We spent a good deal of time to add this feature after feedback that users would like an easier way to view disclosures.  Many users are visiting Full Disclosure just to view disclosures for someone else’s listing, and don’t want to spend the time manually creating an account.  At the same time, we can only offer tracking for who’s viewed disclosures if we require a sign in of some sort.  Hopefully, the addition of single sign on via Facebook helps in this area.

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Kug Ad from Ben Millett on Vimeo.

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In order to get online with my laptop I used to have to find a nearby coffee shop, but with my new Personal WiFi Hotspot from Cradlepoint I always have access to a wireless network. The Cradlepoint router is powered by a rechargeable battery, so I just slap my 3G wireless card (it also supports 4G but I haven’t bought a new card yet) in there and I’ve instantly got a WiFi network set up. Now, I could just put the 3G card into my laptop, but that creates a few problems. First, it is a bit awkward to have something sticking out of the side of your laptop when you are trying to look something up from the car (I’m always worried I’ll break the card or laptop or both). Second, connecting to a 3G wireless network is much slower than connecting to a local WiFi network. If I have the card in my router ready to go, I can just open my laptop and connect pretty quickly. Lastly, the connection seems to fail a lot when used directly on the laptop versus using the router and generally seems to be more stable with the router. This is probably an issue with the software that comes with the 3G card which is another great advantage of the router – no software to install. Everything the router needs is installed on the router, including lots of great security features.

Another feature I like about the router is that a second person (well, up to 16 really) can also log onto that network at the same time. When my brother and I went to the National Association of Realtors Conference we were both able to get online with my router at the same time instead of paying for the hotel’s internet access (~$20/day). This feature can also be helpful at open houses, especially in new home subdivisions where you can’t easily access a nearby WiFi network.

Having a cellular wireless card is a necessity for a virtual office and a the Cradlepoint PHS300 is a great compliment to it, making it much easier to get online while running around in your daily real estate routines.

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We’re happy to say that Full Disclosure is fully compliant with Senate Bill 133.  How can we be sure? Because we offer our online real estate disclosure service free to everyone.  Our basic service allows anyone to post unlimited disclosures for up to 2 properties at a time.  You can’t get in trouble for offering agents something that’s already free!

As an added bonus, we can set you up with your own referral link, that will automatically place your company contact info on every disclosure page!

Your agents get a simple and convenient way to view and share property disclosures, and you offer them a valuable service and keep your name out in front while fully complying with SB 133. Why are we doing this? Simple: we offer advanced features and additional storage space to power users for a reasonable fee (starting at $5 per month). We will always keep our basic service free, so no worries there.

Create a free account and see for yourself how easy it is to use: www.getfulldisclosure.com

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Real Estate Technology

Future of RE Technology: www.futureofrealestatetechnology.com

Geek Estate: www.geekestateblog.com

My Tech Opinion: www.mytechopinion.com

Industry Blogs

1000 Watt Blog: www.1000wattconsulting.com/blog

Agent Genius: www.agentgenius.com

Bloodhound Blog: www.bloodhoundrealty.com/BloodhoundBlog

Future of Real Estate Marketing: www.futureofrealestatemarketing.com

Real Estate Zebra: www.realestatezebra.com

Individual Agent Blogs

Miamism: www.miamism.com

Pheonix Real Estate Guy: www.phoenixrealestateguy.com

St. Paul Real Estate Blog: www.stpaulrealestateblog.com

Company Blogs

Redfin Blog: blog.redfin.com

Zillow Blog: www.zillow.com/blog

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Property descriptions are a critical marketing step required for every listing, but all too often they are written as an afterthought.  A great property description should be informative yet succinct, and it should paint a positive image without being overly “salesey”.  A good property description starts before you’re sitting at your computer entering the listing in the MLS.

Step #1: Research.

Bring a camera with you on your listing presentation, and with the sellers permission try to catalog as many specifics as possible, including appliance brands, flooring, countertops, and any and all special features.  If you’re unsure, ask your client what brand of carpet or flooring it is, along with window coverings, etc.  If they are a ho-hum brand, then you likely won’t be mentioning them again.  If they are a premium brand, however, this is solid gold for your property description.
Also ask about any favorite restaurants or shops or activities the owners like to do in the area.  This can come in handy later – it will help you to paint a description of the lifestyle people are buying along with the home.

Step #2: Write the long version.

The MLS may limit the amount of text you can write, but everyone else (Trulia, Zillow, etc) lets you write an unlimited property description.  It’s often easier to write the long version first, then pare it down to fit into your MLS length requirements.  That way, you’re basically editing your writing down to your best points, instead of trying to add unnecessary fluff to make it longer later.

Describing Things:

When you’re describing things such as appliances, flooring, etc. mention the brand specifically if it is a higher end brand.  If anything has been replaced in the past few years, or is in excellent condition, mention that also.

Describing Spaces:

If any rooms truly are above average in size, be sure to mention this.  If the floorplan has a good flow, describe the spaces in the order a potential visitor would encounter them.  Walk them through each room, and mention one or two key features of each.

Describing the Area and Extras:

If the location’s great, don’t just write “great location!”, tell people why it’s great.  Mention specific shops and restaurants, and 2-3 sentences on the background of the area.  While not property specific, it never hurts to mention things such as the You may want to also consider creating a floorplan to go along with your listing.

Step #3: Edit!

This should go without saying, but proofread and edit your description.  The nice thing about writing the long version first is that you’re forced to edit your description so it will fit in your MLS. After editing, have a co-worker, spouse, or friend take a quick read through.  Sometimes we get too close to our own writing, and forget obvious things (like our contact info!).  This step will save you a lot of time, because once you’ve spend hundreds of dollars printing statements and hours entering it into half a dozen online marketing sites, it’ll bee too late.

