How to Select the Best Real Estate Brokerage Tools

Paperless Pipeline’s expert-approved guide will help you choose the best marketing materials to put you ahead of your real estate industry competition.

Most of us are familiar with, or already own, multi-tools that open up into a pair of pliers with a small knife, bottle opener, and a handful of other features.

As handy as it may have seemed at first, it’s not often the tool we immediately grab when we need a knife, a screwdriver, or a saw. Instead, it usually remains stashed away in a drawer—unused. 

Why? Because most often, it’s simply not the best tool for the job at hand. 

The same is often true for real estate tools and solutions that bundle products and duplicate the ones you already have in place. 

Bundling many different products into one only forces many real estate agents and admins to work with tools that they neither need nor want.

For some real estate brokerages an all-in-one tool may be the right choice, but for others, purpose-built systems are the better option. 

Some of these niche products are meant to help an agent navigate the real estate marketing and social media marketing landscapes more effectively.

It should also streamline lead management and client relationships to help you save time.

These marketing and lead generation tools, however, can be overwhelming for a real estate agent who isn’t familiar with them.

Whatever the case, choosing the best tools will help your agents find an easy way to do more with their time and improve customer relationship management (CRM).

This guide will help you identify and select the best real estate transaction management software for your real estate company.

Pro Tip: Consider the legality of requiring independent contractors to use your system.  For many brokerages with agents classified as independent contractors, there may be legal implications to consider when providing those contractors with access to real estate agent tools to perform core duties. The National Association of Realtors may also be able to help guide you through the legal aspects.  Also, make sure that new real estate agent tools will allow contractors to integrate their choice of tools into your new system.

1. How Often Are Your Current Real Estate Tools Used?

Consider how consistently and effectively your agents and admins use existing real estate tools.

If they currently don’t use any online software systems, assess how simple or difficult the transition will be.

For many, the greater the change, the greater the frustration. Allow them time to adjust.

If your real estate agents—for example, already use a multitude of different marketing tools, you will need to consider the impact that switching to an all-in-one real estate tool will have. 

Any new tool will require some setup time.

The more features the system has, the more time is needed to set it up, oversee its use, and deal with questions and concerns.

Pro Tip: Even if it’s a free tool, consider whether a complete change to everything your real estate agents and admins does, will be worth the headache and frustration. Alternatively, if access to a product requires an expensive annual contract (or charges a per-user fee) and users don’t need all the features, does the actual return on investment make financial sense?

2. What Happens if One Part of the Process Needs to Change or Adapt? 

Real estate transactions are always changing. The forms required for real estate transfers change. The requirements for managing brokers change.

Association benefits and product offerings change. Against this background, make sure you understand how adaptable you need your new tool to be. 

Purpose-built systems can work alongside your existing tools and adapt quickly, while not needing the other products to change.

This ensures that all your tools will never hinder or delay your core business: closing real estate transactions. 

Pro Tip: Evaluate the long-term impact that a new tool will have and make sure that it can continue supporting your company—even if you cancel the contract of service. Can you take your data with you? Can you cancel anytime or will you be forced into following a cumbersome process for years, with autorenewal of annual contracts and a high cost?

3. How Simple Is It for Admins and Real Estate Agents to Learn to Use Real Estate Brokerage Tools?

Whether your company is entirely paper-based or uses a mix of online tools and paper processes, training is one of the most critical factors to consider. 

For offices that use paper from start to finish, a complete upheaval will change everything about the way the agents and admins manage deals. 

If a change is desired, make sure you’re able to first test the system with a handful of real estate agents and admins so you can verify what’s going to be required and how training will be done. 

For offices that use web-based solutions, any new real estate agent tools should work seamlessly alongside them. This ensures that deals can continue and nothing will fall through the cracks. 

It’s also essential to consider the ease of use. While an all-in-one solution may sound like an easy option, it often requires a far longer training period and more time to maintain.

Test any tool to ensure that the process will be quick and easy

For many agents and admins time is critical, and reliance on efficiency is crucial. 

Consider whether your brokerage needs all of the features offered in one place, or if it makes sense to separate workflows for agents and admins to ensure that processes run optimally. 

Often when an all-in-one tool is purchased without a trial run, agents will just continue using the tools they rely on currently—because it’s the right tool for the job.

Pro Tip: What’s the best way to evaluate and guarantee that a tool is easy to use? Try out every tool before implementing it and ask agents and admins to run a real transaction through the system in real-time. Keep in mind that many software solution companies refuse to provide you with an opportunity to test their product out for free and this denies you the chance to evaluate whether it will be the right fit for your business in the long term. This is often a warning sign of a poor-quality tool.

4. What Happens If I Need to Change Something in the Future?

If you’re working to grow your company, things are going to change. You may outgrow some tools, while other tools become more important than ever before.

Protect your data and your business by considering the many possible changes down the road.

For example:

What if your company grows? Does the new tool allow you to scale up on demand and does it grow with you? Many real estate tools require long-term annual contracts that auto-renew. Make sure the plan fits your needs now and in the future. 

What if the process changes? Consider whether any new tool fits your current workflow and whether it can be customized easily to meet your needs in the future. As your business grows, all-in-one real estate tools can limit or prevent you from personalizing the process for continued consistency and efficiency. 

What if you want to cancel? Make sure you verify how the tool will protect your data as a customer and how the provider will handle your data in the event that you cancel. Performing due diligence on the cancellation policies of any new tool you consider should be a top priority.

Not sure where to begin? Check out better real estate transaction management software here.

At Paperless Pipeline, you’ll find tips for selecting real estate software, common risks to be aware of, and ways to avoid pushy salespeople.

