1.  Spotlight.  On any iPhone a simple swipe to the left from the home screen will bring up the Spotlight search  tool which allows you to search your entire phone, including mail messages.

2.  Voice Control.  A must for real estate agents on the go.  Press and hold the home button at the bottom of the phone and the Voice Control will appear and you are able to call anyone in your phone book, dial by number or control your ipod simply by speaking into the phone.  This feature is a great safety feature for those of you who drive and call.

3.  Google.  My most used application by far.  The easy access to search (including the voice search for driving and searching) is probably the way I use it most but I also use the docs and spreadsheets and the google 411.  The search integrates with the google maps on the iPhone which speeds up and makes safe many of “on the fly” directional searches.

4.  MLS on the iPhone - Absolutely. First you will need to register as a mobile user.  Click here to register. Once you are registered just open up Safari on your iPhone and go to the site http://sef.mlxwireless.com/.  Enter your public and private ID and off you go.

You might want to add an icon to your front page so that you don’t have to type in the web address all the time – so here is how you make  an icon by web bookmarking. Go to any web page  that you want to make an icon for.    One the site is rendered tap the + plus button and a pop up menu will appear.  Select Add to home screen and your icon is born.

5. Animoto. A quick and easy way to make your own virtual tour with pictures you have taken with your iPhone.  In a few simple steps you can take the pictures, put them in order, add a soundtrack and publish it.  This is a great way to memorialize a day with a buyer or share a new listing.

6.  Photoshop. A nifty little photo editing tool to make your phone pictures look professional.

7. Around Me.  The geolocational application that will get you to the closet back, gas station or great place to lunch no matter where you are.  You can also use the search tool to find the closest real estate office, among other things.

8.  Envirian. This free mortgage calculator is good  and I think the best free mortgage calculator application.  If you want to spend the bucks, the HP12C is my favorite and the app is still cheaper than the real calculator.

9. Real Quest.  This is taxroll for your iPhone.  The application also has some good market graphs and some pre-foreclosure info.  Very useful when out showing property.

10.  Real Estate Search apps – Trulia has long been my favorite search app, but realtor.com is coming on strong.  You have to love the simple open and find the properties nearby function on both.  Simple, easy to use and good info.

11.  Dragon Dictation.  Not to go Oprah on you here, but texting and driving is just about the most unsafe activity I can think of.  This handy app allows you to dictate your messages and send when you can safely look at the phone.

12.  Zosh.  This is the best $2.99 you will ever spend.  I like it so much, I dedicated an entire blog post to it.  Anytime you need to print scan and send back you can Zosh.  Unlike some of the other electronic signature solutions, this is a one time charge and will make your real estate life so much easier.

13. Dropbox. Another favorite free  tool.  Dropbox is a cloud storage solution which means that you can have the documents you need anytime you need them.  This is a great tool to share documents used in a transaction as well.  Here is a little more info.

Other resources:

I wrote this post with some more details on some of the apps when I did the iPhone class last year.

If  you would like the Power Point presentation with the screenshots, drop me an email.

Good luck!  I hope you love your iPhone as much as I do.  If you have an application you think is great, please share.

Each one of the benefits plans are key ingredients in building your benefit lifelines in order to protect and provide for you and your family no matter what storms of life occur!

Available for iPhone and scalable for iPad, Zosh allows documents to be signed, insert date, insert text and insert images.  For real estate, lets use a real world example.

1.  Download and set up your Zosh account.

2.  You get a call from an agent saying an offer on your listing is being emailed over.

3.  When you get the email, forward the email mydocs@zosh.com.

4.  You will now be able to open the document in your Zosh application.

5.  Using your finger, tap to insert any changes, initials and signatures.  If your client doesn’t have access to an iPhone or iPad, take yours to them and let them sign.  Don’t worry if the initials appear to be floating on the page, just tap and move to where it needs to be.  Typing to big?  Not a problem, just resize to fit.  You can also change the font and the color.