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Five years ago, when a buyer liked a home enough to write an offer, we would sit down in that home and hand-write the offer.  I would take it back to my office and fax it to the listing agent (or even present it directly to the seller).  But today, we write our offers online and email them over to the listing agent.  Although there are some electronic signature options, many people still want to see live signatures on paper.  Enter the portable printer.

In my research, I’ve found three good options for a portable printer: HP H470, Canon PIXMA iP100 and Pentax PocketJet 3.  The HP and Canon printers are very similar and seemed to be the best options if you need to print color or photos.  They are also much less expensive than the Pentax (around $200 vs. $360+).  The tradeoff is that they are both inkjet printers whereas the Pentax uses thermal paper and no ink.  Because of this, they are not as small and lightweight as the Pentax.  The HP and Canon are around 4.5lbs and 6 to 7 inches wide.  The Pentax weighs less than a pound and is only 1.5 inches wide.

So which one to go with?  At first, I planned to go with the Pentax as I only really need to print contracts (black and white) and I really liked the idea of the portability (it would fit in my laptop bag), but then I started thinking about the versatility of having a color printer on the road.  Although I don’t user flier boxes anymore, I may still need to print off a brochure for a new buyer and the thought of doing that on old school fax paper just didn’t seem right.  And realistically, I won’t need it enough to keep it in my laptop bag everywhere I go.  Keeping it in the car so that it is accessible is good enough.  This leaves the HP and Canon printers.

I stopped by a local office store to take a look at the two printers side by side.  They are about the same size and feel about the same weight.  They also seem to have about the same specs.  However, the Canon seemed a little smaller and based on a number of online reviews (both good and bad), the Canon seems to rate higher in overall satisfaction.  So, I’m going with the Canon.  I’ll let you know if it was the right decision.

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• Realtor Tool #1: The iPhone

For those who already have one, it’s no surprise that this is at the top of my list.  If you don’t have one, then the first time your client whips his iPhone out and starts looking up listings on Redfin, you’ll likely start to reconsider.  The main ways I use the iPhone:

• Directions to listings (I have a terrible sense of direction!)
• Looking Up Listings On Redfin while on the go (because our mls is too busy making us use key code fobs to actually upgrade the MLS to work on anything but IE).
• Using the mortgage calculator app (buy the app from the app store) with clients
• Taking photos (and now potentially video) of listings while I’m out touring

• Realtor Tool #2: The ScanSnap

If you’ve ever dealt with a fussy scanner when you’re trying to send out an urgent offer, you know that a bad scanner can nearly hobble your business.  After dealing with several, including a few HP all-in-ones and one of the original Neat scanners, I can say the ScanSnap is head and shoulders above the rest.  It’s extremely portable (though you need an outlet, it can’t run off USB alone), it’s fast at 10 pages a minute, and even more importantly it’s drop-dead simple and so far mine has worked every time.

• Realtor Tool #3: DocuSign Electronic Signatures

While still a very new technology, electronic signatures make a huge difference.  They’re not yet fully accepted everywhere, but when they are it’s fantastic.

• They save a lot of time: I’d say about 20-30 minutes for each offer
• They keep the contract legible, unlike faxing which can make it unreadable by the time everybody signs.
• It’s easy for buyers to know where they should sign, and they can’t accidentally miss any signatures (unless you forgot to mark them in the first place)

The one big caveat to electronic signatures is that because they are so new, different areas and companies treat them differently, and if you’re the first in your area to start you may spend more time explaining them than you save in the first place!  In San Francisco they are fairly common, but a while ago I had a situation where another brokerage would not accept them on the purchase contract.

• Realtor Tool #4: MyFax

After comparing plans, I found MyFax to be one of the best priced and most reliable electronic fax services out there.  The $10 a month plan should work for most agents (especially if you are using docusign so you’re faxing even less), it includes 100 sent and 200 received pages per month.

Even when I was working at a larger brokerage that provided a fax number for me, I preferred to have my own for two reasons: first, it gave me more control and I found was actually more reliable than some of the larger “corporate” fax solutions. Second, just as with my cell phone it lets me keep my number no matter which company I’m working for.

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The best part? You’re instantly texted their contact info, so you can follow up and answer their questions while they’re still in front of the property. More than one agent I’ve spoken with has said this is the most useful service they have in their technology arsenal.

My brother and I are natural tinkerers, so we’ve spent the past several months researching the concept to see if we could build a better mousetrap. Our goal was to make a drop dead simple, easy to use, inexpensive service for busy agents, and today we think we’ve achieved that with our newest product:  AGENT TEXT. In less than 5 minutes, you can stop printing flyers and have a fully functioning text marketing service to present to sellers at listing presentations and to generate more buyer prospects from your listings. Pricing is simple, both the code and sign rider are reusable for unlimited listings, and shipping is included:

• 1 Reusable code: $8/ month, $20 1 sign rider
• 3 Reusable codes: $24/ month, $40 for 3 sign riders
• 5 Reusable codes: $35/ month, $50 for 5 sign riders

To learn more go to our site at www.AgentText.com

In the interests of full disclosure, this is a project both my brother and I are working on.  We think we offer the best combination of simplicity and low cost, but even if you don’t choose our project, I still strongly recommend you consider the switch from flyers to text messaging.  There are many other great companies out there offering a similar service, and you’ll immediately start saving money on the cost of printing flyers, not to mention the time you save refilling flyer boxes.  Add in the fact that it makes a great marketing tool in listing presentations, plus the potential for buyer leads, and it’s not hard to see how such a product could help your business. For more info, go to www.AgentText.com.

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