APP-THOLOGY

A compendium of the best apps for todays real estate professionals

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kalpana Krishna-Kumar is a Project Specialist in the Coldwell Banker Marketing group. In this role, she is responsible for managing the Coldwell Banker iPhone and Android apps as well as watching the Mobility space for latest trends. In addition, she also manages ongoing enhancements to the brands national websites coldwellbanker.com and coldwellbankerpreviews.com. Having worked with real estate agents, Kalpana understands the challenges and issues they face on a daily basis. She is a licensed real estate agent herself. In her spare time, she volunteers extensively in her community locally and globally, is a Star Trek junkie and movie buff, loves nature, gardening and hanging out with her family and friends.

APP-THOLOGY | About The Author

CONTENTS
About the Author The Exploding App Ecosystem Why Apps? THE APPS BANDWAGON Foreword Socially Speaking
Hootsuite 2 5 6 10 11 12 14 15 17 18 19 19 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 25 25 Sitegeist Yelp 26 26 27 28 29 31 32 32 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 39 40 40 40 41 Skype Google Hangouts Speek Google Translate 41 42 42 42 43 44 44 45 45 46 47 49 50 50 50 50 51 51 52 54 54

The Real Business of Real Estate

Open Home Pro Docusign eKey Floor Plan Creator Magic Plan

Taking Care of Your Best Friend

Find my iPhone Wheres My Droid Battery Saving Tips Juice Defender - battery saver Dashlane

Docusign Transaction Rooms (formerly Cartavi) 30

Mastering the Craft of Photography

Camera+ ProCapture Snapseed Instagram Pixt

Taking Care of Business

Evernote Wunderlist Any.do Sunrise Calendar App Keynote Haiku Deck Printer Apps Dropbox CamScanner

Do You Google? EXTRA EXTRA!

Snapshop Showroom HomeSavvy Paint Tester Houzz Movingday MoveMatch

Reel-Marketing With Videos

Jumpcam Videolicious

Becoming the Local Expert

Flipboard Zite Pocket Read-it-Later Apps

Personal Assistant Toolbox

Banking Mint Personal Finance Expensify Triplog

Conclusion Attribution
Image Courtesy:

APP-THOLOGY | Contents

>

 

There are more mobile phones in the world than there are toothbrushes1

 4% of Smartphone Owners 8 Use Apps While Getting Ready in the Morning2

These are powerful messages that remind us that the ubiquitous smartphone has become more (yes, you read that right a Phablet is part-phone-part-tablet). What makes these devices smart is

than just a phone for millions of mobile device owners be it a phone, tablet, or even the Phablet not just the hardware or technology within, like GPS or Internet connectivity but the applications, commonly referred to as Apps that make the phone smart and desirable! In tandem with the meteoric growth in smartphone sales, the demand and the availability of easy-to-use developer tools have contributed to the prolific growth of apps, so much so that we live in an exploding app ecosystem! The clich Theres an App for that! is reality now.

DID YOU KNOW?

The phrase Theres an app for that was trade-marked by Apple in October 2010.3

APP-THOLOGY | Introduction

THE EXPLODING APP EcOSYSTEm

The two largest stores for mobile apps today the App Store for iOS users & Android Google PlayTM Store between them account for over 2 million third party apps. From a modest beginning in July 2008, the App Store that opened with just 500 apps, crossed the one million mark by October 2013 totaling over 60 billion app downloads4. Even more meteoric is the growth of the Google Play Store mecca of Android apps. In July 2013, Google Play Store announced that it had crossed the one million app mark and the number continues to grow exponentially by the day. Google Play also announced that they saw more than 50 billion downloads in 2013, up from 20 billion in 2012.

We are in an app overload!

Consumer reaction matches this app overload. According to Flurry Analytics, overall app use in 2013 posted 115% year-over-year growth.5 Third party apps have become the major drivers of engagement on mobile devices. From helping us stay organized with apps like Evernote or making us social zombies with addictive gaming apps, from keeping us connected with friends and family (Facebook/Twitter) to spending countless hours entertaining ourselves with streaming TV/video content, apps have become part of our psyche.

APP-THOLOGY | The Exploding App Ecosystem

WHY APPS?
On December 31st, 2013 at 11:59 pm, Flurry Analytics tracked a record 4.7 billion app sessions in a single day, for a total of 1.126 trillion sessions for the whole year6. The explosion in number and variety of apps driven by app consumers has made finding the right app not only a challenge, but a time-drain. For a real estate professional engaged in the business of buying and selling homes, we felt we could help you use your time better by pulling together apps that beyond a doubt will make your life easier. But before we tell you about our journey of why and how we picked these gems, lets try to understand how these apps actually help. The question begs attention what value do apps really bring to our lives? Google defines an app as

MOBILE USE GROWS BY 115% IN 2013

LED BY MESSAGING AND SOCIAL APPS
203% 149% 115% 78% 77% 66%

a self-contained program or piece of software designed to fulfill a particular purpose; an application

1:23 PM

An app is expected to enhance your life and should be able to perform a task quickly, conveniently and allow you to personalize your experience. To illustrate

49% 31%

this, lets look at the Coldwell Banker iPhone/Android apps as an example. It has a simple interface and packs powerful features by leveraging your phones smart features like GPS and touch screen features, to name a few.

Messaging Utilities & App Usage & Social Productivity Overall

Music, Lifestyle & Media, Shopping Entertainment

Games

Sports, Health & Fitness

News & Magazines

APP-THOLOGY | Why Apps?

1.

ConVEniEncE

Most real estate apps allow you to search for homes on the go as does the Coldwell Banker app for iPhone/ Android. In addition, you will find convenience features like: Map SKEtch - a drawing tool that allows you to search for homes by drawing a shape on a map. IN-app VIDEo VIEWINg - The ability to view videos within the app making it contextual to the search, be it associated with homes, agents or offices. Additionally, for video lovers, the app provides a dedicated video search feature for homes, agents/offices and even community videos. GEt DIREctIoNS - a feature to get directions to a home of choice from within the app.  ShaRINg VIa EmaIl, FacEbooK oR TWIttER - a quick tool that allows consumers to share listings/videos/agent or office info with family and friends. Agents and Offices can use this feature to showcase their listings or themselves on social media anywhere anytime.  CommUNIty INfo - allows app visitors to see their home search results in context of the amenities around them (from YELP) making home search hyper-local.

2.

PERSonaLiZEd

Apps are more intimate because they allow the consumer to customize their experience. Take for instance the following examples from the Coldwell Banker app  My AgENt - This powerful feature allows a buyer to connect directly with the agent they are working with. Once an agent is selected, he or she becomes front and center in the app. Buyers can share favorite homes (including personalized notes) with one click that come to the selected agent as direct leads. FaVoRItES - A quick tool to save homes or videos of choice for quick retrieval later. To find out everything that the apps offer, download today and test drive for yourself.
1:23 PM

APP-THOLOGY | Why Apps?

