10 Steps to Getting Rid of Your Office and Cutting Costs
Virtual offices continue to replace the brick-and-mortar version, throughout a variety of professions. Chris Smith (pictured), the co-founder of Tech Savvy Agent, would argue that there is no reason that real estate agents can’t take advantage of this cost-cutting trend. I think consumers at the high end may still expect agents to have a nice office, but even luxury Realtors can take advantage of these tips. Smith presented this list at the Inman Real Estate Connect conference in New York two weeks ago.
1. The New Post-It: Evernote.
2. The New Printer: It’s 5 pounds, wireless, has WiFi … and prints 22 pages per minute.
3. The New Modem: It’s called MiFi — You basically walk around with your own Internet bubble around you at all times.
4. The New Answering Machine: Google Voice — it transcribes every word to text for you.
5. The New Filing Cabinet: Every document is available on mobile devices these days, and there are free programs to help you keep it all organized.
6. The New MLS Book: Today’s apps give consumers every listing directly from the MLS, updated every 15 minutes.
7. The New Conference Room: Skype now has 5-way video calls, and calls can be recorded.
8. The New CMA: Smith says agents need to “edu-tise” their sphere. He points to HTEN.com a free way to do this.
9. The New ‘Let Me Get Back To You’: Desktop emulators such as iTeleport and LogMeIn are invaluable.
10. The New Closing Table: With services such as DocuSign, signing documents remotely is a breeze.
—Mark Moffa
Managing Editor
