In today’s real estate market, we can see more clearly than ever that having the ability to easily tailor your website to fit the needs of your customer is an essential part of having a strong online presence. To that end, I want to bring to light a tool – or more accurately, two tools – which are going to be able to help you achieve this goal.

This service recently came to my attention when one of our customers asked about the ability to have users upload files, photos, and blueprints directly to him through his public website – a service Point2 doesn’t offer natively. Some coworkers and I pooled our collective knowledge, and out of that union we found JotForm, a powerful one-two punch which provides highly customizable forms for your website, as well as the option to upload files directly to your existing Dropbox account. (You DO have a Dropbox account, right? If not, it’s time to make one! We’ll come back to this in a second.)

This is an incredibly powerful tool, and it provides you everything from the ability to add forms and capture data from Facebook, to the ability to take payments through trusted vendors like PayPal, ClickBank, and Google Checkout. The more in-depth you wish your form to be, the more complicated it’s going to be to set up – however, that said, there is a fantastic User Guide which goes over nearly every question I could think of, which you can access through this link.

Now, moving on to the highlight of this little blog post: The ability for a client to upload files directly to your existing Dropbox account. Now, those of you who have Dropbox already and know what it is may skip over this next paragraph. For those of you who are wondering exactly what I’m talking about, Dropbox is another free service which provides you the ability to host files online, which you can then access from any computer with an active internet connection (in fact, for those of you with smart phones, you can get the app). So if you haven’t already set up an account with Dropbox… what are you waiting for?! Did I mention it was free? You can sign up for the service by clicking this link.

Once you’ve got your Dropbox account set up, the next step to getting your customers the ability to upload files through your website, is to sign up for JotForm (or if you’re already signed up, integrate your Dropbox account), by going to www.JotForm.com and following the on-screen prompts. Once this has been completed, you’re nearly set! The last step is to simply find an existing template which uses the Dropbox integration (Templates available here), or create your own from scratch.

Once you have your custom form, or your new upload page, simply copy the code provided in JotForm, and paste that into an “Advanced Content Module” within your Point2 website. The form will immediately show up on the public end of your website.

Now, one last note: as with all free services, both Dropbox and JotForm offer more space and the ability to use more forms with paid subscriptions. For most users, the free service provided will be more than you’ll need – however, if you find yourself hitting your limits, both services provide upgrades at a reasonable price for a great reward.

I really cannot say enough good things about these two tools. The fact that they integrate so well with each other, and with Point2, is really just “icing on the cake”.

Marketing properties is where the magic is, and owners evaluating your services want to know that you can do this better than anyone else.

You’ve supplemented your traditional marketing plans with Syndication, an automated way to advertise the client’s home on over 50 high traffic websites and search engines, and promised to allocate a budget towards Enhanced Listings. Two very powerful marketing tactics proven to boost exposure to more online buyers, and that can generate up to twice as much interest in the property, or more.

But just in case some of your local competitors are up to the challenge, here is another one that has ‘wow’ written all over it. An idea that can make any wise seller sit up.

Boost your plan with a promise to create and launch an entire website just for the client’s property! Offer to give their property a home of its own on the World Wide Web. How much cooler value is there?

A dedicated website makes it much easier to find the listing on the Internet, enhances its presentation and bolsters its position on search engines. It’s important that the seller understands the relevance of this plan to the sale of their property. Emphasize the importance of search engine rankings and better presentation, as your seller may not be as Internet savvy and may not completely appreciate some of the ideas.

As well, explain that over and above online prospects, that many local buyers interested in the neighborhood typically drive around the area to physically check out inventory. That for this target, it’s inconvenient to stop to scan QR Codes or jot down the agent’s phone number.

Technically, this means that more drive-by prospects are likely to miss or forget the phone number, if they try to commit it to memory. The more determined would try various way to look up the property on the Internet or ask their agents to research it. However that is not as convenient for them, nor as promising for you. There are too many ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ involved.

Your single property website idea mitigates these risks, hardly costs anything per property and is as easy to set up as 1 2 3.

When a listing has its own website with its own street address-based URL featured on the lawn sign rider, such as www.123edwardsStreet.com, it becomes extremely easy for driver-by prospects to recall. Encourage your seller to distribute that URL to friends and neighbords.

Single property sites also help to differentiate a property within a certain neighborhood, make the agent behind it seem like a star, and sets you up to capture more leads for your client, more quickly.

With high end single property website solutions today available for pennies per property and can be set up in minutes, the only thing that’s left is to get out there and seal that new listing deal.

A quick sale at the highest price possible is every home seller’s objective.