WHIcH aPPS?
The question is - which of the millions of apps should you download? At the time of writing, a search for calendar in the iTunes App Store yielded 2200 apps. Further, the first 6 apps were FREE followed by some that cost 99 cents to $6.99. Each one had a persuasive description, engaging screenshots, between 3 and 4 star rating, and aside from regular calendar apps included a count-down app, a Facebook app, and other irrelevant apps. Looking for the proverbial needle in the haystack can be overwhelming and even disorienting at times. The job is not done just looking for them. You have to download and then test it to see if it really is the right one. For someone focused on selling and buying homes, this could be a very tedious process. DID YOU KNOW?

Of the apps downloaded, 1 in 4 is abandoned after the initial use. - New Relic7

So we did the thumb-work for you. There were many rounds of shortlisting, reviewing and testing. We based our selection on the following criteria: Ease of use Availability across devices , i.e. smartphone, tablet, desktop (or laptop) App store rating & reviews Stability of app (does not crash)! Availability and quality of app support  Longevity (has been around for a while and shows promise of being around) It is no longer a question of whether you should or should not use apps? The question is . And most important of all, Value they bring to the real estate business.

APP-THOLOGY | Which Apps

Here is a quick look back on how we did it.

1.

2.

WE aSkEd tHE EXpERtS

WE wEnt to tHE SouRcE

A Forrester Research report states that recommendations from friends and family are key to discovering new apps8. So we reached out to the tech-savvy users around us who shared their sharp and brilliant insights. Besides teenage sons and daughters who always seem to have the inside scoop on anything tech, we reached out to: B  rokers, office managers and independent sales agents who have found tremendous success with using apps for their business T  ech savvy agents from the brand and Coldwell Banker business consultants

App Stores
App stores dont need much introduction they are simply virtual stores where you can download apps free or at a cost. iTunes Store for Apple and GooglePlay Store for Androids account for the bulk of apps. So for the purpose of this paper, we concentrated on searching these two stores. Many of the apps we shortlisted appeared in the top 10 results of the searches. But we didnt stop there, and we are glad we didnt; because we found some hidden gems way down the list. If you want to try this yourself, here are a few tips to make the search a little less painful: Be as specific as possible when typing your search words Review the description of the app & if it doesnt work for you, move on  Check reviews and ratings not only for number of stars but also for the quality of reviews. But dont base your selection only on reviews; as what works for someone may not work for you and vice versa.

Home Office users who have blazed a trail in their prolific use of apps E  xperts from the real estate and mobile industry who are constantly reviewing and testing apps

3. WE REViEwEd appS ouRSELVES

As we downloaded and tested hundreds of apps, we realized that apps are like disposable coffee cups at least the free ones. Once we had all the recommendations in the bucket, we rolled up our sleeves and went to work - theres no substitute for elbow grease. Obviously, we tested the Free apps first before trying out the paid ones. We noticed that the app market is moving towards free apps for download with in-app purchases depending on the consumers usage. Notwithstanding, we were ruthless about deleting poor quality apps to avoid piling up the app clutter. Searching for apps can be addictive and a never ending exercise. App publishers are flooding the market every day with new apps. So if you intend to do this yourself, beware! We hope this compilation inspires you to get started and if you are already riding the band-wagon, we hope you find a few here that work for you.

Search Engines
We scoured the search engines, primarily Google. We were surprised to find apps not only in the App Store and Google Play Store, but many were available for download right from their own websites.

APP-THOLOGY | Which Apps

THE APPS BANDWAGON

FOREwORD
Read this before you proceed

1. 2.

5.

 OST: Most apps in this paper are free but some are at a cost. Look C for the COST information at the end of each app description. Please note that the cost indicated in this paper is at the time of writing and can change without notice. AVAILABILITY: Whether you are on the Apple side of the aisle or Android, this paper has recommendations for both platforms. Look for the specific icon to see whether it is available for your device:

 ou will find more than one app recommendation for a task. Pick Y the one that works best for you. Take for instance News magazines - Flipboard or Zite. Think of what you want to use this app for. If you simply want to be a news content consumer, use Zite. If you want to be a content publisher i.e. you would like to publish your local real estate newsletter, use Flipboard.  lways remember to adjust your preferences within the app as every A app comes with default settings that you should review and change before you start using the app in earnest. For instance, you can limit who sees your social media shares if an app provides that feature. So look for it and adjust it before you start.  ont fix what is not broken. If you are already using an app and have D saved a ton of data within the app, just continue to use it. But we recommend that you at least try the ones we have suggested and decide for yourself which one you like better.  emember to update your apps as they become available. App publishers R are constantly enhancing and providing stability fixes for their apps.  ost apps will ask permission for sending push notifications. A push M notification is a message from an app that can appear when the app is not open or even when your device screen is locked. Some examples are weather alerts and appointment reminders. Typically, it is OK to allow an app to send you push notifications, But if they become intrusive, you can always turn them off from the Settings section.

6.

3. 4.

iPHONE/iPAD

iPHONE

iPAD

ANDROIDS

DESKTOP

7. 8. 9.

EASE OF USE METER: We suggest that you start with the Easy ones. Once you are comfortable, try the ones that offer more features. Some of the apps in this compilation are truly amazing for their richness of features and tools. BATTERY MONSTER: If you see this icon, be aware that one or  more features of this app could drain your device battery. For instance,

a. the Facebook app refreshes even when running in the background.

Fifteen minutes of Facebook time, assuming there are no videos, can use 5 MB of data. running in the background draining your smartphone s battery quickly.

b. the Skype app does not break the connection with the server if it is

And now without further delay here they are. Download them and start finding how this technology can really be your friend.

APP-THOLOGY | Foreward

11

Socially Speaking

SOCIAL MEDIA
Much has been written about our first recommendation for free social media apps and how it could be your ticket to growing your successful business. The New Age of Real Estate Communication, a highly insightful whitepaper from Coldwell Bankers Social Media Manager, Lindsay Listanski has explained how social media can be used successfully and skillfully to promote your listings and position you as the local expert independent agent in your community. In her roadmap, Lindsay has profiled the Big 5 in social media - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instragram and YouTube! If you are a prolific social media user, you may have added Google+, Linkedin, Foursquare and perhaps even Tumblr to this list. For those of you just starting off, heres a snapshot.

