Held July 30-August at Inman Connect Las Vegas. On January 1, 2024, the noise and misinformation will be cut away, all your big questions will be answered, and new business opportunities will be revealed. join us.
Real estate agents can easily take advantage of leverage through apps and technology tools. If there’s an area of your business that’s difficult or you’re stuck, chances are there’s an app that can solve that problem. In this article, I’ll share 15 apps that every agent should be using right now.
Instagram head Adam Mosseri posted a few months ago that engagement on a post or reel is more important than the number of followers.. But how do you build engagement so the algorithm pushes your content to more new users? This is where Manychat can help.
Manychat is a chatbot app that allows you to expand the reach of your Instagram or Facebook profile by automating replies, adding comments, direct messages, and ultimately increasing engagement on your posts. Have you ever seen someone say “comment” (or any word they choose) in a comment below and we’ll send it to you (whatever they send)? That’s a lot of chatting. Here’s how it works.
Manychat allows you to set up a simple process so that if someone comments on your preset “trigger words” for a specific post, it will initiate a series of actions to prepare you for engagement on that post. Here’s an example of a green screen video I made two weeks ago that got over 50,000 views, over 650 comments, and over 550 likes on its Instagram Reel when I only had a little over 8,300 followers on Instagram.
I began by discussing the potential for the post-presidential surge that real estate agents may see in the coming year. I also said in the description of the video and Reel that anyone who enters “David Childers” in the comments will receive a copy of the slide deck provided by Keeping Current Matters, a video interview with David Childers, and a copy of my article at Written by Inman.
I then leverage Manychat to automatically reply to anyone who comments “David Childers” with, “I just sent this to your DMs!” This means I now have two comments, which is great for engagement. I then asked Manychat to automatically send DMs to commenters detailing how they would receive the information. If you add a new request and let the other party know they received it, you will now have two-way DM communication that can also provide algorithm participation details.
Use Manychat to get the information potential buyers or sellers want. Make sure you follow your local MLS rules, but here are some examples you can use:
For “off-market” listings you can’t find on the MLS, leave a “secret listing” in the comments below and I’ll send it to you
I’m working on a listing in a highly desirable neighborhood [Your City] There are four bedrooms and a fenced backyard. If you want to know as soon as I sign the listing agreement, comment “New Listing” in the comments and I will send you the details as soon as I sign the listing agreement.
If you would like to receive my weekly deals email featuring the hottest properties in the areas below [Your City]comment “Trade of the Week” in the comments and I’ll PM you the details.
You can check out the Instagram Reel I mentioned above If you want to see how exactly I do it.
Homebot sends homeowners a monthly email detailing the value of their home, along with amazing details and insights delivered through your personal brand. Homebot offers one of the most detailed electronic valuation breakdowns I’ve ever seen. It also provides insights into the equity a homeowner has, refinancing options, cash withdrawal equity options, and even a rental analysis for homeowners to review when considering renting out their home and buying another.
This is a great tool for your past buyers, potential future listings, and anyone else who owns a home within your sphere of influence. If you’re looking for a way to provide consistent value to homeowners, Hombot is an app you’ll definitely want to check out.
We all have subscriptions or monthly payments that we forget about or know we should cancel. The problem is identifying what they are and actually taking the time to undo them. This is where the Rocket Money app comes in handy.
They’ll identify and display all of your recurring subscriptions in one place, and their concierge will cancel any unwanted subscriptions for you so you don’t have to. This is a great way for every agent to control unwanted or unnecessary expenses.
BombBomb is an app that helps personalize your email communications by embedding video messages in your emails. I use it to provide weekly video listing updates to sellers and video updates to buyers and sellers on the closing process, and I utilize the screen recording section to provide unsolicited CMAS.
If you want more details on how I used it for my unsolicited video CMA, check out this article: Here’s a list of how I made $11 million in 3 months
Safety first is a rule that all agents should abide by. TruthFinder provides criminal background checks for potential clients, ensuring agents fully understand the person they may be meeting before making an initial appointment.
It provides phone numbers and possibly email addresses that may be helpful when circle prospecting. Social media profiles and educational experiences also give you the opportunity to find common points of contact with potential customers.
SendOutCards are a great way to automatically express your gratitude and take your customer appreciation efforts to another level. They have a handwriting sample form and once you send it with your signature, they will create a personalized font and signature for any card you send.
Card customization is easy, and the ability to schedule future communications as well as gift items selected from the catalog makes follow-up with past customers easy to schedule and automate.
BoxBrownie offers professional photo editing, virtual staging, floor plan repaints and renderings at unbeatable prices. Looking for image enhancements, changing photos from daylight to dusk lighting, removing items from cluttered room photos, or 360 room tours? BoxBrownie is the tool for this and more.
Open Home Pro is the best open house software we have ever used. It offers the ability to have open houses sign in electronically and ask questions like: Are you working with an agent or do you have a home to sell?
At the end of your open house, you can set up an automated email to thank your visitors for visiting your open house. It will also segment your top prospects by giving you a list of visitors who are not working with an agent and visitors who have homes for sale.
CapCut is a free video editor app with stock footage assets and useful AI tools that let you edit videos like never before. Features like a background remover, AI color correction, and speech-to-text format make CapCut the video editor app of choice for agencies.
As agents, we hate not answering an incoming phone call or text message because it could be a hot prospect trying to contact the agent right away. The problem is how many spam calls and texts we all receive. RoboKiller is the solution.
Their website claims to block 99% of spam calls and text messages. This frees you up to take calls without having to worry about another call or text wasting your time.
Re Purpose.io lets you automatically distribute content across all platforms with just a click, eliminating the need to manually share on each platform individually. It enables you to easily set up a template-based scheduler, allowing you to publish on multiple platforms when and how you like.
Captions is another online video editor with specific additional features that assist agencies in creating engaging video content at an unprecedented level. Background Noise Remover cleans up audio for professional sound with just one click. The AI eye contact feature can shift the gaze away from the camera and into direct eye contact, increasing the connection with the film’s audience.
The video translator feature enables agents to convert videos into another language in just seconds. Automatic subtitles, easy-to-use video editor, and video trimmer features are just a few of the features that set subtitles apart from other video editor options.
Tracking your business mileage can result in significant tax savings, but tracking mileage and filing proper reports has always been a hassle. MileIQ solves this problem by tracking your drives and allowing you to easily categorize drives as personal by swiping left or business miles by swiping right. The app then provides tax-compliant mileage reporting with just one click.
Grammarly started out as a great tool for ensuring that any communication you send or publish has correct grammar. It still does that, but now it offers much more. An AI writing companion feature can now help you with emails where you can’t find the right word. Grammarly was a great product before, but with the integration of artificial intelligence, its value has increased significantly.
I mean, come on, how could ChatGPT not be on this list? It’s changing the efficiency and effectiveness of agents in ways that are hard to remember. Rely on ChatGPT and you will see your business improve.
As technology continues to advance and new apps are released every day, it can be hard to notice how each one helps agents. If you have an app you use that I missed, please share it in the comments below so we can all benefit.
Jimmy Burgess is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties in Northwest Florida. Connect with him on Instagram and LinkedIn.