising demand is young people who are still facing a tough job market.  A housing analyst with Moody’s Analytics predicts the economy will expand enough this year to enable these young people to move out of their parent’s home.  While they may mostly rent, a decrease in vacancy rates should put upward pressure on rental prices prompting interested home buyers who currently rent to make a real estate purchase.

The rise in home prices is great news for millions of homeowners who have been underwater on their mortgage.  Rising values should encourage owners to put their property on the market, helping to ease the tight housing supply.  CoreLogic reported almost 3.5 million homeowners were lifted out of negative equity between the end of 2012 and mid 2013.  Zillow estimated even more borrowers are back above water, citing 3.9 million homeowners.  Chief Economist Stan Humphries, of Zillow stated in a recent release, “We’ve reached an important milestone as negative equity has fallen below 20 percent nationwide, which has helped free up marginally more inventory and contribute to further stabilization of the market.”

During the past year, existing home and condo sales have increased 11 percent almost topping the highest level in four years.  The National Association of Realtors (NAR) predicts sales will remain about the same during this year.

For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

28January

Technology for Real Estate: Discover Which Companies are Tracking You on Facebook

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tug of war shutterstock_63561718With free or paid apps and some websites, there’s a delicate balance between enjoying the  application  and protecting your privacy. Technology for real estate practitioners has exploded with hundreds of cool apps and devices within the last 5 years.

For most successful real estate professionals, social media is not an option; it’s a key strategic marketing tool and an efficient way to connect with your sphere of influence.  

Have you ever downloaded a free app or visited a site that offered to allow access via  your Facebook login? Happens all the time, right? Your login gives that entity access to your Facebook profile. It allows them to park inside your Facebook account, harvesting your information for years or decades, until you eject them. Years of your info can be mined and sold as the result of one login.  

Here’s a quick way to find out which apps are tracking you, what info they are collecting and how to stop them.

To see which apps are tracking you:

  1. Open your Facebook page, click on the settings icon at the top and far right of your screen. From the drop-down menu select “settings”.
  2. Locate and click the   “Apps “  icon inside the settings menu . (Usually on the left of the screen.)
  3. Notice the resulting list of apps that are “signed into your account”.
  4. At the bottom of the list notice and click the “Show All Apps” link. This will reveal the remainder of the list of apps that are tracking you.
  5. To the right of each app’s name, there is an “edit” function and an “X” mark.
  6. Click on the edit function to see what the app knows about you.  Adjacent to the “Your basic info (?) “  bullet point,  click the question mark to learn more details about data points being shared.
    •  I learned that the first app I clicked has my email address, profile picture, gender, user ID, list of friends, and “any other information which is rated public.”
    •  I noticed these statements, “ This app may post on your behalf, including status updates, photos and more. This app can also access posts in your News Feed.”
    • Check the settings for each app and modify any unwanted access by clicking the edit function to limit access or click the “X” icon to end the app’s access to your account. The app may stop working for you; so weigh your options prior to making your edits.

Hopefully this article will help users to strike the perfect  balance between enjoying your favorite apps and protecting your privacy.

For more information or detailed screen shots of the instructions above, check out a great article from Business Insider, written by Jim Edwards. 

Remember to Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT.

15January

Five Top 2013 Innovations That Impact Real Estate

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272F60BAE2F5E0A349E4742A1EB8One great hallmark of 2013 was rapid technological transformation. New apps and gadgets emerged in quick succession in a virtual leap frog of releases by major players.  The field of real estate is the primary beneficiary of several key advances. Here are five top 2013 innovations that impact real estate. These exciting advances flew onto our radar screens in 2013.