SNAPSHOT
FACEBOOK
Connecting and sharing with family and friends online

VINE
Social networking through 6-second videos
the Twitter of videos

TWITTER
Microblogging service in 140 characters

PINTEREST
Pinboard-style photo sharing

LINKEDIN
DID YOU KNOW? Social Networking for professionals

FOURSQUARE
Sharing location recommendations

Traffic referrals from Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Youtube grew by 52% between September 2012 and 2013, making them the most influential traffic drivers.9

GOOGLE+
Googles social networking platform like Facebook

INSTAGRAM
Photo-sharing and video-sharing with basic editing abilities

- Shareaholic, a social plugin service

YOUTUBE
Video-sharing

TUMBLR
Microblogging through text, photos, quotes, links, music and videos.

APP-THOLOGY | Socially Speaking

13

Hootsuite
Juggling multiple social media accounts is undoubtedly a daunting task, even for the most organized. Enter HootSuite, a one-stop app that allows you to centralize and track up to 5 social profiles through a dashboard. The free version allows message scheduling monitoring conversations/mentions/keywords provides analytics and reporting tools to measure your progress. Say you are an agent with a new listing that you want to promote on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. You can schedule one or more different posts to appear at different times of the day/week/month on each of your social feeds. Further, you can monitor conversations about your listing and respond to them seamlessly through the Hootsuite dashboard. The Hootlet a browser extension for Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox allows you to share interesting content with your network, right from the web page where you find it. We recommend, you start simple with two of your most used networking channels, say, Facebook and Twitter. Once you are comfortable with the way the app works, add other social media profiles. To learn more about Hootsuite, check out the Social Media Webinars on the Coldwell Banker Blueview Learning Portal

Hootlet works with:

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

DESKTOP

Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Socially Speaking

14

Mastering the Craft of Photography

You dont take a photograph, you make it.

- Ansel Adams, photographer

Visitors to the brands national website, www.coldwellbanker.com, continually report that photos, particularly interior photos, are the most sought-after piece of information on the property detail page. Further, a study conducted by Suite 48 Analytics, the leading research and analysis firm for the mobile photography market, shows that for the first time since they started tracking the market, the majority of todays photo-taking smartphone customers those whove taken at least 10 photos in the last three months now use only their smartphone to take photos . Are you one of them? Typically, the native
10

TAKING PHOTOS
826 SMARTPHONE USERS

58% 33% 5% 4%

Smartphone Only

camera app serves well for candid photography. However, the following apps we recommend will give you tremendous creative control and image editing abilities. These apps are free (or close to free), easy to use and give you fantastic results that will make you look like a professional photographer.

Smartphone & Digital Camera

Smartphone, Digital Camera, & Tablet

Smartphone & Tablet

Source: Suite 48 Analytics

APP-THOLOGY | Mastering the Craft of Photography

16

Camera+
With 10 million+ app downloads and a 4-star rating, Camera+ is currently the best-selling full featured camera app for iPhone and iPad. It offers the closest photography experience to a real camera with relevant ease. Camera+ smartly uses iOS native phone features like the stabilizer to steady your device, your phones flash to provide a constant source of light other nifty features like Horizon Level to align crooked compositions Scenes, Borders and Effects that most other apps also offer  Multiple shooting modes - burst mode for continuous shooting and timer mode for selfies, and perhaps the most fun of them all  Caption adding feature (you can showcase the gorgeous fireplace in your new listing with a catchy caption). The Clarity feature in this app allows you to automatically make poorly lit photos look amazing. Think of how many times you have taken a bedroom or basement photo in bad light and decided to delete or retake it because it makes the rest of the home look bad! The Clarity feature transforms dark dingy photos with just a tap. and TIME Magazine aptly summarized Camera+ with this: iCloud syncing ability to make your photos available on any iOS device. It has Last but not the least, the editing features works for both new photos that you take through the app as well as existing ones that you can import into the Lightbox the holding pen where you can play with your photos to your hearts content before publishing to social media (Facebook, Twitter and Flickr), or sharing them via email.

If the iPhones standard camera is like a digital point-and-shoot, the Camera+ app is like a high-quality SLR lens.

$1.99 $4.99
iPhone iPad

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

iPHONE

iPAD

easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Mastering the Craft of Photography

17

ProCapture
Though Android stock camera app has improved significantly with every upgrade to the operating system, this app takes photography to a different level. We did a small experiment with the free version of the app using an HTC One Android and a Samsung Galaxy S4 with some very interesting results see for yourself! Without doubt, Procapture made batman look better any day! Procapture has a clean smooth interface and depending on your photography interest and skills, you have the choice to keep it simple or go the full-feature way. The free version offers all the great photo capture and editing features that Camera+ does for iPhone and then some. What makes this an awesome app for your listings is the Panorama feature that stitches multiple photos together. You get terrific high-res photos that will show you and your listings off in the best light (pun intended). Lastly, Android users rejoice this app allows you to take videos too! If you love what you see with the free version, try the ProCapture and Panorama version for $3.99 that offers a lot more advanced features.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

Droid Razr w/ Android v4.0.2

Phone camera 8 MegaPixel Procapture 3.2 MegaPixel

Samsung Galaxy S4 w/ Android v4.2.2

Phone Camera 16 MegaPixel Procapture 3.2 MegaPixel

camera+ Panorama Version

FREE $3.99
BASIC VERSION

ANDROIDS

easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Mastering the Craft of Photography

18

Instagram
We briefly mentioned Instagram in the previous set of apps. It consistently proves to be the best photo sharing app and has earned its own place on the Social

Snapseed
At cost=Free, rating>4.5 stars, and availability on Androids and iOS, this app is a great choice for photo editing and sharing. Snapseed makes your hastily taken photos look like a million bucks. It offers basic photo editing features to tweak brightness, contrast, saturation, frame options, exposure and color control, textures and filters, and more. But what distinguishes this app is its speed, use of smooth finger gestures and excellent help features that keeps your app learning curve smooth. It pretty much walks you through every step of delivering gorgeous photos. Further, you can send your photos to a storage medium of choice (Google Drive, Cloudon, Dropbox) or the Photo Library on your phone or you can also share on Social Media (Instragram, Facebook, Twitter, Google+). It does the job quickly using just your thumbs and it does it well. While you can use Instagram or even your native phone camera to take pictures and share them, if you want the classy look, Snapseed is your answer.