6.  When you are done with your changes, “transmit” your new document via email to yourself or the other agent.  The counter offer remains in your Zosh app for future reference.  In my case, I skipped an initial and it was really easy to go back, drop in the missing initial and then retransmit.

This is just one way to use the Zosh Application.  Anytime you need to print,sign and resend is the right time to use Zosh.  It’s really the best $2.99 I have spent in a while.

Here’s how to set up the Bar Codes

1.  Go to ScanLife.com and create an account.  I tried out the free personal account just to see how this worked.

2.  The site allows your to create a bar code for any web page,  a predefined SMS or twitter message, can generate a phone call or create a contact record.

3.  Download the jpg version of the code and start using it.

4.  Most mobile phones with cameras are compatible.  Here is a reference list.  For an iPhone, I downloaded the ScanLife for iPhone App.

Now that you are all set up, here are some clever ways to track your print ads.

• Put a code on each direct mail and print piece that you do.
• Insert a bar code on your property brochure that sends the viewer to a single listing website.
• Put the scan code to your facebook page or website on the back of your business card.
• If you maintain a blog, insert a code to link to a neighborhood category page or post about a relevant topic.  So – for more information scan the bar code.
• Use a unique link and code for each piece that you generate so that you can effectively track each marketing piece.  This may take some thought when you consider that each code represents one link.

A little planning goes a long way in thinking through how best to use these scan codes.  Mobile is the buzz word of the year and  your seller will think you are so brilliant. Not to mention that you can now really know if those direct mail pieces are really driving traffic to your website.

I’ll be scanning you soon.

All of these questions must be considered along with our investment goals and risk tolerance in order to best determine where our retirement funds should be invested. Evaluate your goals on a scale of 1-5 with 1 being safe, secure and guaranteed and 5 being a scenario where you could lose the whole investment. If retirement is not in your near future, you may want to assume more risk. If you are within 10 years of retirement you may want look at more safe and secure investments so as not to lose your principle. As the current economy remains in a state of flux, my personal preference at this time is safety and security-preserve what you have until the economic picture stabilizes and the current unknowns become clearer. Below is a list of what may be considered “safe” investments

1. Bank Savings Accounts
2. Certificates of Deposit
3. Government issued securities
4. Money Market Accounts
5. Guaranteed Fixed and Indexed Annuities-if your main goal is income, there are some exceptional products currently available

1. Bank Savings Accounts

2. Certificates of Deposit

3. Government issued securities

4. Money Market accounts

5. Fixed and Indexed Securities- if you are looking for retirement income, there are some exceptional products available.

Take a moment to discuss your situation with your adviser. It will be worth the time spent!

Dropbox is an easy way to share, store and sync files online.  If you want to be techie about it, Dropbox is an easy first step into the computer buzz word of the day – cloud computing.  Simply put, Dropbox is an online filing cabinet where you can store, access and share files.

How can you use it?  Here are a few ideas for real estate applications.

1. Got a listing? Open a new Dropbox folder for each listing you have.  Invite the owner’s to share the folder where you can store all of the relevant listing documents… listing agreement, sellers disclosure, MLS printout, photos of the property, etc.  The “sharing” can be set up so that the owner will receive a notification every time you drop in or change a document.
2. Got a buyer? Share a folder with your buyer and keep the print outs and brochures you have seen together.  Great procuring cause documentation as well.
3. Got a Sale? Share a folder with the buyer, seller, cooperating agent and closing agent.  You can share different document folders with different people just in case you want to separate what you are sharing.
4. Got a Closing? Now use Dropbox as that online file cabinet that creates permanent storage for your files.  Clean out those messy file cabinets and pat yourself on the back for taking one more step into the 21rst century!
5. Need a form? Another great use for  Dropbox is to store frequently used forms.  Since Dropbox is mobile, you will be able to access anything you put in your Dropbox from your mobile phone to then email from anywhere without having to find a computer.

The basic account with 2GB of space  is free ( yes, I said FREE) and you can earn more storage space every time you invite someone to join.   You can pay to upgrade to have more storage.  So if you are looking to backup 5 years of files, that may be an option.