  1. Civilian Drones.  The aerial listing tour has become a reality. Visual capture of surrounding neighborhoods, parks and terrain from the sky, arrests the attention of shoppers, and multiplies the marketing appeal of virtual tours.  Drones facilitate indoor tours also; generating a virtual viewing experience that exceeds the scope of an in-person property tour.   Virtual retailers such as (Amazon) are working to perfect drones for package delivery.  Even restaurants are considering aerial squads of delivery drones.
  2. Wearable Tech Tools.– The Dick Tracy style wrist watch phone arrived.  Primarily a remote control for your cell phone,   some models have a healthy bundle of apps and capabilities.  Samsung CEO, J.K. Shin predicts their model will become “a new fashion icon around the world.”
  3. The 3-D Printer – What does the 3-D printer have to offer real estate? It could just change the housing industry forever.  Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California, has unveiled a 3-D printer which can reportedly “build a house in 24 hours”.  It’s a giant robot whose computer –directed nozzle ejects concrete in a custom pattern, creating walls. Tradesmen then install windows, doors and other necessities.
    1. The innovation has major implications for emergency housing replacement associated with natural disasters. It has implications for affordable housing across the globe and is also being studied by NASA for extraterrestrial possibilities.
    2. The innovative KeyMe App (a 3-D printer based innovation) allows users to print out new keys in less than 30 seconds (according to their website).  Customers are advised to take photos of each of their keys. When one is lost, replace it by forwarding the image to KeyMe and a replacement is printed and delivered.   Duplicate keys are routinely printed in KeyMe kiosks. They can even be customized with various logos and images for promotional or sentimental value.   
    3. A local news broadcast recently reported that a 3-D printer has successfully printed human tissue and skin. Research teams led by Dr. Thomas Boland of the University of Texas at El Paso, expect to custom- produce organs suitable for transplant sometime in the distant future.  That has nothing to do with real estate but was just too cool to pass up.
  4. Virtual Money—Manhattan real estate broker, Bond New York, reportedly accepts Bitcoin for real estate transactions. The firm is thought to be the first in the industry to green-light the virtual currency.  
  5. The Internet of Things—The possibility of our home systems and appliances communicating with our devices is now on the horizon. Google agreed to pay $3.2 billion cash for Nest Labs, a programmable home thermostat company.

Analysts envision the possibility that in the near future; upon departing your residence you might receive a text message from your refrigerator announcing that you are low on butter and milk required by the recipe you printed from the internet last evening.  It might further advise of the nearest grocer currently stocking those items at the best price.  Future listing descriptions might detail which listings contain interactive appliances and  systems and which protocols they are compatible with. There are many other innovations that impact real estate in a profound way. Which ones grabbed your attention during the year?

For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Photo Courtesy of :  Contour Crafting and MSN Innovation

 

 

 

 

9December

Top Technology Time Savers Worth Checking Out (Part 2 of 2)

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Technology for Real Estate

Technology for Real Estate

We need a license before driving a car, practicing real estate or getting married. As technology pundit David Pogue noticed, there is no official certification required to navigate a computer. So most people don’t know what they don’t know about navigating a keyboard.

This is the second in a 2 part series unveiling top time-saving tips for working smarter in cyberspace.

  • Have you ever given a slide presentation and caught the audience gazing at your slides instead of looking at you?  In PowerPoint strike the “B” key to momentarily black-out the slide. Click “B” again to restore the view of the slide. To white-out the slide, click “W”.  Hit “W” a second time to restore it.
  • Need flight status. Google is an FAA database. Go to Google type the name of the airline and the flight number to get: aircraft location, terminal, gate, and estimated landing time.
  • Want to know how long it would take to fly from point A to point B? In the Google search bar type “flight time from city X to city Y”. The resulting list will even throw in a quick overview of the range of prices.
  •  Taking a trip and need a currency conversion?  In Google search bar type “convert” then enter the currency type and amount.  Example: “Convert 5000 dollars to British pounds.”
  • To highlight a word don’t drag the cursor across it, just double click the word. Drag the cursor to highlight additional words in a continuous stream.
  • Triple click to highlight an entire paragraph. This also works in Word docs.
  • Don’t delete highlighted unwanted content, to save time just type over it or paste over it.
  •  Shutter lag is common occurrence in cameras that cost less than $1000.00.  To photograph an object in mid-motion, pre-focus on the object before it is in motion by holding the shutter button half-way down.  When the object moves, press the shutter the rest of the way down to capture the action. This addresses the delay most cameras experience between the time you press the shutter button and the time the camera actually records the image.