Media Apps wall. Instagram is a point-shoot-share app and has seen high adoption by one and all, especially Millenials, with the introduction of video capture. Though it has basic editing ability, its integration with Snapseed allows you to access the latters editing features. So get the best of two worlds touch up your photos in Snapseed and then share them on Instagram! With the recent enhancement of videos, the app has become even more valuable.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE
Pixt

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

EASY

Pixt is an app for the visual person a wall where you can display and share photos. The ease of use and ability to add comments to the wall or photos gives it a warm and fuzzy feel. Pixt is available on multiple platforms as a website, a mobile app, and a tablet app for both Androids and iOS. Add to that the ability to pull in videos from YouTube to the wall, this app is just perfect for any happy ending. And happy endings should be shared Pixt allows you to share your walls via emails or on social media. Its an app to show off your photos in a unique way.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

EASY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

APP-THOLOGY | Mastering the Craft of Photography

FREE

iPhone/iPad ANDROIDS

Desktop

19 EASY

Reel-Marketing With Videos

As a video pioneer, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC  was the first national real estate brand to have streaming video content on a website in 2006  launched the first real estate channel ever on YouTube - Coldwell Banker On Location. OnLocation site boasts over 4 million views since launching in 2009. In his paper Generation V:The Dawn of the Video Era, Gustavo Gonzalez has demystified todays new breed of consumer and has provided insight into tools to satisfy and attract customers with your own video content. Undoutedly, videos provide a 360-view that is only next best to being present. As you might have guessed, using your phone or tablets video camera is the simplest and quickest way of capturing a video. Apps like Youtube, Instagram and Vine use your devices native camera to create the video and are the best option when you want to share it. But the reason you have to pay attention to the following apps is because they provide you an edge in video creation that relates directly to your business whether you are an agent, manager or broker.

Jumpcam
Though this video creation tool is very similar to any other video app you might have used, it stands out for its excellent collaboration feature and the fact that it is available for both Androids and iOS. The collaboration feature allows you to create a composite video of multiple short clips produced by you or your team members. A great use-case for this is a group of agents collaborating to create a community video. Each agent could bring their personal perspective of the neighborhoods they serve showcasing landmarks and/or local businesses. These can be woven together to create a professional looking community video.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

Desktop

Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Reel-Marketing With Videos

21

Videolicious
This app will portray you as a savvy video producer that costs you absolutely nothing. The Coldwell Banker brand has partnered with Videolicious (available only for iOS devices at this time) to help Coldwell Banker agents, managers and brokers produce professional looking videos complete with b-roll, logo graphics, transitions, and on-screen graphics, in mere seconds. Whether youre making a listing video, filming client testimonials, or just sharing your expertise with a video neighborhood tour, you can now create great videos faster than ever before. Just choose your shots, tell your story, pick the music and Videolicious pulls everything together automatically. Through our partnership, every Coldwell Banker affiliated agent has FREE access to a Coldwell Banker version of the Videolicious app with exciting unique features such as:  The Coldwell Banker brands closing animation from our TV ads appended automatically to videos Unlimited length and number of shots Commercial music library Unlimited video storage As of February 2014, it has also been integrated with On Location that allows you to seamlessly publish listing videos and more to our YouTube channel as well as on other Coldwell Banker Real Estate platforms such as coldwellbanker. com, mobile optimized websites as well as on our suite of mobile applications. If you have not received an email about this free access, contact support@videolicious.com.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

DESKTOP

easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Reel-Marketing With Videos

22

Becoming the Local Expert

Social media apps are one way to becoming the local expert in your community. The following apps will give you a unique way to establish yourself as the local expert. Try some of these ideas that will entrench you in the minds of your customers.

Flipboard
This app is an excellent tool to position yourself as THE local expert to your clients. Flipboard gives you the ability to publish glossy digital magazines that you can share with your sphere of influence. It offers a large range of topics and content to pick from that you can select to create your own magazine. The resulting product is a professional looking newsletter with a magazine look that reflects your personality. From blog posts to news stories to videos, adding and editing a Flipboard magazine is a breeze. You can even add social networking feeds your own or those you follow. These intermingle with other stories and articles elegantly and make reading a pleasure. Flipboard allows you to create as many magazines as you want on different topics, for your own consumption (restricted from public view) or those that you can share. Similarly, you can subscribe to magazines created by other publishers. The clean layout, smooth transitions and simplicity of Flipboard is an absolute delight especially on the tablet. The availability of this app on multiple platforms allows you create or browse Flipboard on the go while offering you a seamless experience. To demonstrate, we created a magazine of all iPhone and iPad apps suggested in this paper. Once you create your own Flipboard account, search for App-thology and tap on Subscribe to include it in your cover stories. Note: To read your Flipboard content when you dont have internet connectivity, about Pocket below).

save your news story or article to a read-it-later app like Pocket (more

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Becoming the Local Expert

24

Read-it-Later Apps
Other comparable Read-it-Later apps we found were Readability (already a favorite for Kindle e-Readers) and InstaPaper. Both are available free for iOS and Android devices.

Zite
Similar to Flipboard, this app can be summarized in a single sentence as an intelligent magazine that helps you discover interesting things to read.11 The keyword here is intelligence Zite learns your interests/reading preferences and personalizes it. Use it to increase your knowledge base with fresh content discovered for you by this app in almost mysterious ways. Of course, the visual and organized interface makes it a pleasure to use every day and the ability to read your content later via Instapaper, Pocket, Evernote, E-mail or text, makes it even more desirable.

Pocket
Pocket is a Read-it-Later app much like a stripped down version of Flipboard or Zite. You can book-mark articles, videos or pretty much anything you find online, for consumption later when you have the time and/or the inclination. It has as clean look and availability on all types of devices makes offline reading (including Kindle) convenient. It also allows you to share your reads via email and a host of services like Evernote, Twitter, Facebook amongst others.

COST COST AVAILABILITY EASE OF USE

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

FREE
iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS EASY

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Becoming the Local Expert

25

Sitegeist
Brought to you by a non-partisan non-profit organization, Sitegeist presents localized information derived from publicly available data like US Census, Yelp etc. From Housing statistics to popular local spots, from weather to commute info, this app will give you local information in the palm of your hand just when you need it in straightforward, visually appealing way. A simple share feature allows you to post to Facebook, Twitter and via email.

Yelp
Besides helping you find good restaurants near you, YELP gives you most valuable insight about a community on your fingertips. Not only does it quickly answer your queries for the nearest doctor, bakery or any other local businesses, it also provides reviews from people who have actually used the business to help you make decisions. But more importantly, we recommend this app so you can list yourself on the Yelp map! The app is free and an excellent self-promotion tool. It takes no time to set yourself up and invite your well-wishers to add testimonials about you.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE COST AVAILABILITY EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

EASY

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Becoming the Local Expert

26

The Real Business of Real Estate

Open Home Pro

The reality of every real estate agents weekend can be summarized in one phrase Open House. Open Houses bring in a lot of foot traffic that can translate to real customers for you. Besides, it makes the homeowner happy which is always wonderful! For those of you who believe in the time-honored tradition of open houses be it for the public or brokers, the Open Home Pro app available ONLY for the iPad, is a must-have. It will make running open houses a breeze while making you look like a million bucks. Open Home Pro is a no-paper lead capturing app you can use on-site at your open house. response. The app can be set up to send out a Thank-you email to visitors even before they drive away! Data collected in the app can be exported to Excel and used with other CRM (Customer Relationship Management) programs. It also offers a tool to promote your listing as well as the open house via email or to your social network. Though it is one of the pricey apps that we are recommending, Open Home Pro will make it worth your while.

