The following information is a series of frequently asked questions that are similar to questions we’ve been asked hundreds of times by agents over the years. The base of these questions is “how does/can iFoundAgent can help my real estate business?”
These questions are not necessarily about features etc per se, and, somehow the answers we provide below do connect to some of our core features, like neighborhood update drip campaigns for homeowners.
Over the years we’ve answered these questions verbally in phone conversations, in classroom settings, and in more recent times, on zoom calls. Finally, we’ve decided to write down some of our answers to give those of you who want to read what we have to say a place to do so.
How does an iFoundAgent website help me list more homes?
The short answer…
iFoundAgent’s technology is about you, the agent, “being at the right place at the right time.”
With an iFoundAgent website, you can leverage the power of timely and tailored neighborhood real estate updates and listings alerts to ensure you stay top-of-mind when your homeowner contacts are actively engaged in the real estate market. This strategic approach increases the likelihood of you capturing their attention and getting listing opportunities.
The long answer…
We understand that when your homeowner contacts spot new listing signs near their homes, they often turn to resources like Zillow to learn things like sales prices, beds, baths, and more, rather than calling you, the agent they know. This is a huge area of concern for many agents.
The iFoundAgent website system effectively addresses this problem by promptly sending these local neighborhood listings to homeowner contacts as soon as they appear in the MLS, which typically corresponds to when these listing signs show up in your homeowners neighborhoods. In sending these listings instantly, you’ll minimize your homeowners’ need to explore other platforms, like Zillow, and consolidate the real estate information they seek to one convenient place – your website.
Typically, when homeowners spot a new listing sign in their neighborhood, it tends to pique their curiosity regarding the value of their home, but often leads to no further activity on their part. However, there are instances when seeing a new listing sign or a sold sign carries greater significance for homeowners who are considering selling their homes due to planned or unplanned life events. If you are actively sending instant alert listing information from your website, you’ll likely be the one whom they call to help them with their real estate needs.
Right place right time.
How does an iFoundAgent website help me sell more homes?
iFoundAgent websites look good, get found in Google and other search engines, and are easily maintained, thus helping you present yourself as an established and credible real estate professional. An iFoundAgent real estate website provides a comprehensive platform to effectively showcase and market your listings, stay in touch with past clients, nurture new prospects and clients, tie in to your social media accounts, and offer other valuable resources like home buying and home selling guides. By leveraging these features, you can attract more qualified leads, facilitate seamless communication, be more relevant to your real estate clients which will ultimately help you sell more homes.
How does an iFoundAgent website promote me as an industry expert?
iFoundAgent websites are developed using the highly popular and robust WordPress platform. This allows you to put as much content related to your areas of expertise, such as farming areas and personal interests (like fly fishing, playing pickleball, or singing) into your website. The content you create, or have created, can be found by Google, allowing it to be displayed to consumers actively searching for information related to the topics you publish(ed). The ability to be found on Google search results is a valuable way to establish credibility and showcase your expertise as a local area real estate expert.
Furthermore, having content on your website demonstrates your active involvement and engagement with your local real estate community. When contacts and prospects visit your website and find informative relevant content, it indicates that you are actively participating in your real estate craft and staying up-to-date with local market trends and insights. This helps build trust and confidence in your abilities that can attract potential clients seeking a knowledgeable and engaged real estate professional. This can also help deepen loyalty with your past clients, which is very important in today’s real estate environment.
How does an iFoundAgent website help me gain more referral business?
Overall, an iFoundAgent real estate website is a powerful tool for showcasing your professionalism, testimonials, listings, and local neighborhood expertise. By providing valuable content, good home search tools, easy ways to share and market listings, and a seamless referral process, your website strengthens your chances of receiving more referral business from satisfied clients and referral sources.
Also, if you are using the neighborhood update system with your homeowner contacts, it may be the case that the homeowner knows someone who wants to live in their neighborhood, and seeing an instant new listing update could lead to an instant referral.
How does an iFoundAgent Website help keep my clients off Zillow, Google, or other online resources?
We understand that the homeowners you know (including your past clients) often turn to various resources, such as Zillow when they come across new listing signs near their home and seek information like sales prices, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and more. The iFoundAgent website system addresses this by promptly sending these neighborhood listings to your homeowner contacts as soon as they appear in the MLS. This feature significantly reduces your homeowners’ need to visit other platforms or sources to find the information they seek.
Similarly, sending tailored home search campaigns and instant new listing alerts is a great way to engage prospective homebuyers with your website. It’s always wise to let prospective clients know that the searches you are sending are straight from the MLS and therefore the most accurate and updated listings they will find online, including Zillow. We find that prospective homebuyers working with agents using their iFoundAgent website are saving properties, reading instant listing alerts, and coming back to agents’ website repeatedly to look at more specific property details for the listing alerts they receive.