To see a video demo of most of these tips check out the 5 minute video. The presenter keeps it fun. Feel free to share some of your favorite keyboard time-savers as well.

For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual real estate portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT. Remember to Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Source: TED Talks as published by Inc. Christina Desmarais.

http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/5-ted-talks-that-can-help-you-work-smarter.html?cid=sf01002

20November

Top Technology Time Savers Worth Checking Out (Part 1 of 2)

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Technology for Real Estate

Technology for Real Estate

Did you know you could check a flight status by typing the airline name and flight number into Google? It also converts currency and translates foreign words.

Technology guru David Pogue says there are numerous time saving tips and resources that most users were simply never taught.  They are not apps or new devices, but simple shortcuts that save key strokes, solve problems and allow you to work smarter.  We tested them out and decided to share some of our favorites.

To keep it short, we’re sharing our favs in a 2 part series. Here’s the first batch.

  • In your browser, instead of using the scroll bar to roll up and down the page; try the spacebar to scroll down 1 page per tap. To scroll back up hold shift button+ the space bar.
  • To enlarge the online screen view hold the “Ctrl key” down and tap (+) to enlarge the screen; hold the Ctrl Key and tap (-) to make the screen view smaller.
  • When entering a text on a phone, when you get to the end of a sentence, press the space bar twice.  It will insert a period and cap the first letter of the next sentence.
  • To redial someone just hit the call button. The last number dialed will display. Click “call”   to initiate the call.
  • To leave a message on a cell phone and bypass the instructions on “how to leave a message”, hit the # sign (AT&T customers). This will not work for all carriers. Experiment to learn the skip symbol works for various carriers.
  • Need a dictionary? Go to the Google search bar. Type “define” and the word.  Google will provide the definition as you enter the word. No extra clicks necessary.
  • Need to translate a French or Spanish word to English? Go to Google and type “translate” + the word. The translation will appear in a large box at the top of the page.

What are your favorite free technology time savers? Let us know and we may be able to publish them in a future segment.

For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual real estate portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT. Remember to Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

 

Source: 5 Ted Talks That Can Help You Work Smarter. Christina Desmarais. Inc.

http://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/5-ted-talks-that-can-help-you-work-smarter.html?cid=sf01002

14August

Technology For Real Estate: Dallas Agent Reboot Tips (Part 3 of 3)

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Technology for Real Estate

Technology for Real Estate

Cutting edge technology for real estate professionals took center stage in Dallas at an Inman News event. Inman Agent Reboot is an exceptional high-energy, tech-centered traveling show from Inman News.

Presenters shared first-hand knowledge of cutting-edge technology for real estate marketing and business operations. Speakers   provided actionable business improvement tips in a steady stream. The focus of each presentation is how to maximize business effectiveness. Agent Reboot demystified technology for real estate practitioners.

At the Dallas venue we captured tons of technology tips, tried-on several of them and decided to share tools that made a big impression. There were so many outstanding tips, apps and techniques that we decided to present brief recaps in a 3-part series. This is the third segment in the series. The focus of this segment is three system tools that minimize operating costs and maximize productivity.

System Tools:  Maximize Productivity

BetterVoicemail.com—Allows agents to customize the response that callers receive in accessing voice mail, improving the chances prospects will get answers quickly and efficiently.  The system converts voice mail messages to text messages facilitating expedited responses.  Provides performance reports to ensure no message gets left behind.

RingCentral—Presenter was a dynamic Broker (42 Agents) who reduced office communications bill from $560 per month to $62 per month with RingCentral, a Cloud-based phone system that does not require PBX hardware. It’s a virtual PBX. No desk phones needed. No office desks needed.

According to their website, “RingCentral comes with unlimited calling and internet faxing, as well as unlimited extensions. The automated call-distribution queue gives users the power to determine how you want to divide calls between agents, employees etc. RingCentral has a fully redundant network and comes with a 99.99-percent guarantee that the service will work all the time.” 580097_488177884526307_1691358186_n (1)

Google Voice—The average buyer shops online for as much as 18 months. When they call an agent for the first time; the agent has “8 seconds” to answer. Google voice allows a single number to ring on “6” phones at one time maximizing the chance that someone on the team will capture the opportunity. Also transcribes voicemail messages and delivers them to your inbox.