COST
It behaves like an electronic sign-in sheet that allows you to capture visitor interest through simple questions. The app offers ready-made questions as well as the ability to make up your own. Notes can be added to each visitor

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

$14.99

iPAD

Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | The Real Business of Real Estate

28

Docusign
Document signing is the hallmark activity of every real estate transaction. This power-app has intelligently and securely converted a very tedious task to a simple one that you and your clients are going to love. It is a time-saver, gas-saver and energy-saver! We found that using it on tablets was the most effective. Thanks to the additional screen availability, tablets present a sleeker signing surface and your documents are legible. Creating your own signature and initials is a fun experience while counting all the time saved is a sobering one. The app is packed with features. We recommend you start small and then explore the advanced features when you are comfortable with it. Heres how it works:  Select the document to be signed. The app allows you to pull from other cloud storage options we have mentioned later in this paper like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Evernote as well as Salesforce and Egnyte. You can also use your phone camera & take a photo, though we dont recommend this for actual documents. However, a creative use for this could be with getting signature on an invoice from a contractor you hired to fix the roof of your listing.  Next step is to sign it yourself and add other signee names to the document (for instance, the seller(s) and/or the other side agent) by tagging the places you want them to sign or initial.  Then send it off via email to your signees. The signees can either use the free app on their mobile devices/computer to sign. Once everyone signs, it comes right back to you. The availability of this tool on all platforms mobile and desktop, allows you to get the signatures in person or send it half way across the globe within no time. If you are a NAR member, you can get special savings and additional features depending on the promotion at the time. DocuSign is the official and exclusive electronic signature provider to the National Association of REALTORS, under the REALTOR Benefits Program.

FREE $15/mo
APP DOWNLOAD service cost with nar discoUnt

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | The Real Business of Real Estate

29

Docusign Transaction Rooms (formerly Cartavi)

This is a power app that allows independent real estate agents and brokers to streamline and manage complicated real estate transactions with anyone, anywhere, anytime. Similar to HomebaseSM used widely by some Coldwell Banker brokers and agents, this app stores, manages and shares your documents seamlessly from within the app besides providing a powerful interface with Docusign. Heres how it works: You create Transaction Rooms (one for each client) where you can E  mail, fax and upload documents (upto 100GB space with paid versions) P  repare and send your documents for e-signing via Docusign S  hare documents your clients and other parties securely G  et and send notification emails and alerts Keep an audit trail This app helps agents manage the document-intensive process of buying or selling real estate in a secure environment. Since the app is cloud-based, the user has the ability to access transaction rooms from any device computer, smartphones, or tablets at any time.

APP-THOLOGY | The Real Business of Real Estate

30

eKey
The free version of the app offers three free Transaction rooms with basic features. Expect to spend between $15-$35/month depending on level of usage. If you are a NAR agent, the bundle is available to you for $20/month at the time of writing this paper. Docusign for Real Estate PLUS, Broker Edition additionally allows brokers features like document compliance, dashboards, and visibility into transactions of your office. Special pricing plans are available. This app takes the angst out of forgetting a lockbox key or a shackle code. Available for both iOS and Androids, you have to be a user of Supra Real Estate systems. The eKey Basic plan allows you to get listing keys, open shackles, review inventory, manage and program your keyboxes, and keep track of your lockboxes from your phone. The Professional version allows you advanced features that include the ability to manage your clients through separate profiles, search, view and save MLS listings along with detailed information, and access hotsheets. Agents can use it with an eKey Adapter that will have to be purchased online or from the appropriate Board or with your Bluetooth. Heres a useful tip from a real eKey user

COST
(for limited featUres)

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

$10/mo $20/mo
PRO PLAN

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

MODERATE to DIFFICULT

NAR discoUnted bUndle

urn on the bluetooth setting on your phone,  push up on the key holder and look for the red light to blink on the box. Then enter your pin and unlock as usual!12

If you are not a Supra user or are not ready for this tool, try out the nifty Demo mode and decide for yourself!

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

APP DOWNLOAD eKeY Adapter available separatelY APP-THOLOGY | The Real Business of Real Estate

FREE $14.99
DEMO VERSION

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

Moderate

31

Floor Plan Creator

This app, available only for Androids, will appeal to those who love to get their hands dirty with floor plans. To the novice, Floor Plan Creator will seem like a moderate to difficult app, but for the hard-core floor plan users, it will be a breeze. In addition to features offered by Magic Plan (draw a room), this app allows you to pull up standard shapes, furniture elements as well as add text to enhance your drawing. The app requires newer phones with in-built gyroscope feature such as the Galaxy S2, LG Optimus 2x, HTC One S or Sony Experia P. The app is free to download and the first plan is free to create however subsequent plans are at a cost.

Magic Plan
This app puts the power to create and print your own floor plan in your hands with just your mobile device (phone or tablet). Magic Plan measures and draws your floor plan as you point and shoot. It exports the floor plans in commonly used formats like pdf, jpg, dxf (for CAD drawings). The app is free to download but follows a pricing plan for commercial use. The pricing plan is flexible depending on your usage; pay per plan created or opt in for a monthly subscription. You can test the app but the room plans will have a watermark. With more than 5 million downloads, this app is a keeper.

TO download & CREATE first plan; SUbseQUent plans need to be pUrchased

FREE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE
TO CREATE; ANDROIDS Moderate pricinG plan to Use drawinGs on demand or with monthlY sUbscription iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | The Real Business of Real Estate

32

Taking Care of Business

It is without doubt that every real estate agent is a small business entrepreneur. The apps listed in this section will help you plan and execute tasks with efficiency. We gathered inspiration from many of our agents and brokers who have used one or more of the apps listed below. Each one of these apps is a winner - adopting just one from this list will make you more productive and hence positively improve your bottom line.

Evernote
Evernote is a perfect organization tool. This absolutely must-have app lets you take notes by typing or speaking at any event/occasion/meeting be it for work or personal use. The easy to use interface allows you to save your notes, bookmark content from web pages, pdfs or just hyperlinks in Notebooks. Use these notebooks to organize yourself in the most intuitive way - by Client Name, Property Address, or any other category of your choice. Further, collaborating and sharing with team members, clients, vendors or anyone else is easy. You can share individual notes or the entire Notebook directly via email. Evernote is bigger than an just a mobile app thanks to its deep integration with multiple web browsers and third party tools/apps like Outlook email, Docusign Ink, Uberconference, ScannerPro and many more. The Evernote web clipper is a nifty tool to download in your desktop browser so that you can save a web page (such as listing details) for later reading or sharing with your buyers. The app is free to download but you can upgrade to their premium paid versions ($5/month to $45/year) that allows you additional space, access to many of its extensions and a few other goodies. Evernote stands head and shoulders above other note-taking apps.

