Cutting costs in this very tough market

I was helping an agent on the phone the other day and we started chatting about the market. In a calm, cool voice he told me, “I’m losing everything.” His manner took me aback so I asked him what he meant. He explained that over the last couple years his business has collapsed and he’s filing bankruptcy. He’s losing his business, his house, everything…

That conversation has stirred up a real sense of urgency to make sure our subscribers understand all the ways they can cut costs by using the free tools available on IRESis. Our goal has always been to provide all the software an agent needs to do business, so you don’t have to buy outside products. We have some holes to fill in, but take a look at the list below to make sure you’re taking advantage of what’s already included in your MLS fees:

*Showings System – Track your showings and let the system send Feedback via email (plus follow up till it’s received).
*Contracts System – Has all Commission forms and is integrated with the MLS. We did go with an outside provider for electronic signatures but the cost can be as low as $12.95 per month. Feedback indicates it’s worth it to spend the $12 rather than running around town or faxing for signatures.
*ListHub – Get tons of free internet exposure for your listings by signing up with ListHub – they will send your listings to sites such as Yahoo Real Estate, AOL, Truila, etc. Managing Brokers must sign up for this.
*Open Houses – Save some marketing dollars by entering your Open Houses on IRESis. They will be seen by agents on IRESis and we also send them to ColoProperty.com, which receives millions of consumer hits every month. (Enter them in Add/Edit Listing.)
*Realist Value Map – Increase the “stickiness” of your web site by adding a free valuation tool for consumers - they can enter an address and find the value of their home. Any leads go to YOU. (Available in Public Records.)
*Foreclosure Data – You don’t need to pay anyone for Foreclosure data – everything you need is available in Public Records, which is available to you all day at no extra charge. (See the Foreclosure video on the Training screen.)
*Prospect Searches – Save time (ie: money) by having the system – not YOU – run searches every day and send new listings to your clients. Also, set up a “MySite” for your client where they can see boat loads of info - all the photos, tours, uploaded documents, neighborhood information, map location, Walkscore and Open Houses without ANY intervention on your part.

As a last note, IRES will NOT be increasing our fees in 2009. If you want more details about any of the above, leave us a comment/write a note or give us a call at 800-596-4901. We want to help!