Overall, Dropbox is a simple, secure and straightforward tool that can change your business habits for good.  I also think your clients will think you are brilliant when you introduce the tool to them as a way to keep them informed.

Happy Sharing!

After a while, I jumped in and for me it became more about tips, things that came across my computer that I thought were worth sharing and the occasional plug for my new consulting company.  This past Sunday, a whole new Twitter World opened up for me.

Janie Coffey herded together a small group of Miami Real Estate agents that are all  active on Twitter and Sunday night we all hopped on and started Tweeting about the Miami Real estate market in 140 words or less.  The hour flew by with tons of stats, market indicators and a very sophisticated discussion about the Miami market and many of its’ most popular neighborhoods.

I was also impressed with the caliber of the agents participating.  Long gone is the notion of not sharing for fear you will tip a competitor – these pros stand out as true professionals who understand knowledge is better shared than stored.

A Real Estate TweetChat is a great way to work Social Media into your real estate business.  Here are the simple steps to get it going:

1. Check out the twitterati in your area. Look for real estate agents that are active and knowledgeable in your market. Make sure you include a mortgage professional since many of the questions will be about financing.  You can expand the group to include attorneys, short sale experts, title professionals,accountants (it is tax season), etc.
2. Send out your invite with time and hashtag already in place.  We used #MiamiRealeChat.  You might want to include some suggested questions, just to get the conversation flowing.  Market stats, short sales, foreclosures and predictions are all good topics.
3. Select one person to be the moderator.  The moderator will pose questions to the group, welcome participants and keep the overall conversation on target.
4. Promote the event. Set up an account at TweetChat and promote that hashtag using facebook, twitter, your blog or website.  TweetChat will also log the postings so that there is a transcript to publish and promote after that is full of the information that was shared live.
5. Keep it going.  Your audience will build over time.  Make your Real Estate chats at the same time in regular intervals and the word will get out.
6. Most of all – keep it fun and informative.

If you are interested in seeing how this works, join us this Sunday evening at 9 PM EST by following #MiamiRealeChat jump in and ask a question.  We would love to have you.

Thanks to our participants last week…  @CoconutGrove,tkheatley, janiec, BrokerMaggie, AshtonColeman, adriansalgado, raulestrada.

My son is one of the many recent college graduates who has come back to the nest while trying to find a job.  Not that I mind having him home, he has stepped up to do all of my IT work, including this website.

Occasionally, I do feel like I need to be motherly and give him a little push.  I typically do this by imparting some  pearls of wisdom.  So when I told him “to get a job you need to apply for one” stating what I thought was a very obvious truth…No job will come looking for you.

Imagine my surprise when he told me last week that someone found him on Linked In and called to interview him.  He starts work this week.

Social media works, I am a believer.  If you build it, the business will come.

Many questions are being asked about Health Savings Account, or HSA’s, and I thought it would be a good idea to briefly explain what they are and how they work.  To begin, do not confuse a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a Flexible Spending Account as they are totally separate from each other and are governed by a different set of rules and regulations.  Our discussion below is going to focus solely on Health Savings Accounts.

What is a Health Savings Account or HSA?

A Health Savings Account is an account that is set up to help you pay for out of pocket medical expenses on a tax favored basis.  In other words, pre-tax dollars are used to fund the account.  It is set up in conjunction with a high deductable medical insurance plan and can not be a stand alone program.

How do I set up a Health Savings Account or HSA?

A Health Savings Account is set up at the time you choose a high deductable medical insurance plan and is usually established through the insurance carrier with a bank or credit union.

How do I fund my Health Savings Account or HSA?

Your HSA contributions are paid monthly along with your medical insurance premiums and accumulate in your HSA account.  Interest is usually paid on the account based on the account balance.

How do I access the funds in my Health Savings Account of HSA?

You will normally be issued a PIN protected MasterCard or Visa debit card that is associated with your account.  This card would then be used to directly pay any out of pocket expenses at the point of sale.

What expenses can be covered with my Health Savings Account of HSA?