Wunderlist
If for any reason, Evernote does not endear itself to you, here is an easy To-Do and Task List app that has simplicity written all over it. Like Evernote, Wunderlist syncs across all your devices be it your phone, tablet or your desktop so accessibility is not a problem. Like the Notebooks in Evernote, you can create a separate list for each of your clients, share with them and keep all your conversations in one place. Try the free version of the app before moving to the Pro version of Wunderlist (starting at $4.99/month) for advanced features like adding notes and files, collaborating with team members/manager/personal assistant, among many

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

PRO VERSION StartING price

FREE $4.99
BASIC VERSION

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care of Business

34

Any.do
In the world of to-do list apps, Any.do has a special place. It is an award winning planner app that you will love for its clean and simple interface just like the icon. Remember the deep satisfaction of checking off tasks on the yellow post-it notes? This app takes that happy feeling one step forward. Every morning, this app reminds you to Take a Moment to Plan your Day. Add your to-dos in the app either by typing or by voice. Then, like Evernote or Wunderlist, you can organize your lists, drag and drop items, share lists with your team or clients, add notes to a task and syncs across multiple devices. But what sets it apart is that Any.do:  has elegantly integrated native smartphone gestures like swipe to complete a task, drag and drop to move tasks around, shake to empty completed tasks more  allows you to make calls and send emails from right within a task turns missed calls into reminders  allows customized views - by date or by folders (not to forget you get unlimited folders)  And last but not the least, if you pair it with the Cal a companion calendar app, all your appointments/ events will appear in the Any.do app too. You will love using it every moment of the day!

Sunrise Calendar App

In the realm of productivity apps for a real estate agent, a quality calendar app comes only next to a To-Do List app. If you are currently using the native calendar app that comes with your smartphone, Sunrise calendar app will take managing your calendar to a totally different level. Though available only for iOS phones and iPad, its uniqueness comes from the fact that it can collate multiple Google and iCloud calendars you might be using in one place. It also provides the ability to pull in events from your social media accounts like Facebook and Linkedin. You will never forget a birthday or anniversary! The app also allows you to add an event or appointment manually through Sunrises pleasing, intuitive interface. Other friendly features that will make it a quick favorite include:  A quick pull-down list of generic events call, coffee, meeting while adding events  Ability to add a map of the appointment location, your own notes, other people who might be attending Share feature to share your event via email or text or even on social media With a 4.5 star rating, Sunrise has indeed ushered in the golden age13 of iOS calendar apps.

COST COST AVAILABILITY EASE OF USE

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

FREE
iPHONE ANDROIDS EASY

iPHONE/iPAD

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care of Business

35

Keynote
A recommended must-have app available only for iOS users, Keynote is a powerful presentation app. Though it is available for the iPhone, we recommend it for the iPad which offers the best user experience. Impress your clients with your Coldwell Banker listing presentation on Keynote (fully customizable and available in Coldwell Banker Works). Here are some key highlights which will make investing in this app totally worth it: 3  0 ready-made themes for your presentation with plenty of choices for slides, animations, charts, cinema quality animations, slide transitions and many more features you will need to put your presentation together E  xport your presentation to Microsoft Powerpoint or PDF or save to the cloud on apps like Dropbox Share your presentation via email or message with a handy-dandy link L  astly, access your documents consistently across the Mac, iOS, and the web

Haiku Deck
Haiku Deck is for the fun loving presentation maker. It has been called the Instagram for pitch decks (Mashable). Just like the form of poetry that it gets its name from, Haiku Deck is easy, vivid, and slideshows you create will hit home hard. Use it to showcase yourself or simply sell an idea the possibilities are boundless!

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

$9.99

iPHONE/iPAD

MODERATE to DIFFICULT

FREE $1.99
BASIC VERSION additional templates Start price

iPhone/iPad

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care of Business

36

Printer Apps
After much thought, we have excluded a recommendation to a specific Printer app simply because they didnt perform as well as we had hoped. They were At best, iffy (worked at times and disappointed at other times) buggy (they crashed often)  dependent on additional features like Airdrop or infrastructure like access to a network and such. Besides, we feel a task like printing documents or listing books for your customers needs to be done professionally. So we recommend that you use the true and tested printers through the desktop until printing through mobile devices comes of age. Nevertheless, for the adventurous, we suggest Google Cloud Print for Androids Printer Pro for iPad and iPhone.

Dropbox
In November 2013, Dropbox announced that it crossed the 200 million user mark. To understand the need for Dropbox, think back to the many different and creative ways you have carried your documents with you in the past perhaps, emailed yourself, copied on a thumb drive, made multiple photocopies? Enter Dropbox - the storage choice of many around the globe because it addresses the aggravation of not being able to access your documents when you want and where you want them. Dropbox syncs your documents, photos and videos so you can access your documents on any your devices as well as the web. You can organize your files in folders, sort them, search for them and share them, making it easy to manage your files on the move. The awesome-ness of this app is that it doesnt get in the way of the user and lets you open your saved stuff in any of the other apps you might be using like Evernote, Docusign, Docusign Transaction Rooms Zipform and even Google Drive! The free version offers 2GB space after which you have to pay for extra storage.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FOR 2GB SPACE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care of Business

37

CamScanner
Unlike Printer apps, scanner apps on mobile devices are more robust. They bring you a lot of value whether you are selling homes or trying to get a copy of your childs soccer schedule. With over 60 million users across the globe, CamScanner is indeed a digital solution for organizing documents. Highlights of this self-explanatory app include:  Scans your documents by simply taking a photo with your phones camera in multiple formats like pdf and jpg.  Allows you quick editing features within the app (including the ability to password protect your document if you so choose)  Sharing via email as well as printing or saving to your favorite cloud storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box.com  Opening it directly in a number of other apps like Docusign, Evernote, Zipform, Skitch Accessibility across devices Best of all, you can try it for free before you decide to buy it. The free version has limited features, may add a watermark to your documents and contains advertisements, but it effectively demonstrates all the cool stuff it can do well.
There are a lot of special mentions in the cloud storage service arena. So if you are already using Cloudon, SkyDrive, Google Drive, iCloud or Box.com, you are already on the right path you dont need to switch.

