Real Estate Contact Management

There are many contact management solutions out their geared for Realtors and Real Estate. I am going to talk about a couple of them and then I am going to talk about my recommendation. This article is mainly written for those who don’t have much of a solution and are looking for a solution.

The most poplular out there is Top Producer. They are a web based contact management / marketing platform geared for Realtors. There product seems to do a good job. I can’t really say anything bad with it because?I have not used it much. The only thing I really notice is that Realtors pay for it but don’t use all the marketing features included with it. So it looks like a waste of money to me.

Another product out there is Agent Office. This program is not web based but it can sync with Outlook. The program itself looks old (ugly GUI) but overall its stable. What I don’t like about it is that it has too many features that no one makes us of. A hardcore user of this product can make it work but the majority of Realtors don’t have the time to make it do what they want. Its learning curve is too high.

ACT has a product just for Realtors. I have not used it. I won’t say anything bad about it. If you are a previous ACT user then it might work for you. Personally I have never liked ACT and that is the only reason I don’t recommend it.

What do I recommend to everyone?

Microsoft Outlook

Why do I recommend this program.

1. It is on almost every windows based computer because it comes bundled with Microsoft Office.
2. It is a easy program to use.
3. Interoperability – it works with the programs above to enhance / add more fields to your contact data.
4. Syncroization – Outlook Syncs with everything including the above solutions.
5. Its an All-in-One solution – Email / Calendar / Contacts / Tasks
6. Cost – can be free depending on what you buy
7. Hosted Exchange – Syncronize all of your data across multiple computers and smartphones, palms, blackberrys.
8. Tons of Outlook help on the web – Don’t need any specialized training programs
9. It works for the 90% of most Realtors
10. Most Realtors don’t need all the features supplied by the above examples. You just need easy access to your contacts.

Here is a plugin for Outlook I found that offer more fields for contacts in outlook.?Its cheaper than Top Producer or ACT.
http://eurekaware.com/Product_Features_Real_Estate_Software.asp

What do you use and why do you use it?

Loren Nason
Future of Real Estate Technology