Open Source Real Estate

by Brad Nix on 13. Aug, 2008 in Tech Talk

Let me start this post with a very important message… the following tools and resources are not necessarily better than what you are already using. There is no substitute for comfortably when using technology tools. If your current set of tools works for you, then don’t bother trying these suggestions. But if you are looking at upgrading software, trying a new resource, or just want to save money and changing is easy, then this post is for you.

All of these resources are FREE (there may be premium upgrade options). One of the best ways to make more money is to spend less! The following are not websites for social networking or blogging. These are tools you use everyday (or should), but offer more functionality at zero cost to stay updated with the latest software release.

1. Google Apps: A suite of applications from Google that includes Mail, Docs, Calendar, Sites, and Talk.
The perfect solution for a single agent, a team of agents, or a brokerage office. Give you the power of Google to run your business for free. Replaces: MS Word, Excel, Power Point, and Outlook’s Calendar

2. Firefox: A Web browser that is far more customizable than Internet Explorer, faster and free. Replaces: Internet Explorer

3. Thunderbird: A desktop email client, in case you want more than Google’s gmail version above. Allows you to add plugins such as Lightning to check your Google Calendar. Replaces: MS Outlook

4. Paint.Net: A free image and photo editing software for computers that run Windows. A free solution to editing listing photos and marketing flyers. Replaces: Adobe Photoshop

5. Mint: Eliminate the need to manage multiple Web sites to get a comprehensive view of your personal finances. Track your marketing expenses, grocery bill and commission income all in one place. Replaces: Quicken

There are countless other resources available for free, but these five are critical to the weekly functions of a Realtor/Team/Broker. What other open source resources do you consider vital to your real estate operations?

Related posts:

  1. The Future of Real Estate Marketing… is hard to predict
  2. Google Apps, Zoho and the future of real estate online
  3. Real Estate Technology – A Top 10 List

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  • And the King Kong of open source software for Windows, OpenOffice.org. This software is backed by a large consortium who's two largest companies are IBM and Sun Microsystems. It is a completely usable MS Office replacement, and can save hundreds of dollars per user. Version 3 due out soon will natively support the new Office default format introduced in Office 2007 (.docx is an example). It also offers a one-click (okay, two click) save as a .pdf file. (okay, two click: one to create the pdf and one to save it in the current directory).

    I've used it since its inception as well as its precursor. Sadly, many people feel it is an inferior product because it is free. That's an unfortunate and incorrect mindset, and leads to spending a lot of money where none needs to be spent.

    Check it out at http://www.openoffice.org/

    By the way, THANK YOU for introducing and sharing these great resources.... the Real Estate community often is at the tail end of technology, mostly because most agents and brokers are people people and are typically the antithesis of computer people. Unmistakably, this blog entry helps bridge that gap and gives others permission to try out Open Source Software.

    Cheers,
    Robert~
  • Brad- I like PrimoPDF - www.primopdf.com - it is free software that lets you print anything directly to a PDF file. Looks just like an additional printer in your print process. I use it for all my doc work, like 15 times a day. replaces: Adobe Acrobat.
  • Great call on PrimoPDF. I use it on a couple of my PC's and should have included it on my list.
  • Hey, you forgot to mention the 500 pound gorilla of open source software: WordPress. Replaces: Gutenberg's Press
  • WordPress is a beast unto itself and is my personal favorite OpenSource software. I left it out because it would raise so many questions on how. Now I can just refer those to you for answers;)
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