Can anyone please share their experiences with any real estate specific contact management software that they are using? I had Top Producer 6, but since I upgraded my PC to Windows XP, I discover that it, like so many other programs is non-compatible.
7i looks good but I hate the thought of paying a monthly ransom to use it! How about Online Agent 3.0 etc?
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers and thanks,
michael


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LivingInOrangeville.com

C-CREC, ABR, RECS
1.888.255.1990

I Feel the pain. They(Top Producer) told me too bad. I had 6i with all the bells and whistles, plus a $400 palm pilot.

All my contacts on the palm now gone because I can't link it to my computer.

I sent them a complaint email, they didn't care.

I am in the market for different software.

Please help with any suggestions.

Thanks.

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Jeremy Bigelow
Keller Williams Realty
Owosso/Fenton, MI
jeremybigelow@mail.com

FACT - KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY HAS GROWN OVER 400% IN LESS THAN 4 YEARS. . . . . . . WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHY??? - EMAIL ME!

Jeremy,
All may not be lost with your Palm.
I am waiting for the demo version of real estate specific software that has been a well kept secret. Check out http://www.advantagexi.com/default.htm

If you have high speed you can download the demo. have a look and then we can compare notes.

Hi Micahel,

I have used LeadCommander for years and the newest version addresses everything you need, minus the bells and whistles you don't need.

Kelvin Limm (the owner of LC) is a friend of mine and he would be happy to personally answer any questions you might have.

Brian Rodgers www.brseminars.com

Hey Brian,
That would be great.
Maybe you could post a url so that anyone else that is interested can have a look.
Top producers move to a web based platform, although interesting on the surface, means being held hostage forever on a monthly basis. What is even worse is that they can raise the fees at will afterwards.

The site I believe is: www.leadcommander.com and the actual owner of the company is Kelvin Limm. It is a large company but I have a really good relationship with Kelvin so feel free to contact him and use my name.


Brian Rodgers www.brseminars.com

Thank you!

I will see what I can do. The Palm was set up with the Top Producer Program.


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Jeremy Bigelow
Keller Williams Realty
Owosso/Fenton, MI
jeremybigelow@mail.com

FACT - KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY HAS GROWN OVER 400% IN LESS THAN 4 YEARS. . . . . . . WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHY??? - EMAIL ME!

NO this is NOT a solicitation and though I lend in all states I only have this for my Washington State Realtors.

What I do is set my Realtors up with a contact conversion system that is located at www.hbm1.com .

If you are in a state other then WA then you have to check with this site and see who the preferred lender (who payed for it) in your state is. Anyway, you partner up with a loan officer and all of your contacts from that D buyer that is just calling because they are bored to the hot A buyer get input into this system.

They are allowed to search all of the MLS listings in your area through an account there and you see when they log on and what properties they have interest in.

When they look like they are getting active, you contact them and see if they need something. All the while your picture is shown as they search and when they click for a showing, you get an email saying they are ready.

This affectively parks those weak prospects and takes them out of the market as far as your competing Realtors are concerned. The great thing about it is when you take those 20 to 60 contacts a month and put them into this system you now have a pipeline of prospective buyers that you can take to any seller and show the pages of buyers that you have...some that might even buy THEIR home.

There is only a cost to the mortgage company and no cost to the Realtor. If you think this is a solicitation, there is NO WAY that Realtors can go to the company that runs this and sign up on your own and I am a mortgage guy, not one of those guys trying to "sign up here" and make 7 bucks for a lead.

This is available to only one lender in your area and since I can only do Washington State there is a 98% chance that I couldn't help you out with this anyway. I would check the site out, email the site and ask who the local lender is in your area, and then put another tool in the belt.

Good luck and imagine taking even 30 contacts a month in your area OFF of the market and into your pipeline......you could affect the whole market in your area depending upon its size.

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www.HonestMortgage.net

[This message has been edited by WillTygart (edited 03-04-2004).]