For information on effective ways to manage institutional and individual portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT.  Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.

Source: Inman Agent Reboot. Dallas, 2013

28September

Technology for Real Estate: Revolutionary iPad Apps – Final Installment in 3 Part Series

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Part 1
Part 2

Mobile technology for real estate professionals has
been revolutionized by the tablet computer. The right
app can inject a marketing ‘wow factor’ for skillful
users.

Technology for Real Estate

Technology for Real Estate

This is the third and final installment in a series of blogs for iPad owners based
upon content from an Inman News webinar entitled, “So You Bought an iPad. Now
What?” Inman Chief Evangelist, Chris Smith, showcased top application technology
for real estate professionals covering several functional categories. Which apps
deliver? Check out these top contenders for photo editing and sharing, back-office
productivity, and “experience” apps that are designed to impress.

PHOTO EDITING AND SHARING

1. Instapad – Edit photos and even make notes on them, then seamlessly
share them via social networks.
2. Snapseed – 2011 Best Paid App of the year (for iPad). This photo editing
app “Lets users pinch, mold, and shape effects to make jaw-dropping
beautiful photos.”¹
3. IPad IMovie – Video editing.

BACK OFFICE/PRODUCTIVITY

1. CloudOn – Helps to make Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other programs
work on the iPad.
2. LogMeIn – If your MLS will not allow you to login to the MLS on your
iPad, login on your laptop and LogMeIn will enable you to view laptop MLS
info on your iPad screen. Users must remain logged in on the laptop to
display MLS data via their iPad.
3. Evernote – Organize, and record notes and files for easy access.
4. GotoMeeting IPad App – Attend GoToMeeting webinars via the iPad.
5. Dotloop.com – Electronic signature tool.

EXPERIENCE APPS – MEANT to IMPRESS

Technology for Real Estate

Technology for Real Estate

1. Open Home Pro – Collects attendee information, sends an email thanking
guests for attending, notifies prospects of status changes. Open rate on
status change email is 67 percent. Agents report 98 percent accurate email
addresses on sign-in sheets.
2. Roambi – Facilitates data visualization and interaction for market reports.
3. TourWrist – Discover and share 360-degree panoramic photos on demand.
4. Realtor.com – Circle the area where the prospect lives and display market
activity data for property transactions within the circle. (Free branded version
for agents).

For information on effective ways to manage institutional or individual portfolios
nationwide, visit www.FirstPrestonHT.com
You can also join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Source: InmanNews. So You Bought and iPad. What Next? [Webinar]. Chris Smith, Chief Evangelist. August 10, 2012

  1. Apple Revealed Its Best Apps For The Year 2011. Technorati. Dan Reyes. December 20. 2011.
  2. For information about real estate portfolio management for institutional portfolios visit www.FirstPrestonHT.com
  3. For information about marketing and online offer management for broker/agent portfolios visit www.BidSelect.com

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25September

Technology for Real Estate: Top Tablet Tools – Part 2 in 3 Part Series

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Part 1
Part 3

This is the second installment in a three-part series recapped from an InmanNews webinar entitled So You Bought an iPad. Now What? The content simplifies the hottest trends in technology for real estate.

technology for real estate

Technology for Real Estate

The Future Is Mobile—Real estate prospecting and marketing is increasingly mobile. These stats document the escalating trend:

  • 91% Of all U.S. citizens have  a mobile device within reach 24/7*
  • 70% of all mobile searches result in action within one hour.*
  • 2014: The year mobile devices will overtake the use of desktops. **

LISTING PRESENTATION APPS– For dynamic, “jaw dropping” listing presentations, the following three got rave reviews from Inman.

  1. Keynote – (If you have Mac.)
  2. Slide Rocket (PC users) – No issues with formatting. Great for PowerPoint users.
  3. Prezi — Cutting-edge, cinematic, jaw-dropping presentations, but a bit more complicated. Build presentations on your PC and present/display on your iPad.