In your presentation, you’ve covered the local newspaper ad, if you still do that. The open house is nearly a uniform expectation, as is the mailer. And of course, the local broker and agent caravan.

Here comes the kicker. Differentiation, and punch.

In the first part of this series we explained how Listing Syndication, a free service, can help you to win new listings. Syndication is a key ingredient for any successful listing presentation pitch today.

The next piece of the puzzle, also within the realm of powerful property marketing, is enhancing your listings.

Enhanced Listings, sometimes known as Featured Listings, is a paid advertising option offered by many real estate websites and search engines. Compared to regular listings, Enhanced Listings are typically much more prominently and more nicely displayed. The strategy makes your client property stand out from the hundreds of local homes listed on the same site.

Enhanced Listings also come across as better properties, which promotes more interest and typically leads to more clicks. One popular real estate website promises over 100% more clicks with their showcased listings option. How is that for another great bullet point in your listing presentation? Doubling views? Such statistics can go a long way towards getting the home seller’s attention and appreciation for the value you bring.

There are a plethora of options to feature listings online. Quite reasonable too, in the grand scheme of things. Such placements can typically be purchased for between $25 and $100.

If your budget allows, boost your marketing plan with an enhanced advertising component. It can definitely strengthen your pitch and help you to stand out. Bring along some glossy sample ads from a few sites you would advertise the client’s property on. If you prefer to use a laptop instead, research and open a few pages in advance, to avoid any Internet connectivity mishaps.

At worst, if an Enhanced Listing strategy helps to net you a new listing, the investment in time and money would have been worthwhile.

Every Realtor® wants more leads, but may not know how to get more leads.  When people are shopping for homes, what do they want to see? You got it, listings, lots and lots of listings. IDX gives you the ability to showcase all of the MLS listings on your site. Since people want to see listings, they don’t mind being required to register to view listings, which means a win for you (a lead) and a win for your client (the chance to see lots of listings).

Here are a few tips that can help drive traffic to your IDX search:

1.  Direct all visitors to the IDX search.

People have a short attention span, especially online; they want to see listings right away. Put your IDX search on every page, or make sure every page has a link to the IDX page. The most important place for your IDX search to be is your home page, to ensure it is the first thing your clients see.

2. Use other online tools to direct people to the IDX search.

Use your drip email campaigns to advertise that you have an IDX search (make sure there is a link). Tweet it, Facebook it, and blog about it – whatever you do, just make sure it reaches as much of your intended audience as possible. You differentiate yourself from your competitors by having an easily accessible IDX search.

3.  Utilize the Quick Search Option (URL Builder).

Give your clients the ability to search for homes quickly. For example give them pre-made search criteria, “Ocean Front Properties”, “Properties between 125,000-175,000”, “Foreclosures”. Engage the visitor by giving them a quick option, and then they will want to keep using it.

4.  Include a Call to Action to register and give them reasons to do so.

Include a list of benefits as to why someone would want to register for your IDX. For example:

• All of your searches are automatically saved, and you can go back and review them later!
• You can add any property to your favorites so you can quickly find it later.
• Receive VIP status when you register, including market snapshots, and listing notifiers, etc.

One of these companies is, er, was DIY Real Estate Solutions – makers of some of the most innovative property management software on the market. I say was because as of today DIY is joining the Point2 family, and is now known as Point2 Property Manager!

So what is Point2 Property Manager? At it’s core Point2 Property Manager is an end-to-end productivity tool with everything you need to manage residential property of any type online; including integrated general ledger accounting, credit checks, rent payment and Listing Syndication.

What does this change mean for existing DIY customers? Aside from updating your bookmarks, almost nothing at all. The product is still being developed and supported by the amazing folks at the Property Manager HQ in Cleveland, they are now just working with the rest of the Point2 crew in order to get the word out on their terrific products.

As for current Point2 customers who self-identify as property managers there will be no changes to the products you use every day – everything is staying the same. However, if you are interested in finding out what Point2 Property Manager has to offer, or just have some questions, visit Point2PropertyManager.com, or give the team a call at 866-602-9007.

Stay tuned for more exciting news in the near future!

Just last week we debuted our brand new Express Tools suite of apps,and this week we are excited to unveil a brand new look for our real estate search site, Point2 Homes.

What does this shiny new coat of paint mean for those browsing for real estate?

Besides being (hopefully) pleasant to look at, we have made some subtle design tweaks that should increase the ease at which people pull crucial information from a listing – things such as the price, listing agent, property photos, and contact information.  All with the end goal of generating more leads for those agents whose listings are on Point2 Homes.

Look for some more great announcements coming shortly!