You may use your HSA debit card to pay for any “qualified medical expense” including co-pays, insurance deductibles, prescriptions, over the counter medications, dental and vision expenses to name just a few.

What happens if I don’t use all the money I put in my HSA by the end of the year?

Unlike Flexible Spending Accounts, any money that is not spent during the year is not forfeited but is rolled over and continues to earn interest as it accumulates.  As long as the money is withdrawn for qualified uninsured medical expenses, no tax liability is incurred.

Can I access the money for non-medical expenses if needed?

Yes, but any amounts used for purposes other than to pay for “qualified medical expenses” are taxable as income and subject to an additional 10% tax penalty. After you turn age 65, the 10% additional tax penalty no longer applies. If you become disabled and/or enroll in Medicare, the account can be used for other purposes without paying the additional 10% penalty.

It is important to note that since HSA’s are funded by pre-tax dollars, the IRS sets the guidelines and requirements to be considered a qualified HSA.  Minimum deductibles and out of pocket expenses are specified each year by the IRS and adjusted to take in to account the cost of living increases from year to year.  In addition, guidelines exist for how much can be put in to these accounts on an annual basis.  Please contact your professional advisor or the benefits department at Big Mouth Consulting for further details.

This blog is not intended as tax advice and is a plainly worded explanation of HSA’s.  It is not intended as tax advice and you should contact your professional advisor or accountant for a detailed explanation to see if a Health Savings Account is right for you.  

I joined Facebook  about 2 years ago and have really enjoyed catching up with old friends and keeping tabs on the family photos and the local events.  But if you are only using Facebook to maintain your personal relationships, you are missing a huge part of the fun.  Yes, that’s right, your business marketing can be fun.

I recently launched this consulting business.  Like any new business I began by getting a logo, ordering cards and starting a website.  Almost as an aside, I started a Facebook fan page just to get the word out to friends, family and colleagues about my new business venture.  Here is what I have gleaned so far:

1. Facebook is far and away the #1 referrer to my website – contributing on average about 75% of the traffic to the site.
2. People are more likely to comment on the link to a post on the Facebook page than on the site.
3. Like Twitter, you can do a bit of microblogging. I love being able to contribute links that I find interesting on a  daily basis without having to write a full blog post.
4. The new custom pages make it look pretty.  Yes, like it or not many of us are visual and the typical Facebook page is a little bit of a plain jane.  The fact that you can customize your Facebook page to make the landing page look like YOU want it to look is a huge plus.  And right now, it is an awesome way to show you are an early adapter.
5. The pages are spidered by google.  Within a few hours I had a google alert for my page.  My FB page comes up number 2 when you google Big Mouth Consulting.

Here are some great examples of Facebook Pages for Realtors

Riley Smith pulls his three local blogs together in his Miami’s Top Neighborhood Page

Kevin Tomlinson adds the Search MLS tab to add functionality to his  Miami Beach page

One Sotheby’s showcases their website and links about Luxury Properties and Miami Happenings

Realtor Ann Allen shows off her website and highlights the property search.

Here are some tips on maintaining your page

1. Don’t just post your listings.  If you are not a blogger, add some local events, links or things of interest
2. Do spend the money to make a custom landing page.  For more information – check out Real Estate Fan Pages
3. Spend some time to suggest the page to the friends you already have.  This is a good place to spend some ad budget dollars to build a local following.  Get your page up and running with some good content and then set a daily budget and watch your fan base grow.
4. Please don’t post status updates about your wonderfulness.  If you want to talk about getting a new listing – talk about the listing.  Close a sale?  Post the sale info and make it about the property, the new owners or anything except how YOU sold it in 3 days.
5. Take the time to replace the name of the page.  Go to www. facebook.com/username and click on Set a username for your pages.
6. Have fun with it. In these times that so much of what is happening is hard – lighten it up a little.  Every real estate agent I have ever met has a big personality.  Let it come through on your page.

Some great reference links

Facebook bigger than Yahoo?

Facebook Turns Six

How to Set Up a Facebook Page

And this one should be in your Listing Presentation

Check Facebook

Please send me a request to be a fan!

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