Tuesday Tidbits: Essential Apps

Here at DCAR, we want to make your jobs easier. That’s why we’ve started up our Tuesday Tidbits series, a weekly email that will provide you with a useful, relevant piece of information that will hopefully come in handy as you work. If you missed any of the previous editions, those are archived here.

Much of the information we use in these emails comes from the National Association of REALTORS^® resources RealtorMag and HouseLogic. We encourage you to browse through their content for other useful tips.

Technology in Real Estate

We have long since reached the point where a smartphone is an absolute necessity to advance in the world of real estate, especially in a modern city such as DC, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

A REALTOR^® must be able to check his/her email, schedule appointments, access maps and directions, and all other basic elements of today’s world at a moment’s notice.

But there’s so much more than that. Here’s a sampling.

The Appsolutely Must-Haves

You should have your email client and a good calendar service on your phone by now, and you should definitely have your favorite navigation tool (Google Maps or Waze are among the most common). But those are mainstays among the average smartphone user.

NAR’s REALTOR^® Property Resource (RPR) has compiled a list of 14 less-common apps that every real estate professional should be familiar with. Some of them are specific to real estate, others are just generally useful tools that will absolutely come in handy.

All of the apps noted here are available to both Apple and Android users, though there are exceptions in the full list.

• DocuSign: You should absolutely have DocuSign by now, but if you don’t, it’s the preferred method of electronic signatures in a wide variety of industries.
• Cloze: Cloze syncs your emails, contacts, calendar and to-do lists to create an inclusive agenda for a given day. It’s perfect for the many of you who are swamped with emails and tasks.
• Expensify: This app tracks the money you spend on the job, making tax season much less dreadful. It even tracks the miles you drive and the money you spend on gas!
• Matterport: Virtual reality is one of the biggest trends across media these days, and not many realms can utilize it more effectively than real estate. Matterport is your key into that world.
• Magicplan: Few things in real estate are more vital than a floorplan, and Magicplan lets you create one from your phone.

There are so many apps these days, it’s an exercise in futility trying to keep up with them all. However, it’s important to make sure you don’t get left behind, and many of these apps are definitely worth knowing about.

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Have an idea for a Tuesday Tidbits subject? Looking for help on a particular topic? Send an email to bfrantz@dcrealtors.org with your input and you might see it in a future Tuesday Tidbits email.

The information expressed herein is intended to serve as a general resource guide for the members of the District of Columbia Association of REALTORS^® and is subject to change. While the District of Columbia Association of REALTORS^® strives to make the information in this email as timely and accurate as possible, the Association makes no claims or guarantees about the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and expressly disclaims liability for any errors and omissions. This information should not be taken as legal counsel.