By Lisa Carolin
At Robin Hills Farm’s Ice Festival in January, Realtor Rick Taylor of the Charles Reinhart Company, was asked to take video of the event from his drone, a tool that is now a key part of his business.
“I utilize ‘drone orography’, which has been very effective especially when I create videos and add music and titles to my properties as well,” said Taylor. “It really gives a potential buyer the opportunity to virtually be at the property.”
“I use 3D virtual floor plans and/or drone tours to market my properties on YouTube,” said Tammy Lehman, associate broker/owner of Lehman and Scheffler Real Estate Services.
(Her YouTube channel is tammylehman. Feel free to visit and see some of the home tours. https://youtu.be/QbOk58JL1p4)
Real Estate Agent Jeff Klink of Reinhart Associates also believes in using drones and says this link is a good example: View Listings
“Drones are a powerful tool to see the setting of the house, how close it is to other houses, and how the back yard looks,” said Klink. “It’s a much more educated buyer than it was before. When a house is listed today, it could be on 80 websites. In the old days it depended on word of mouth.”
Fifteen years ago, when Taylor began his career in real estate, books that were a couple inches thick with black and white photos were one of the prime sources for home listings.
“You had to walk into a Realtor’s office to see what was available, and most of the information was out of date before the book was printed,” said Lehman, who says that the introduction of QR codes was a notable way that technology changed her business. “This would allow a prospect to scan a code and immediately be taken to a website specifically designed for the home.”
“Slowly but surely, Internet advertising started to take hold, and five years ago the daily newspaper was all but a thing of the past,” said Taylor. “That forced agents like myself to advertise online through Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com among other websites.”
For real estate agent Kimber Zatkovich of the Charles Reinhart Company, social media is a big part of her sales career.
“I believe it has been a great way to broaden my reach both in terms of exposure for my listings as well as expanding my referral network,” said Zatkovich, whose listings all go out on the big real estate web sites. “Most folks are searching through the internet for homes-even if they are working with a realtor-so getting exposures through these sites is critical.”
For Marcia White, an associate broker with Lehman and Scheffler, technology is a regular part of the job.
“I customize marketing to fit my clients’ needs,” said White. “I use virtual tours and 3D floor plans, drone tours, as well as the Sentrilock Lockbox System and the Multiple Listing Service.”
Klink says that buyers go to the internet long before they ever talk to a Realtor.
“I also use custom websites for my listings,” said Lehman. “I market my listings on chelseaupdate.com, through social media with targeted Facebook ads, on Facebook, on LinkedIn and Twitter just to name a few. My listings syndicate to over 1,000 websites so my client’s properties get the most internet exposure possible.”
Bob Riemenschneider is the president of Riemco Building Company and says nearly everything they do uses some sort of technology.
“In our design phase of the business, we design everything in state of the art 3D CAD, providing a virtual reality walkthrough for every project,” said Riemenschneider. “Our customers are able to see how every area of a home will look, function and live. Major design mistakes and oversights are thereby eliminated.”
Peter Shaw, an architect/designer at Riemco Building Company, says he’s seen the most difference on the software end of the business.
“Everything we design is done in real-time 3D, and the ability to walk clients through their future home is invaluable,” said Shaw. “We handle a lot more communication of ideas through Pinterest and Houzz rather than home magazines. They are good not only as a source of ideas but because of the instantaneous collaborative aspect.”
Taylor says that even gaining entry into homes has changed. Many real estate agents use a central lock, which uses GPS and Bluetooth technology to gain entry into a home.
Lehman started using the SentriLock lockbox system beginning in 2010, which allows clients’ properties to be secured with a lockbox that can only open once for a showing.
Other uses of technology include the ability for clients to sign sales contracts electronically using DocuSign, which allows for getting signatures remotely.
Taylor even uses technology to keep kids occupied while showing homes using the Wi-fi in his new car to let them play games online.