What is the difference between iFoundAgent’s CRM and other mainstream CRMs?
With being “Top-of-Mind,” a very high priority for nearly all agents, most CRM drip campaigns typically send out periodic content related to homebuyers and homeowners to ensure that agents stay at the forefront of their contacts’ minds. While this is a valid and widely taught strategy in the industry, the iFoundAgent CRM elevates this approach to new heights.
Like other CRMs, the iFoundAgent CRM can send homebuyer/homeowner tips. However, it also sends monthly neighborhood updates using MLS listings showing active, sold, and pending listings around a homeowner’s home.
The neighborhood updates also provide immediate alerts for new and sold listings as soon as they are added to the MLS. These spontaneous listing alerts prove more effective than regular periodic content in keeping the agent top-of-mind. They appear exactly when homeowners need or want them, particularly when they come across new (and sold) listing in their neighborhoods and seek instant details about those listings. Data collected from our agent websites show instant update alerts are read more often and get more “call to action” clicks (that bring the reader to the agent’s website) than any other form of CRM-provided content.
Aside from staying top-of-mind, one added advantage to using the iFoundAgent CRM is that these instant alerts greatly reduce the homeowner’s (and prospective homebuyers) reliance on platforms like Zillow to find the information they desire. As agents, we prefer our contacts to use our website for browsing listings rather than turning to Zillow or other external resources.
There are other systems that do what iFoundAgent does, what makes iFoundAgent different?
For starters, many of the other systems are a lot more expensive $250/mo and up. Our top monthly price is $129.
Second, we know that most agents we’ve spoken to over the years don’t want to be “computer people”. They want to be out meeting and networking with people. Because of this, and the feedback we’ve gotten about other real estate technology products, we’re not a complicated system and our approach is to keep things simple. Most of our agents are up and running with their website in a few days, and using our system with their contacts by spending an hour or two with us in online zoom training, and/or referring to a few videos for guidance.
Third, we’re not trying to be the “be-all, end all with tons of bells and whistles and shiny objects all-in-one real estate marketing system.” Rather, we’ve chosen to look at what real estate agents want and what have they said over the years when it comes to technology. We’ve concluded that most agents want a website that does something for their business and they want a simple relevant way to stay in touch with past clients and nurture future business.
Last but not least, we didn’t invent this strategy – MLSs have been doing this for years. They help their agent members engage with a respective agent’s prospects and clients using listings and recurring CRM-like communications to help their members sell and list more homes. We do the same thing, we just use an agent’s website as the medium of communication and engagement which greatly enhances the other types of marketing an agent can do via social media, video, texting, and email. Additionally, with using the website, we help agents establish credibility, get found online, be validated in searches and in providing useful relevant content, and demonstrate themselves as local real estate experts, among other things we’ve already mentioned above.
Sure there are other systems out there that do what we do. But as we’ve already mentioned they are much more expensive and complicated to use. We provide websites that work, and keep an agent’s contacts engaged with their website. We can do the same for you.
Why would I pay for a service my MLS gives me for free?
While it is true that the MLS provides you with a “free” way for you to send home searches to your contacts, utilizing your website as a search tool with your clients offers several advantages:
- Customization: By using your website, you can customize the user experience to align with your branding and provide a more personalized touch. You can tailor the design, features, and content to cater specifically to your clients’ needs.
- Enhanced User Experience: Your website can offer a user-friendly interface, intuitive search options, and advanced filtering capabilities that make it easier for you and your clients to find the listings they are interested in. You can also provide additional resources, such as neighborhood information, market insights, videos, and helpful guides, to enrich their overall experience.
- Direct Communication: Having clients use your website allows for direct communication and engagement. You can provide contact and registration forms, live chat support, or even integrate messaging platforms to facilitate real-time communication. This lets you promptly address their inquiries, provide personalized guidance, build stronger relationships, and help you weed out uninterested parties.
- Highly Relevant Info Updates: You can send personalized search campaigns to home buyers and neighborhood real estate updates to homeowners about new listings, price reductions, and relevant market trends, keeping them informed, engaged, and more competitive with other buyers and sellers.
- Market Differentiation: Utilizing your website sets you apart from other agents relying solely on the MLS. It demonstrates your commitment to delivering a unique and tailored experience for your clients, showcasing your expertise, professionalism, and dedication to going the extra mile.
While the MLS is a valuable resource for accessing real estate information, having your website can complement and enhance your services, providing your clients with a more customized, engaging, and differentiated experience.
To learn more about how iFoundAgent can help your real estate business Schedule a Demo or Contact Us Here.
Contact Us
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
Sales: 480-535-6635
Support: 480-281-8600