Facing Low Inventory as a Real Estate Agent? Pros Identify an App to Help

Debbie Maisterrena doesn’t mind admitting she is a child of the ’80s when it comes to technology.

She’s more comfortable with a rolodex than a new app. She prefers hopping on the phone or seeing someone in person rather than texting.

“I like simple,” Maisterrena says.

Maisterrena joined RE/MAX Compass in Brentwood, California, in November 2019, after a brief stint at Century21 and nearly five years at Keller Williams.

She says she left KW because she had maxed out there. She wanted to grow, wanted the power of the RE/MAX brand, and was curious about all the tools and technology she had heard about.

After spending the last couple months of 2019 getting acquainted, Maisterrena was poking around in early 2020 and found the game-changer she was looking for: the First® app, a tool exclusive to RE/MAX affiliates.

“I’m not afraid to admit that I’m technology-challenged,” she says. “But I said, ‘This looks cool, I’m going to try it out.’ It’s so easy to use. It’s so self-explanatory. I mean anybody can do it.”

Despite a pandemic and a change of brands, Maisterrena had her best year ever in 2020. She credits First with contributing to her standout year.

“It’s simple to use,” she says. “It really is.”

First for connecting

First, which RE/MAX acquired in December 2019, uses predictive analytics and its Seller Star rating system to empower RE/MAX agents to identify potential sellers, even in a low-inventory market. It also makes reaching out easy, with reminders to review contacts, send a quick text message or schedule a follow-up call.

The result is a better experience for consumers, who end up working with someone they already trust, and a better outcome for agents, who may be able to avoid the pain of seeing homeowners they know list with a competitor – often one not as familiar with who they are and what they’re all about.

When a contact is highlighted as likely to sell, a RE/MAX agent can choose to set a reminder to reach out. In five minutes a day, agents can identify potential sellers within their sphere.

“It can’t get any simpler than what they created with First,” says Jody Black, Broker/Owner of RE/MAX Legacy in Oxford, Mississippi. “I think the First app is probably the biggest tool that one of our agents can put in their toolbox in 2021.”

RE/MAX agents who use First are, on average, 50% more productive than agents who don’t.*

The First app has helped agents across the country open up inventory ­­- agents like Brandy Liss from RE/MAX 1st Class in Galveston County, Texas. Liss appeared on Good Morning RE/MAX with RE/MAX Chief Customer Officer Nick Bailey and credited some of her listing success to the First app.

“Your telephone is a hidden source of wealth,” Liss told Bailey. “There is a whole lot of data in there. First introduced me to go back and revisit all of those contacts I connected with to get their phone number.”

If anything, Black says the app has helped him and his agents spend less time hunting for business and more time building it. Its ease of use and ability to reduce missed deals in an agent’s network has been huge.

It’s helped him connect with sellers he never expected.

“Really, I’ve found tons of ways you can use the app in your business,” he says.

Uncovered potential

Like Maisterrena, Rhonda Surovec admits technology isn’t her forte. But after attending the 2020 RE/MAX R4® convention where First was introduced, she knew the potential of the tool.

“My entire business has been based on referrals,” Surovec says. “I’ve never really tried to add to my business. I’ve never paid for a lead.”

As soon as she downloaded First, though, she got a 3-star rating – indicating that person may be looking to sell their home soon – from someone she knew. The two caught up and Surovec listed her house.

First’s power wasn’t done. Surovec was made aware of another 3-star rating and, after following up on that lead, she won the listing from her former nurse, who she met in 1998.

With one app, Surovec says she has increased her business.

“I’d say that’s pretty good,” she says.

She is not alone. In fact, RE/MAX agents who used First in 2020 had a 9% increase in productivity on average.**

Black says the first thing he tells his agents is to download First, use it and see what it can add to their business.

“Look, we can talk about how great First is all day long,” Black says. “Any agent that takes 15 minutes to sit down and see firsthand the operation of it will be hooked right off the bat.”

* Comparison of transaction sides for RE/MAX agents using the First app to transaction sides for RE/MAX agents who are non-users with similar individual/team relationship composition, within the same RE/MAX office, March-December 2020. Some agents who use the First app may have had higher than average baseline productivity prior to use of the First app than non-users of the app.

** 2019-2020 comparison of residential transaction sides for RE/MAX agents who began using First prior to April 2020.

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