Philadelphia Weekly

REAL ESTATE

Realtor texting tool a win-win

Buyers get immediate listing data, agents get leads

By Inman News Feed

Add Comment | Comments: 0 | Posted Jan. 14, 2011

Agents have the ability to write their own responses and manage the platform per time of day, so it can be a very personal response coming across the potential client's cell phone.

As for consumers and property buyers, they gain access to information, which they can share with others or referenced later, all without skipping a beat.

Lakusta was truly one of the driving forces behind the development on this new technology, and part of her job in all of this was getting others to see her vision.

"Most thought it was intriguing, but once we proved it was cost-effective and agent-friendly, everyone bought in," she said. "The agents realized this is how they communicate with current clients. When they really need to get through immediately, they text."

Today, the other Realtors are "thrilled," she said. "What we are doing is an unlimited number of listings per agent so they can offer it for every single client. This is agent-friendly -- they know they don't have to build anything; it's there for them."

So, in the end, a big shout-out to Lakusta and the North Dallas Keller Williams group for advancing a useful technology.

"Right now, we are at the tipping point as to how texting will be critical in the real estate business," Kane said. "We believe this innovative program has the ability to change the real estate industry."

Steve Bergsman is a freelance writer in Arizona and author of several books. His latest book, "After the Fall: Opportunities and Strategies for Real Estate Investing in the Coming Decade," has been ranked as a top-selling real estate investment book for the Amazon Kindle e-reader.