Top 10 Real Estate Business Tools

Here are our ten tools that we would recommend to anyone starting a real estate business. These are for a range of different functions.

1. Google Workspace: Best office suite software

An office suite is a basic software package that you’ll need to perform everyday office functions.

It typically includes word processing, spreadsheets, email, presentation software, and cloud storage.

Most of these tools are essential to your brokerage’s daily operations, so it’s critical to have them from day one.

We recommend using Google Workspace. The free version gives you full access to basic tools and is perfectly suitable for new businesses that need to minimize costs.

It also enables real-time collaboration on documents, which is ideal for those starting a virtual brokerage and looking to generate quality leads. 

The paid version offers better security, more storage and management features, and is worth upgrading to once you begin to take on admin staff.

2. Xero: Best accounting software

Accounting software is crucial for real estate brokerages to keep their accounts in order. You should therefore invest in a good accounting package as soon as you can.

Xero’s flexibility means it’s a great tool for growing brokerages. It can also integrate with over 700 other software tools. It offers accounting tools, commission and payment management, and contract management. 

Xero is also cloud-based, which means that it is perfect for those planning a remote brokerage.

Its real estate module includes functionalities that are critical to real estate businesses, including: 

• ACH transfers: Quickly send money on the go from within the app.
• Direct deposits: Set up recurring payments.  
• Cut checks: Your accounting software should let you create and print checks. 
• 1099 forms: Generate forms to file with the IRS when you pay agents or other contractors. 

3. Zapier: Best integration tool

Integration platforms help you connect your tools by performing pre-programmed automation processes. This allows you to make your admin processes far more efficient. 

Zapier allows you to connect with the most common platforms. Paperless Pipeline is on there—you can integrate our software with more than 5,000 apps.

Zapier works by pairing triggers with automations—these are known as “Zaps”.

Here’s an example: if a transaction‘s status changes, then Xero will automatically add new line items—for example, to an existing sales invoice. 

This would save you a lot of time and avoid new line items being missed from the final invoice.

Zapier provides a limited free version which includes five Zaps and up to 100 tasks per month. 

For unlimited access to their management tools you’ll need to upgrade to a premium package, which starts at $19.99 per month.

4. Squarespace: Best website builder

Every brokerage needs a real estate website. It’s a vital lead generation tool and shows that you are a serious business.

We advise that even new brokerages get their own website set up as soon as they have made their first sale. 

There are a lot of website builders that are built specifically for real estate agents.

Most of these focus on providing a listings template. However, this isn’t as important—since people are more likely to look for listings on sites like Zillow. 

Your website should introduce your team and show off their expertise. It should tell buyers and sellers why they should work with you.

That’s why we recommend Squarespace. 

There are no real estate-specific tools. It simply offers a wide range of templates and has an intuitive interface.

This means that it is also affordable and ideal for new brokerages—the basic package is just $16 per month.

5. Mailchimp: Best email marketing tool

Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels. But it also requires a lot of effort.

You need to build a list, store the information in line with data protection laws, segment your subscribers, write and design great emails, and then monitor each campaign’s performance.

It’s therefore good to get an email marketing tool to streamline the whole process.

We recommend Mailchimp. A key feature is email design templates. By creating templates, you can quickly send great-looking emails without having to prepare a new one every week. 

The company has a generous free plan for small businesses and plenty of paid ones you can choose from as you grow. 

6. Matterport: Best 3D tour software

Virtual tour software allows you to create 3D models of properties you are selling.

This gives potential buyer leads a much more in-depth view of the homes—without them having to view the property directly.

Matterport is an excellent example of this type of software. You can use a specialist camera for the high quality shots, or simply download the iPhone app to create them with your existing equipment. 

The equipment plus the subscription fee can be quite expensive, so it’s worth waiting until you’re making regular sales before investing.

7. Follow Up Boss: Best CRM

CRMs are key for automating and tracking your marketing pipelines and sales.

They are critical to ensure that you maintain a good database of prospects and don’t lose track of vital leads or contact details.

You should get a CRM once you have completed your first few deals and have a mailing list. 

Follow Up Boss is a popular real estate CRM platform with features designed specifically for brokerages and agents. 

As the name suggests, its core function is to encourage agents to follow up on and capture leads. But it also has a range of other marketing and admin tools to help drive your sales.

8. HelloSign: Best for e-signatures

Electronic signature (eSign) services are critical for virtual brokerages. But they can also be useful for traditional brokerages. 

They mean that agents spend less on fuel as they don’t need to meet buyers and sellers to collect signatures, and they need to do less paperwork to get deals over the line. 

They also let you create prompts that show the signer precisely where they need to put their signature—this can eliminate any confusion and avoid cumbersome corrections to important documents.

We prefer HelloSign, but most dedicated eSign systems are good and they all offer similar functions.

9. HelloFax: Best fax tool

We’re often asked: “what if I want to fax my documents into Pipeline?”

We always recommend HelloFax. It allows you to send and receive faxes, request signatures, and fill out forms. 

You can get a free account that lets you fax five pages and request five document signatures. If you like it and need more, you can upgrade to one of their paid plans which starts at a low monthly fee of $4.99. 

The most basic plan gives you a local fax number, lets you fax 50 pages, and allows you to request 10 signatures monthly.

We like HelloFax because it’s an extremely useful app that manages to keep things simple.

10. Paperless Pipeline: Best for transaction management, compliance, and commission management.

Of course, when it comes to transaction management, compliance, and commission management tools, we’re pretty biased. 

We’re the best. Why? Because we don’t bloat our software with extra features you don’t need. We don’t lock you into contracts. We just provide simple tools that are designed to do one thing very well.

Want to find out more? Then why not book a demo and discover how Paperless Pipeline can help simplify your transaction management processes.