Inman Real Estate Connect summary

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I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the 2014 inman real estate connect conference in San Francisco, CA this past week. While I was there I had the opportunity to hear from top speakers and industry leaders from the nation. There were a lot of interesting and new apps, and way to many references to Uber, a car service app. All of the apps, products, and services featured were designed to save time, and make a more user friendly experience. However none of these products could exist if we didn’t have a relationship with our clients, nothing will ever be a substitute for providing genuine customer service.

It was a lot of fun meeting agents and industry leaders from other parts of the country and discussing the differences in our market places. I was able to sharpen my video & aerial skills, and pick up a few tips that should help us serve our clients better. The key to everything is implementation, you could have the best technology, and great ideas but if you don’t apply them to everyday business then they’re worthless.

One new piece of technology that really intrigues me is called Matterport, its the equivalent of HD Google Street View for interior of house. The applications for new construction, luxury, and relocation markets could revolutionize how we view real estate online. Imagine being able to walk through a house from couch and view every angle.. now imagine being able to change the wall color, make selections, and even put in furniture all in virtual world. Out of town buyers could walk through home from anywhere in the world, and you could share with your friends. Pictures, slideshows, and even video tours don’t allow you to get the sense of space quite like you would with matterport. Right now the technology is rather expensive, but they’re working on a mobile version which would be built right into new phones!

Another idea I liked is called The TrackR, its a GPS based device that you could put on anything including your keys and be able to find them with your phone in real time. I put in order in for a couple of these so I’ll be testing them out soon and will let you know what I think.

There were many other cutting edge technology discussed during the conference that will make life easier for consumers, but there were two things that I’d like to start implementing into our business right away.

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San Francisco aka “The City” as Josh with SmartZip would say is a unique place, we had the chance to experience the VIP lifestyle thanks to event sponsors.  Special thank you to Inman News, Liberty Title, Zillow, Trulia, SmartZip, and other companies I’m sure I’m forgetting that were so accommodating, the hosted events were a lot of fun and great way to wind down after long day of seminars! On Thursday afternoon  Nick and I went and saw all of the tourist attractions, we even saw a whale underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. It was fun to see how people in “the city” live, though I don’t see myself moving away from MN anytime soon.IMG_2237

in summary, I had a great time, was able to check out cutting edge technology, sharpen my skills, and connect with other like minded real estate professionals from around the world. In the coming weeks/months I’m planning on implementing everything I’ve learned to provide a greater level of customer service for our clients.