I added some new widgets from Zillow to the sidebar. I am trying something for a few months with them for business, and so far it looks like it might be working, so check them out! ----->
As for gadgets, the iPad is an amazing tool. I may be a little biased since I am an all out Apple Junky, but hey, if all of your products work flawlessly together to form a solid unit of cohesion, why wouldn't that make you happy? I use the calendar on my iPad a LOT and it syncs with my MacBook, iPhone and Mac Mini, so that no matter where I am, my calendar is always up to date. I can create a flyer for a clients home on my iPad and edit it on my MacBook later if I need to.
One of the best things right now for a realtor is Zip Logix Zip Form 6 Digital Signature. So let's say I'm showing a house and a client wants to make an offer right now. I can pull out my iPad, log into Zip Logix, write up an offer and hand them the iPad where they can then use either a finger tip or stylus and sign it. Zip Logix then emails them a copy of the contract so that there is a record of it for them, and then I email it to the seller's agent. So the offer is in and no trees had to be cut down to do it!
I am currently using Keynote on the iPad to help with listing presentations too. It's like PowerPoint for Windows, but far easier to use and it really adds a little something to a presentation. It also gives a seller a good idea of how their home will be marketed across the world on the web. That's right... When I list a home, it isn't just marketed in the Southwest Michigan area, it's global. Someone looking to move to the area from Canada, Australia, Japan, England, Alaska or Seattle, can view the listing on one of the more than 1,100 web sites that it will be on.
Just go to Homes.com and search Kalamazoo, Portage or Scotts, Mi, and the first property or properties starting in the left corner are my listings. You might be wondering what this has to do with gadgets? Well, when I am doing a presentation, I can hand someone the iPad and they can search right then and there to see where their home will be in less than 48hrs.
It's hard to imagine what could be on the horizon that would make smart phones and tablets become obsolete, but surely there is something that we haven't dreamt of that will do so. I can hardly wait!
