What’s in your agent toolbox? Do you have what you need to attract business, serve clients, and be successful? While necessary tools can vary due to personal preferences and priorities, here are nine of the most basic and essential ones for real estate careers:
1. Vehicle
Even if you’re social distancing and meeting your clients for most showings and appointments instead of chauffeuring them around, a vehicle is still a vital tool of the real estate trade. Agents need a reliable (and preferably clean and professional looking) mode of transportation to view properties, attend meetings and networking functions, and to take care of personal business.
2. Phone
Can you imagine spearheading real estate deals these days without a cell phone? Smartphones have become indispensable for communicating, research, navigation, networking, marketing, documenting, and much more. A cell phone keeps agents in touch and moving deals forward wherever they are.
3. Computer or Tablet
While smartphones have increasing capabilities, a computer or tablet is still required for some tasks and makes others easier. Agents use computers to develop marketing materials, prepare presentations, download images, use specialized software, and answer emails and messages more easily and efficiently.
4. Prospecting & Marketing
Agents have a variety of digital prospecting and marketing tools available today. These tools can be used to generate leads, identify expired listings, develop mailing lists, create customized materials, design website content, and facilitate customer relationship management.
5. Social Media
An invaluable tool for today’s real estate agents, social media can help agents increase their visibility, generate leads, expand their network, advertise listings, pursue niche markets, stay in touch with former clients, as well as increase referrals and repeat clients. Popular social media platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat, and others.
6. Market Analysis
These tools are critical for understanding local and regional real estate pricing and trends, as well as for advising and guiding clients. Property valuations, comparables, economic forecasts, labor statistics, and other factors can all affect property prices and appraisals.
7. Home Warranties
A home warranty is a one-year service contract that helps safeguard against the cost of covered repairs or replacements to major components of many home systems and appliances that fail due to normal wear and tear. This important coverage can help protect homeowners’ budgets as well as differentiate listings from others on the market. Home warranties, such as those offered by HSA, can also help increase client satisfaction with transactions while helping to reduce post-closing involvement and lessening liability and stress for agents.
8. Online Warranty Network (OWN)
OWN is an online portal that lets busy real estate professionals access HSA home warranty account information anytime, 24/7. A convenient tool that helps agents save time and be even more productive, OWN eliminates the need for phone calls and emails by helping agents:
- Enter new home warranty applications
- Add or edit closing information
- Review and update client information
- Change plans
- Place service requests
- Email confirmations and escrow information
- View listing summaries
- Pay with credit card or ACH
- Extend expiring orders
For more information about complementary marketing materials, home warranty benefits, or how to create a convenient OWN account, contact your HSA Account Manager.