Sounds interesting,
I'd like to get more info for one of our clients. Is there a way I can find out if there's already someone in the Pocono Area so as not to waste my time? Thanks

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Rich
Advertising, Marketing & Virtual Tours

I use IDM Farm Manager from Fidelity. It's okay so far.

Yeah, I share the point about not feeling comfortable with a system that requires your contact list to be in someone's server. Even if they're good people, what happens if a hacker goes through your list for their personal gain. I've been on the Internet business for awhile before real estate, and believe me, it happens.

A contact management system is mission-critical and I think it's important that an application be first of all reliable and robust. And you need to make sure about its capability for backups and recovery, or at the very least how you can set it up yourself. You wouldn't want to lose your data because of a system crash.

Then, I'd check with compatibility with your other software. Can you import and export data? Does it interface with your email software? With your word processing, spreadsheet, etc?

And of course, it should have the features you need. The ability to prioritize clients, easily keep track of your schedule, etc.

And oh yeah, is the company behind the product stable and proactive. Will they be around and proactive when the operating system goes to another version upgrade?

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Ruperto Elpusan, MBA, e-Pro
Broker/Officer
Beverly Hills-Malibu-Palos Verdes Real Estate
Torrance/South Bay Real Estate

Our product http://www.HomeAudioTours.com
is a great contact manager, a lead capture system and a whole lot more.

We have combined your personal toll free Phone/Fax number with lead capture, follow me functionality, contact database,calendar, schedualer, task manager, secure data vault online back-ups and marketing campaign management (e-mails and more) all into one online service.

Our Lite is $19.95 per month, our Pro is $49.95 per month, and our Executive is $79.00 per month.

I'm new to this forum and would rather inform then hype. Iinvite you to call me and I'll show you a demo.

There is a whole bunch more, and I doubt anyone has a better value in the industry.

I'm sure I can help.

Thanks,

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Marlo Newman
http://www.HomeAudioTours.com
800-783-4995
Marlo@HomeAudioTours.com
Our service captures and manages more leads for Realtors then anything else available.

I use Act! with Transact from pinpointtools.com. I really like the stuff.

Hey everybody...

I was a bit disgruntled with Top Producer when they bounced V. 6 and quite frankly lost my interest in them... It just seems to me that it is another blasted way to soak us poor souls for money although I have heard goods and bads about it... Now ACT was supposed to bring out a real estate upgrade for it... There are many more but geesh who would want to list them all... .Keep bringing up the good ideas and products guys...

Oh yes, don't forget the ole' fashion MS Outlook... It may not be fancy, but it does work after you figure everything out... LOL...

Have a great night..


Duane

You might want to take a look at RealtyJuggler Deluxe from RealOrganized, Inc.

Organizational Software for Real Estate

The software allows agents to track buyers, sellers, closings and much more. It has many nice features especially for agents such as automatic reminders for common activities (lockboxes, signs and such). It runs on Palm Powered handhelds, so agents can access their information wherever they are. Emphasis is on east of use, simplicity and reliability.

The software costs $99, which is a fraction of competing products and works with Palms existing datebook and contacts applications. This last capabilit allows agents to synchronize with Microsoft Outlook on their PC to take advantage of all of the powerful capabilities of that organizer, while at the same time using real estate specific functionality of RealtyJuggler.

Scott Schmitz
President, RealOrganized, Inc.
Publisher of RealtyJuggler
Organizational Software for Real Estate http://www.realorganized.com

I believe Agent Office (formerly called Online Agent) and Top Producer are the 2 bigger players in the contact management game.

There are 2 online user groups that may be of help:

Agent Office (AKA as RE/MAX Agent 2,000, Century 21 Power Pak Agent, Realty Executives Executive Agent, Royal LePage Online Agent) is here:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/onlineagentusers/

and this is the TP group:
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/topproducerusenet

each group has several hundred members along with some trainers, resellers, and some tech folks.

Questions and problems are not only welcomed but answered from real, everyday users of the products.


