Virtual Agents: Can you really work without an office?

There is a romantic idea of working as an iAGENT, without an office, and spending days lounging in coffee shops with your laptop. However, is this a realistic notion? Can you really get all the work you need done in Starbucks, libraries or at your clients houses?

The Virtual Realtor certainly does work out in the field, however, it is not practical to expect all work to be done in such locations. A quiet space at home is usually where the grunt work will take place. The daily grind such as calling databases, creating budgets and business plans, doing taxes and all of the other uncreative, necessary aspects of running a real estate business still need to take place and public locations are not necessarily appropriate for such.

For some, home is the ideal location for these tasks. For others, their residence is simply not conducive to work, and that is why drop-in space is available for our mobile agents at our iREALTY office.

However, the desirable work lifestyle of having the local café as your office is effective for other aspects of an iAGENT’s operation. For agents utilizing tablet computers, it is very effective to write and respond to offers with clients, paperlessly, at these public locations. Public meeting spaces tend to have a relaxing and enjoyable atmosphere as well as often having wireless internet so that it is expected that work meetings will take place at that location. Plus there are always choices of different meeting locations near your clients, allowing the iAGENT to provide superior service by coming to your clients, instead of requiring your clients to go out of their way to come to you at your office.  

The local coffees shop is an excellent venue to inspire creativity, and is a great place to write blogs (I am in a Starbucks as I write!) advertising, website updates and other creative work.

 The last benefit to working surrounded by the public instead of in the office, is the daily and constant contact with people you may never have had met. It is a rare occasion where I work in a local café without chatting with someone I know, or even better, meeting someone I don’t know. It seems that coffee shop etiquette allows and even encourages conversations with strangers and what better environment for a real estate agent to meet potential contacts, clients and friends!

You don’t sell real estate in your office, so get out of it!

Follow me on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/iREALTYjstoner

Recession and the Virtual Office

 

Recessions suck. Our business in the real estate industry is down, people are nervous and the general economic global environment is shaky at best. What good can possibly come from a recession? Vast amounts! 

This recession in particular is an essential cleansing process. Unnecessary excess that remain unaddressed in booming markets are now paired down. Wasteful behavior is corrected, banks will required to be more transparent, and commerce to be more accountable. Does this affect our real estate industry?  Only for those who intend long term survival. 

Agents are aware there are newer and better ways to do business, and in very busy and prosperous markets, there is  little time or need to make business model changes. Now with our slow recovering down market, agents are seeking just such a change and are looking towards their Brokerage to implement them.   

The future of successful businesses is not just about “less is more.”  In addition to less expense, a successful Brokerage must offer “more value” as well.  I yawn at the sound of such kitschy buzz words so forgive the use. It is simply is true. 

Agents are aware that office space is becoming less useful and more expensive each year, and therefore are attracted to the Virtual Office concept. But savings due to such a business model is not enough. The Virtual Office must offer the tools and technology to make it efficient for agents to run their business paperlessly and online. Agents must always feel connected to their office, Broker and their colleagues. Social relationships in the Brokerage must be easily created and maintained, and again it needs to be Brokerage’s business model that provides the methods and technology for these to form.   

Cutting back and being conservative is a positive by-product of such a recession, but this will only sustain Brokerages a bit longer, not perpetually. The recession also creates opportunities for the creation of new sustainable models of operation, such as providing for the mobile agent and providing the social platform for on-the-go agents to stay connected. 

Agents are far ahead of most Brokerages in recognizing their needs in this new and changed real estate profession and will be moving towards those accommodating such models at a rapid rate. Brokerages ready to accommodate the needs of their more tech savvy agents or looking to recruit younger generations of agents will have a more valuable business to market when selling their business on retirement.   

RE/MAX Alpine Realty (an iREALTY office) in Calgary is opening mid-April 2009 and interviewing agents now. Contact me for more information.

Brokerages interested in learning more about the iREALTY concept are encouraged to contact me, to see if your office is suitable to add iREALTY features. 

Jessica Stoner stoner.jessica@gmail.com    403-678-8006 cell,  stonerjessica Skype address

The Super-Fly model to Social Connection and the Virtual Real Estate Brokerage

The motto of RE/MAX has long been that agents are “In business for themselves, not by themselves.” This has never been truer than in a Virtual Office concept. My own concerns when I was considering opening a Virtual Office was that everyone would be separated, disconnected and all by themselves. That seemed dreadfully depressing to me, as I am a social creature, as are most people who are attracted to this industry. I knew if a Virtual Office were to work, a strong, connected sense of community must be at the heart of the business model.

It was extremely important to me that agents love working at this iREALTY brokerage, and who they work with is an exceptionally large factor to one’s satisfaction. However, if they never see, hear, or speak to their colleagues, the connection between co-workers never form.

So, collaborating with partners at a social networking software company, we have developed the iCOMMUNITY.

The iCOMMUNITY is an internal social networking site for real estate brokerages. Agents spend pretty much all day, every day, on this site and from here, they can access everything they need. There are practical  elements, such as giving agents the authority to create and publish information in any part of the program. The agents create their own community, which just makes sense as there are many multiples of them and only one Broker/Manager. Why should all information only come from one person? Agents inform, correct, elaborate, blog, share and opinionate. (I’m not even sure that is word!;-) )  with each other.

For example, a traditional conversation works like this. Bob speaks to Bill, they discuss an item and come to a conclusion. Now two people have this information. With iCOMMUNITY, two people have a conversation, but (if they choose) everyone has access to it. Multiple people can participate in the discussion, and now every agent in the office knows this information. With iCOMMUNITY, our agents are the most informed and knowledgeable agents by far, as they have a never ending stream of relevant live time information from their colleagues.

 

iCOMMUNITY also has its fun side, which is equally necessary and far more entertaining!  Incorporating many aspects of social online networking, agents are in constant contact with their colleagues and office, sharing laughs, photos, games, personal updates, messages and “tweets” and generally socializing. iAGENTS are more connected, informed and in touch with each other and their office, in ways that are simply impossible in traditional offices.

 

Social connection is at the heart of RE/MAX Alpine Realty (iREALTY) and is the essential component of a successful Virtual Office.

For more information contact Jessica Stoner at jessicastoner@remax.net or visit www.irealtycanada.com   Follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/iREALTYjstoner