SOCIAL APPS – If you’re ready to take your social marketing efforts to the tablet platform, these apps deserve a look:

  1. LinkedIn — Easy to navigate, great for sharing articles, find birthdays, see who has been looking at your profile, who changed jobs, etc.
  2. Google+ – Discover amazing content. Find content that has proven to be popular and useful.
  3. HootSuite –“Best way to run Twitter from an IPad.”
  4. Spotify – Listen to music as it is shared on Twitter without additional keystrokes.
  5. GetGlue – Check in to TV shows and sporting events you are watching. Your participation is automatically shared on social sites.

CONTENT APPS – Looking for impressive content to curate? These apps are big on substance and eye-appeal.

  1. Fancy – Great images and content to curate on Facebook.
  2. Houzz – Beautiful pictures of interior décor and great content.
  3. Pinterest – Collect and share images. Use iPhone app on your iPad.
  4. Skitch – Captures screen images/photos etc. that can include notations on the screen images.
  5. Zite – “The Pandora of reading apps.” Useful for reading and locating content to blog about or curate.
  6. Google Currents – Groups favorite blogs and/or news sites in one user interface.
  7. Huffington Post – Content rich. Cutting-edge news.
  8. TED App – Inspirational big ideas.

For information on effective ways to manage institutional or individual portfolios nationwide, or to shop for real estate visit First Preston HT.

You can also join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

*Source: mymobilpeek.com/mobile-statistics/ (From: Mobile Marketer)

**Source: TechJournal.org

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12April

Favorite Apps for Real Estate Pros

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apps for real estate prosEach month DSNews Magazine publishes their list of favorite real estate apps. Here is a recap of four of this month’s top picks.

Sage

This newly released digital search app allows prospective homebuyers to view 3-D images of favorite listings. The application also provides virtual tours of surrounding neighborhoods, so that homebuyers can get a broader perspective prior requesting a showing.

REO Photo

Just released in March, this app may be of interest to those managing multiple REOs. It facilitates communications between agents, contractors and asset managers, by allowing contractors to forward photos documenting property condition and repairs in progress. REO Photo facilitates up-to-the-minute visual confirmation of completed repairs or new damage. In addition, it allows property preservation specialists to distribute work assignments to contractors who may be in the field or away from their desktops.

Dimewise

A budget management program that travels with you. It allows users to manage budgets by entering expenditures in real time and reviewing spending charts and summaries at the end of the month. It provides visual indicators of spending categories to help users identify where spending cuts may be appropriate.

FlightTrack Pro

Keeping track of flight-related changes can be stressful. Weather delays, cancelled flights and gate changes at large airports are just some of the potential travel challenges. FlightTrack Pro uses your confirmation number to track your flight itinerary and notifies you instantly of important changes. It even provides information regarding aircraft type and flight altitudes for those who want all the details.

For more information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

28December

“Humanized” Smartphone Showcases Nanotechnology – Can it Encourage Us to Innovate?

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Humanized PhoneIt’s a transparent, flexible phone shaped like a fish. This story uses one design team’s concept of the future of smartphone technology to highlight the importance of innovation.  Watch a demonstration of a featured prototype and prepare to be dazzled. If you’ve ever wondered what the smartphone could evolve into, this may be your answer. It is so advanced that you “don’t have to press anything to answer” a call.  Enjoy the perspective of a reporter who was invited inside the research center that developed this cutting-edge communications prototype.

This is not an effort to generate excitement about yet another new device; instead, it’s a reminder of the importance of continual self-development. Before the age of the smartphone, a famous southern axiom was “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Today a more appropriate quote would be “If it ain’t broke, take some time and make it better.” Or “Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” Just as a Finnish high-tech design team spent years thinking about how the smartphone could be better, we can all find one more way to improve productivity or elevate our level of customer service. If we review and make meaningful improvements along the way– pretty soon– transparent, flexible, and intuitive solutions will maximize success and propel our businesses forward.

For additional information, please join us at FirstPrestonHT.com or on our Facebook and Twitter pages.