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Jim Lee, CRS, ABR, GRI, e-PRO
Realty Executives Associates
Knoxville, Tennessee
http://www.KnoxvilleMLS.com
Jim@KnoxvilleMLS.com
1999 REALTOR of the year, Knoxville Association of REALTORS

I am not an attorney, I am not your attorney, and I am not giving you any legal advice. This response is only given for informational purposes and should not be construed or substituted for legal advice.

[This message has been edited by jimlee (edited 09-01-2004).]

HBM is actually a really good system for contact capture and conversion. I have been using it as a loan officer for 2 years and convinced my wife to become a Realtor because the system is so "no brainer" it hurts.

I do not work for HBM, but I can contribute a great deal of my success to their system and philosophies.

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Chris Roberts
Sr. Loan Officer
817-329 LOAN (5626) x 227

Top Producer is a piece of buggy junk. They know it---they want you to "upgrade" to 7, for $30 a month. It will work on XP, I have it installed on my wife's pc. I just think it isn't that great a program. ACT has a module specifically for real estate. Several people I know also use plaxo combined with outlook express.



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Visit the most comprehensive Las Vegas Real Estate and Henderson Real Estate website online. Or look at pictures of my Parrot

I've been using Outlook 2003 in conjunction with Plaxo and it definitly is very handy especially for keeping all your contacts in sync between your desktop - internet - laptop all very easily. Not to mention that it is free, it also has the calendar, tasks, and notes functions from Outlook. Supposedly they will be releasing some "business" applications in the future, I can't wait. There seems to be a pretty handy plugin for Outlook called AgentOutlook that I am currently trying and it is around $149 or so...

-J

I'm curious - if you could design your own system, what functionality would you like it to have?

Would you like it to maintain your client lists easily?

Would you like it to be able to 'communicate' with your email software and make a note whenever you contact a client?

Would you like it to be capable of sending drip email in text or HTML? (and run reports on success, bounces, etc.)

I'd love to get a feel for what types of functions you're missing in current vendor products.

Thanks in advance!


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Regards,

Cheryl Allin
VirtuAllin Administrative Services
callin@virtuallin.com - (253) 565-3015
IVAA Certified Real Estate Support Specialist
Visit http://www.virtuallin.com Today!

We're spotlighted in ePOWER News - http://www.epowernews.com And in Tribnet:
http://www.tribnet.com/business/story/4552267p-4526628c.html

Try Agent Organizer: http://www.agentorganizer.com/

This is a hot little program

I like AgentOffice from FNIS. Reliable product.

Scott can this integrate with Outlook and can it work with active Sync?

I'm looking for Agent software where you can enter all their contact info along with all their Birthdays and Kids Birthdays as well as anniversaries! Any suggestions?

Please try Contacts Clinic a plugin for Microsoft Outlook 2000, 2002(XP), 2003. You can Auto update outdated Outlook contact, Remove duplicate outlook contact, Import and Export Outlook Contact, Extract Email Ids from Outlook mails and folders, Extract email addresses for Internet Explorer IE pages. Contacts Clinic is secure and no 3rd party data handling.

Contact Clinic is the best Microsoft Outlook Contact Management Software in the market.

Try it http://www.srimax.com/contactsclinic

Thanks....Is there a cost involved?

Keller Williams just approved http://www.symplifi.com/ as an affiliated lead management and tracking tool. A least one top agent from the Millionaire Real Estate Agent book uses it to grow his business. I've been using HomeFollowup.com for sending HTML emails and to help keep track of my contracts. I'll see how well it works out. The only thing that I don't like about either is that they only really work well on a PC, so Mac users should beware.

We have a KW version of TopProducer, but I really don't like it as much. It has a lot of capabilities, but I've found that it has bugs that make it not work properly on PC. I paid extra fro the Top Connector option, but it doesn't seem to sometimes pull the latest MLS listings. You can't use it for Mac at all, but either way, I may cancel my subscription to them.

Hello. We are interested in buying a system that does contact management and drip marketing. I would like to only pay a yearly fee, NOT a monthly fee. I want it to be web based, as we access it from all over. We have our own website, and would like it to integrate somehow with the leads we generate from the website.

Any suggestions?