FREE 4.99/mo
BASIC PLAN or $49.99/Year PREMIUM PLAN

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care of Business

38

Personal Assistant Toolbox

Banking
As recommended by industry experts as well as our internal evaluation, the best banking app is the one offered by your bank. Most large banks now have their own app some fancier than others. But for the most part, they perform well for basic banking tasks from depositing checks to paying your bills. Virtual banking is a huge time-saver.

Expensify
While on the topic of personal finance, wouldnt you like to simplify your expense reimbursement process too? Think of the times that you misplaced receipts or forgot to get reimbursed? Enter Expensify that automates your entire expense reporting process from capturing your receipts to

Mint Personal Finance

The bigger problem with spending money (personal or for business) is managing it. Use this free and secure app that allows you to consolidate all your accounts in one place, track your spending, and help you with the budgeting exercise you would otherwise pay an accountant to do. If you are hesitant because of security fears, click on the following link to read how Mint secures your information and privacy: https://www.mint.com/how-it-works/security/policy/

organizing to submitting them. Like Triplog, the app allows you to track your mileage either with your phones GPS or a snapshot of your odometer. If you like how it works, you might even want to sync your credit card or bank account so the app can pick up expenses directly from your statements. Though there is an initial learning curve, the app provides tons of help and support. Its power actually comes from the fact that it is available on the web and synchronizes across all your devices. Forbes calls it

 mobile app that helps you run A your business.

AVAILABILITY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE COST

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD (NEEDS iOS7)

ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

FREE

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

Desktop

easY to Moderate

APP-THOLOGY | Personal Assistant Toolbox

40

Triplog
Tracking your mileage is an annoying necessity that is part and parcel of any real estate professionals life. After all, you could practically be living in your vehicle for many hours each day! So here is an app to help you reduce your milo-aggravation. Triplog uses your phones GPS to track your mileage as you drive from appointment to appointment. Use it in the manual mode or GPS Tracker mode. The free version allows you to track your trips with IRS Standard Mileage Rates, measure fuel economy, track receipts, generate reports for filing and much more!

Conference calling is not new. Mostly, it is synonymous with meetings in a corporate setting. However, having this card up your sleeve as you interact with customers in different locations, will give you a communication edge that others may not have.

Skype
The fact that skype is now an accepted verb is proof that this service that started over a decade ago has become synonymous with talking freely for as long as you want! To enjoy all the features of this service and app free calling (using VOIP or in other words internet calling), video conferencing, text chatting, sending files and more, it requires that the other party also have a Skype account. If not, you may be charged for the call. We recommend it for long-distance or overseas communication.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE

iPAD

ANDROIDS

DESKTOP

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Personal Assistant Toolbox

41

Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is fast becoming a popular favorite in audio and video conferencing. It works similar to Skype with the difference that all parties need a Google account.

Google Translate
In order to know your multi-cultural customer today, one of the important aspects is to understand the spoken language be it Chinese or Spanish or Hindi. Google Translate comes in handy when you are dealing with clients who speak a different

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

language than yours. However, dont expect it to replace manual translation or make you sound like a native-speaker. With over 70 languages offered by the app, you will never turn a client down because of a language barrier. Keep this in your arsenal to grow your client base.

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

Speek
This app needs a special mention because aside from the features other apps provide, this app eliminates the need for traditional conference call phone numbers, passwords and pins. When you sign up, you can create your own customized username besides getting features offered by other apps mentioned above.

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE

ANDROIDS

EASY

42

Taking Care of Your Best Friend

This section of apps will help you take care of your best friend your smartphone (or your tablet). What good will this paper be if we dont help you make sure that your phone is in good health and usable.

Find my iPhone
Rule 1 - Never let your smartphone out of sight. Rule 2 If for some reason you do, keep your iPhone on your radar with Find My iPhone. The app comes preloaded on newer iPhones (5S and 5C) running iOS7. Make sure it is turned ON in your iCloud Settings. In the unfortunate circumstance that you misplace your Apple device, you can log in to your Apple id and track and protect the lost device. The app will help you locate your missing device on a map, remotely lock it, play a sound, display a message, or erase all the data on it. It really works!

Wheres My Droid
The equivalent of Find my iPhone for Android devices, the app not only finds your device but also allows you to lock it remotely and if needed, erase all data. But the best part of it is that the Pro version allows you to remotely operate your phones camera, thereby taking a photo of your phone thief/finder.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE $3.99
BASIC VERSION PRO VERSION

ANDROIDS

EASY

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care Of Your Best Friend

44

Know that horrible feeling at the pit of your stomach when you see your phones battery showing red? We scoured the App world for apps that would help conserve a phones battery to stretch it out longer. We found that following the tips below works much better than downloading any app available at this time. So we recommend a DIY approach, especially for iOS users. Nevertheless, we did find one Android app worth recommending (see below).

Battery Saving Tips

Go to your phones Settings to perform these simple maintenance tips.

1.

Juice Defender - battery saver

Heres a power manager app specifically designed to extend the battery life of your Android device. It keeps your power consumption under control by managing your mobile data, wi-fi and CPU speed, scheduling synchronization events and much more. With over 7 million downloads, this app is another winner.

 urn off or disable the following features depending on the frequency T of use or need Location Services Background App Refresh Automatic Updating Air Drop (iOS users) 3G or 4G and Wi-Fi Unnecessary Notifications

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

2. 3.

Fine-tune Brightness level (better still use Auto Brightness) Spotlight Search (for iOS users) Avoid apps with lots of advertisements

FREE

ANDROIDS

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care Of Your Best Friend

45

Dashlane
Passwords are not fun anymore. The more tools you have, the more accounts you have, more passwords you accumulate. Needless to say, an app to help you create and remember passwords is a relief. Theres an app for that! Dashlane comes highly recommended for its security and encryption to safeguard passwords. Visit their website to read more about their security model in detail. Start with the free version that acts as a pass-through manager for your multiple accounts. It also offers a virtual wallet to store personal information like drivers license, credit cards, social security number, passport details, and even receipts. If you want to sync passwords across all your devices, you will need to buy or subscribe to the Premium version. Try it on one device you will like it.

One last recommendation If your 

phone does not come preloaded with a Flashlight app, download any free app that allows you to use your smartphone as a flashlight. Just make sure you dont allow the app to use your location service.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | Taking Care Of Your Best Friend

46

Do You Google?

NAVIGATING
Considering 92% of smartphone owners use a Google app14 and according to ComScores Digital Future report for 2013, Google created 5 of the 6 most popular apps in America15, we felt it was most appropriate to create this dedicated section for Google apps. Many of them come preloaded on Android devices jumpstarting the new smartphone user into the app world while others can be downloaded from Google Play Store or the App Store. Even though all these apps are not top performing apps, they are a formidable pack one that you might already be using or will find you cannot do without. We present just a few to add to your app suite.
Google Search Google Chrome YouTube Google Drive Gmail

GOOGLE APPS

CREATE & COLLABORATE

SEARCH THE WEB

BE ENTERTAINED

NAVIGATE

SPEAK YOUR MIND

Google Maps

Google Translate

Google Voice

CONNECT & SHARE

Google +

Google Hangout

APP-THOLOGY | Do You Google?

