Great new iPhone photo app! Perfect for Realtors!
I just came across a new app called “PicFrame”! This app allows you to combine multiple photos in many different frame layouts in seconds.
Too many photos to be able to put on the MLS or your flyer? Just select a frame layout and combine 3, 4, 5, or more photos in a very cool looking frame. You can even widen, eliminate, select the color or choose a custom pattern for the borders.
Every app similar to this that I’ve tried is difficult, confusing to use, and just not practical. You’ll find PicFrame incredibly simple and versatile.
Here’s a sample:
Now once you’ve created the picture, you can even share it on your Social Networks or via email with ease.
Ok… For you Android phone users, there’s a version of this for you too! It’s called PhotoGrid
I bought an Android smartphone! Is it good for Real Estate agents yet???
Don’t worry Apple iPhone friends, I still have my new iPhone 4s and I love it! I just HAD to get the new Samsung Galaxy Note after reading so many positive reviews and the chatter surrounding the new S Pen and giant 5.3″ screen. And thanks to Google Voice (google.com/voice), if you call my number, both phones will ring and I can choose which one I wish to answer.
This post is for all of my Android fans who refuse to, or are still waiting for the opportunity, to move to the iPhone after hearing me rant over and over about how much more the iPhone is built for business and specifically Realtors. So I am going to share my thoughts about the progress Android has made as well as some of the reasons the iPhone is still the best choice for Realtors.
On Thursday, I traded in my HTC Inspire Android smartphone in on the Samsung Note. While the Inspire was a 
large phone, this Note is enormous in comparison. It also has the “S Pen” that intrigued me in the first place.
Immediately my goal was to see if there was a way to accomplish some of the critical tasks that made the iPhone so attractive to the Realtors. Ex. Signing contracts, easy video editing, creating contracts, taking notes, and of course SIRI (voice interaction).
First of all, I was able to find two signing/signature apps… One is called Significant, and the other is 
SignMyPad. Both of which I’ve used before. Significant I found to to be fairly worthless, despite the interface being great, because once you sign the PDF document and email it out, if the person receiving it is on an iPhone or iPad, then they will not see the signature at all. I believe this is due to their possible requirement of Adobe being used to view or something. Nevertheless, it’s worthless since millions of people use iPads and iPhones. SignMyPad, works very well. This app is also available on the iPhone/iPad, and I found it to be a bit buggy there, but on the Android it appears to work great and solve the problem of signing PDF documents on the fly. You can open PDF files from your email by holding down the file attachment and selecting this app for it to work. Unfortunately though, you must first SAVE the file you signed and then go back and send it, unlike the iPhone and iPad that makes it very seamless to just sign and click email and you’re done.
The great news is that Zipforms Mobile works great! So creating contracts on the fly is very simple now. Two small problems though… 1. Zipforms sees this giant phone/tablet as a phone rather than a tablet so their new signing feature does not work on it. 2. To use SignMyPad to sign contracts, you must first email the completed contract to yourself from Zipforms Mobile and then open it up in SignMyPad. Unlike the iPhone and iPad where you can simply click “View” and then “Open In” SignMyPad/Other signing app, and you’re done in seconds.
Taking notes is incredible with this phone! With the S Pen you just open the notes app and start writing. There
are nice apps on the iPad and iPhone, but you need to buy a Stylus and the sensitivity and accuracy is not comparable. The Samsung Note allows you to press a little harder to darken or lighter to thin the line. It’s simple to sync with Evernote and/or send your note as an image straight over to someone. Drawing on any image or map makes it easy to point things out to people and convey info to someone in seconds by just writing on the image with the S Pen.
FINALLY, it appears that there are some good Video Editing Apps on the Android “PLAY STORE” (Market). I found two that seem decent and somewhat comparable to Apples iMovie (but that is a stretch)… One is AndroMedia and the other is VidTrim. AndroMedia looks the best and easiest so far, but because it’s free, it is fettered with advertisements surrounding your work area. Thank goodness for the giant screen on the Note!
When it comes to Voice Interaction with a smartphone, Siri is hard to compete with, but I am completely impressed with the Voice Talk and Voice Search apps on the Samsung Galaxy Note. So far they work almost flawlessly and while they are not as witty as Siri is, they get the job done!
In closing, I’ll say that I love my new phone… It’s very unique and a lot of fun, and it appears that Android app developers as well as Samsung are working to attract the business users a little more than before. I’m still blown away that I still cannot easily wirelessly mirror my Android phone to a TV like I can with my iPhone/iPad via a $99 Apple TV box! I guess we’re supposed to do our Powerpoint presentations ON the phone or with a VGA or HDMI cable/cord stretched all the way to the phone. If there’s any confusion on the difference in mindset between Apple’s focus, and Androids focus, then just look at the name of their “Stores to buy Apps”… Apple has their “App Store” and Android has their “Play Store”. Something tells me that they are trying to sell more Games than business apps to the Android users. I’m just pointing out the obvious here!
I still say that if you are a Realtor, then you need either an iPad or an iPhone to actually have the ultimate 
mobile office.
Open letter from Rich Cosner, President, Prudential California Realty
Subject: WHAT IS YOUR STRATEGY TO GET 2 SALES THIS WEEKEND?
March 15, 2012
This is not the weekend to be hope to get “a” sale. This is the weekend to be looking to put two or more together. The buyers are there and while the listings are fewer, there are still plenty to sell. You will never get two or more, however, if your thinking is to get one or “hope” to get one.
You need to decide. Only by deciding to get 2 or more will you do it. Real estate transactions do not happen by accident. They happen because a real estate professional decided they would happen. You meet the needs of your buyers or of your sellers. But you need to decide. You cannot sit back and wait for the waves in the ocean to transport you to a tropical paradise. You need to steer to that paradise.
Most of you are dealing with too many buyers. If you have 10 buyers, I suggest all you have is 10 people interested in real estate. A buyer is:
1. Someone who will meet with you to share their goals and objectives.
2. Someone who will get pre-approved with the lender you want them pre-approved with.
3. Someone who understands that they will likely have to pay over the listed price and be willing to do so.
4. Understands that whatever house is the best house for them will be seen by others as the best house for them as well. Thus, prepared for multiple offers.
5. They need to agree up front to take every step to win in a multiple offer situation:
A. Pay more than full price
B. Put their entire down payment in escrow on acceptance of the offer. (be sure to have signed liquidated damages)
C. Offer to close quick, even if they cannot move quick. Close now and work out a rent back.
D. Have the pre-approval letter to go with the offer.
E. Write a letter to the seller on why it would mean a lot to them and their children if the seller accepted THEIR offer.
F. Be available to communicate quickly when you need to with them during the negotiating process.
G. Understand that getting a good deal was two years ago. Today, a good deal means just getting the deal.
You are better off working with one buyer that meets this criteria than 10 who do not. This will make you very willing to do all the work needed to find a great property for this truly motivated buyer.
If you are fortunate to have five of these buyers, for example, pick the one who will buy the quickest and give them 50% of your time. When they buy, someone else gets the 50% of your time etc. If you give five buyers 20% of your time, you will get zero sales usually.
If you have none of these buyers you need to hold two open house this weekend. No excuses. Decide. Two deals this weekend!
Thanks for listening.
Rich
Richard D. Cosner
President
Prudential California Realty
22800 Savi Ranch Parkway, Suite 100
Yorba Linda, CA 92887
Email: richcosner@mailpcr.com
www.PrudentialCaliforniaRealty.com
