Starving Real Estate Agent? Seven Ways To Cut The Fat And Start Saving

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 9, 2009

As a real estate agent, you can't count on any financial bailout to save your business during this recession. These seven tips by Michael LaPeter, an active real estate broker in San Francisco, will help you trim the fat and make your business lean, mean, and most of all more productive:

1. Use Free Online Office Software.

A relatively new phenomena, several companies now offer free software that can essentially replace Microsoft Office and other expensive office software. You can spell check, cut and paste, format your text, and do everything else the average writer would need to online. As an added bonus, your documents are automatically saved and stored online, so you never need to worry about backing up your files or what happens if your computer is lost or stolen. My favorite is Google Docs, which can be found by simply googling "Google Docs".

2. Use Free/ Low Cost Online Transaction Management Software.

If you're looking for a quick way to differentiate yourself and offer great service to your clients, try using free/ low cost online transaction management software such as Basecamp. You can add tasks, milestones, messages, upload documents, and best of all your client can login and view his listing or purchase status at anytime. You save money by not needing a transaction coordinator, your clients love the transparency, and you'll save time because there will be less emails and calls back and forth.

3. Use Low Cost, High Impact Single Property Websites.

If you want to win more listings, you'll need to differentiate yourself during the listing presentation. Consider creating a free single property website from a low cost company such as Single Property Websites. They'll let you create a free preview version for your listing presentation, and if you win the listing it's only $9 to activate your single property website. Your competitors are already using single property websites... what have you got to lose?

4. Use Free/ Low Cost Online CRM Software.

Most Customer Relationship Management software, especially that made for the real estate industry, is notoriously hard to use. Are a few custom fields worth hundreds of dollars and hours of syncing and tech headaches? If you don't think so either, try Highrise, an online CRM that lets you manage up to 250 contacts for free, with more powerful plans available for only a few dollars a month.

5. Track Your Expenses.

While this sounds obvious, you'd be surprised by how many agents have no idea how much they're spending or what they're spending it on. It's no surprise: real estate agents are usually social animals, and digging into a heavyweight accounting program such as quickbooks is downright painful. For personal finances, I recommend Mint.com. You can link your accounts in about five minutes, and because they only track your finances (you can't transfer or withdraw anything), they're very safe.

6. Instead of Advertising, Try Picking Up The Phone.

I learned this idea from the course "Ninja Selling" by Larry Kendall. His great advice: make 50 brief calls to people you know every week and offer them real estate information of value (sales in their neighborhood, market update, etc.). This costs you nothing, and is probably the single most effective thing you can do to generate more business. Try it for a month.

7. Consider Working From Home. If you're an experienced agent and not doing it already, consider working from home. You'll save on commuting costs, those occasional lattes, and going out to lunch. Note that working from home isn't for everybody, especially new agents or those who have trouble focusing. New agents need the interaction and experience from co-workers, and those who can't focus will lose more money than they save on lost productivity!

Real estate is an incredibly fulfilling career, and the steps you take now can not only help you ride out the recession, they can put you in prime position for the coming recovery. Powerful new tools such as single property websites are making it easier than ever to save money. Stay hopeful, stay hungry, and best of luck!

About Michael LaPeter:

Michael LaPeter is broker-owner of Resonant Properties, a real estate brokerage in San Francisco, and has written several articles on real estate marketing and strategy in addition to his industry blog, http://www.resonantblog.com.

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