48

10
EXTRA EXTRA!

These little helper apps have two things in common they are free and fun! They allow you to be creative on different levels. Use them personally or to earn brownie points by suggesting them to your customers, family and friends.

Snapshop Showroom
Available only for iOS, this app allows you to visualize an empty space or room with furniture and accessories. Use it to help your visually-challenged buyers or get some ideas to stage your listings yourself. From much loved stores like Pier1 Imports to Capitol Lighting to Ikea you will have fun dressing up rooms.

Paint Tester
Another visualizer that allows you to see how a retroblue-and-pink bedroom could look in colors from the 21st century. Take a picture of the room you want to visualize, then pick the wall color and roll it on to see your final product.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

EASY

FREE

iPHONE/iPAD

EASY

HomeSavvy
This is an award-winning app for any home-owner from HomeAdvisor (formerly ServiceMagic). The app allows you to customize your home maintenance schedule seasonal or regular and set up alerts to remind to do mundane home maintenance chores like changing the smoke alarm batteries every 6 months or cleaning the rain gutters. Use it yourself or suggest it to your ecstatic first-time home-buyer to help them with their new home.

Houzz
Another great eye-candy idea app, Houzz has been called the Wikipedia of interior and exterior design by CNN. Pleasure for those who are inspired to design, especially on an iPad, be warned this app can be a time-drain. Your new home-owners however, will certainly appreciate it!

COST COST AVAILABILITY EASE OF USE

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

FREE
iPHONE ANDROIDS Desktop EASY

iPHONE/iPAD

ANDROIDS

Desktop

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | EXTRA EXTRA!

50

Moving counts as one the biggest stressors in a persons life. Suggest these to your buyer or seller and they will thank you for the order it brings in their lives. Or consider using it for yourself to simply take an inventory of your home or office.

Movingday
The Movingday app available for iOS gives you a sense of complete control with its ability to inventory your homes contents using app generated barcodes which in turn allow you to track your items at delivery. Special Note: Dont confuse the Movingday app with Moving Day the gaming app!

MoveMatch
MoveMatch app available only for Androids is a survey based estimator that you can use to present to your own mover or to pick one from the list that the app suggests to get an accurate quote. It is also loaded with tons of helpful resources & tips.

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

COST

AVAILABILITY

EASE OF USE

FREE

iPHONE

EASY

FREE

ANDROIDS

EASY

APP-THOLOGY | EXTRA EXTRA!

51

Conclusion

11

BBC called 2013 the year we all went mobile16. While smartphone and tablet sales soared spurning a flurry of activity in the app world, the ultimate winner was the consumer. The trend continues into 2014 and beyond with tremendous advances in the mobility space. From the crystal ball of our very own Sean Blankenship, Senior Vice President for Coldwell Banker Marketing

We will see Mobility transform and redefine customer service in the real estate industry, and everyone in it.

This paper has attempted to sift through the Wild Wild West of mobile apps to bring you the ones that will give you the edge in this changing world as you redefine and transform what it means to be a progressive real estate agent. Remember, this is only the beginning - the search continues as new apps appear and old ones disappear from the market. Start downloading today!

17

APP-THOLOGY | Conclusion

53

ATTRIBUTION
1.  There are more mobile phones in the world than there are toothbrushes. Quote from Ian Carrington, mobile and social advertising sales director at Google, speaking from Mobile Marketing Live. 2.  84% of Smartphone Owners Use Apps During Their Morning Routine. Retrieved from Statista.com The Statistics Portal. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/ topics/1002/mobile-app-usage/chart/1547/morning-appusage/ 3.  Theres an app for that. Retrieved from http://www. realtor.org/sites/default/files/Study-Digital-HouseHunt-2013-01.pdf 4.  The App Store statistics: Retrieved from The Verge: http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/22/4866302/appleannounces-1-million-apps-in-the-app-store 5.  App usage from Flurry Analytics: Retrieved from Flurry Blog: http://blog.flurry.com/bid/103601/Mobile-UseGrows-115-in-2013-Propelled-by-Messaging-Apps 6. D  ecember 31, 2013 statistics: Retrieved from Flurry Blog: http://blog.flurry.com/bid/103601/Mobile-UseGrows-115-in-2013-Propelled-by-Messaging-Apps 7.  Of those downloaded, 1 in 4 apps are abandoned after the initial use. New Relic blogpost : Mobile APPeal: exploring the mobile landscape. Retrieved from Infographic at http://blog.newrelic.com/2013/03/13/ mobile-appeal-why-the-future-is-mobile/ 8.  App recommendation from family and friends. Retrieved from http://blogs.forrester.com/thomas_husson/13-0416-the_appgratis_controversy_and_the_mobile_app_ discovery_promotion 9.  Shareaholics Social Media Traffic Report. Retrieved from https://blog.shareaholic.com/social-media-traffictrends-10-2013/ 10.  Smartphone vs Digital Cameras: Has the tipping point been reached? Retrieved from http://suite48a.com/ Multi_Device.html 11.  An intelligent magazine that helps you discover interesting things to read. Retrieved from the App Store description. 12.  eKey user tip for using phones Bluetooth: Taken from the App Store review of app. 13.  S unrise brings the golden age of iOS calendar apps. Mashable review Jan 9, 2014. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2014/01/09/sunriseipad/ 14.  92% of smartphone owners use a Google app. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2013/10/08/ smartphone-users-google/ 15.  Google has 5 of the 6 most popular apps in America. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/14/ comscores-state-of-the-digital-union-6-trillion-adsgoogle-has-5-of-the-6-most-popular-apps-andmore/#vb-gallery:2:622569 16.  2013: The year we all went mobile. Taken from BBC - Technology desk. Retrieved from http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/business-25445906 17.  We will see Mobility transform and redefine customer service in the real estate industry, and everyone in it. Taken from Sean Blankenships blogpost. Retrieved from http://blog.coldwellbanker.com/2014-technologyand-social-media-trends/

Image Courtesy:
Google Play is a trademark of Google Inc.  Tim Cook and Apple 1,000,0000 apps: Courtesy The Verge   Page 8 Graph showing Net Benefits of Mobile Apps over Mobile Sites: 85% - Courtesy of Compuware Study available at http://offers2.compuware.com/APM_13_ WP_Mobile_App_Survey_Report_Registration.html   The Android robot is reproduced or modified from work created and shared by Google and used according to terms described in the Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.

APP-THOLOGY | Attribution

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