One of the easiest ways realtors can give themselves a competitive edge is to keep up with the latest technologies. Easy and cheap, iPhone apps can help any realtor understand the latest market trends, quickly get answers to their clients’ questions, and stay organized. With all the iPhone apps, a busy realtor may not have time to sift through them all to find the most useful. Fortunately, Crown has done some research for you!
Here are our five favorite iPhone apps for real estate professionals:
Evernote
For busy professionals, this app is a …

Realtor.com has released their iPhone App to help buyers search for homes on-the-go. Among the expected features, like the ability to pull all property details and prices from 4 million+ homes for a sale, a few app features and tips for how to deal with the smartphone home shopper are as follows:

Up to 25 photos can be shown per listing. This means you want to be sure to include all available photos for the properties you’re selling on your listings.
Listings are updated every 15 minutes, so you’ll want to keep …

The Center for REALTOR® Technology recently released their 2009 Realtor Technology Report, which analyzed the use of technology in the field of real estate among brokers and sales agents. The survey covers technology’s use for social networking, lead generation, relationship building, and mapping. The results of the survey are interesting, particularly in the realm of social media.
No one needs to tell you that the use of social media is skyrocketing: last year, in the 2008 survey, 67% of respondents claimed they didn’t use social media. This year, the number is …

According to the Realtor Technology Report, around January 4, (26%) of realtors surveyed post to their own blog for real estate purposes. Since blogging is growing in popularity, and since a lot of terms are thrown about relating to blogs, we thought we’d focus a post on one term in particular that seems to come up pretty often: the widget.
Most likely some of you are well versed in the widget and already make good use of them on your blog. But also likely is that there are a few people …

If you want to exceed at your job, you have to know a little bit about photography and perhaps even videography. As people increasingly turn to the web to gather their information, it is extremely important for Realtors to be able to take captivating photos and create virtual tours. This service is now an expected part of the industry and requires some element of skill and talent. REALTOR® Magazine has published a list of things you can do to improve your photos and learn how to highlight the selling points …

As green living has gained momentum, the National Association of REALTORS® has introducted the Sustainable Living Designation, which is NAR’s official designation for integrating green concepts into REALTOR® business. There is also another green designation that many Realtors have taken advantage of since 2002: EcoBroker® designation.

EcoBroker®: The Green Designation is overseen by the Association of Energy and Environmental Real Estate Professionals and trains real estate professionals in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, New Zealand and Central America on environmentally friendly and sound real estate practices. Essentially, the program trains …

Standard Pacific Homes is known for long-standing commitment to excellence in design and craftsmanship. It is a trusted name in the homebuilding industry. Many people who purchase a Standard Pacific home choose their own cabinets, counter tops room configuration, woodwork, paint, flooring and even more. Join as on a virtual walk through of this elegant Standard Pacific home from room to room.

If for some reason the movie does not load, click here to view our version on YouTube.

Located in Wesley Chapel, Florida, Seven Oaks is a beautifully landscaped community with forests of century-old trees, beautiful flowers and colorful natural surroundings. The tree-lined streets wind through 24 luxurious neighborhoods created by Tampa Bay’s most talented builders. Residents enjoy a 17-acre Sports Core and Club with pools, slides, swings and basketball. Join us for a virtual tour through this lovely community!

If the video above does not work, click here to watch the tour on YouTube.
Virtual tours are a great way to experience how a home will look and feel …

Real estate web sites are becoming increasingly popular in today’s online culture, which is leading many real estate companies to devote extra time and resources to the creation and management of their sites. The results have been favorable. In fact, Time magazine recently issued their list of the 50 Best Web Sites of 2009 which includes multiple real estate-related sites.
In addition to these rankings, The Nielsen Company, which provides marketing and media information, notes that real estate web traffic increased by 11 percent from June to July. The same time …

Using a customer relationship management (CRM) system — sometimes referred to as a contact management system in the real estate industry — is a powerful way to manage and track your relationships with both leads and clients. Available as either a software application or web-based program, CRMs helps organize business transactions and tasks that involve clients and leads. This type of tool can be incredibly useful for maintaining timely communication with leads and clients as well as follow-up activities with past clients. A CRM can also perform marketing functions such …