Top 10 Articles from March

Spring selling season is underway--a fact underscored by our list of last month's most popular articles. In April, articles on open houses, prospecting, and apps for getting ready for real estate's busiest time of year were all the rage.

Here's a look at what else captured the attention of agents and brokers.

1. Why Reusing Listing Photos Could Mean Legal Trouble
That house you sold in 2012 has just come back on the market. You know you still have a picture somewhere--there it is--and the home still looks pretty much the same. You upload the photo and relist the property. No problem, right? Well, actually, you could be stepping into some dangerous legal territory.

2. 6 Real Estate Prospecting Ideas
Does the very thought of real estate prospecting make you shudder? If so, you aren't alone. For many agents, prospecting is a necessary evil, one that is all too easy to postpone and drop to the bottom of your to do list. Yet real estate prospecting is one of the best ways to generate more real estate leads. It can be time consuming, but it's an exciting endeavor! We've compiled some of the best real estate prospecting ideas to help you save time and prospect like a pro.

3. 3 Tips for Standing Out at Your Next Open House
When it comes to holding an open house, many REALTORS® prepare by ensuring the home is staged effectively. Many will bake chocolate chip cookies in the oven or even light a candle for that 'homey' scent. While all of this does help welcome prospective buyers into the home, there are other ways you can stand out and ensure that these buyers remember you, just as much as they remember the home itself. Here are a few ways RPR can help you do that.

4. Top 15 Apps and Tools for Your Business this Spring
Spring selling season is almost upon us! Get ready for real estate's busy months with apps that support your sales efforts. From mobile apps that let you scan documents from your phone to apps that help you avoid routes with bad traffic, these 15 recommendations assist in staying organized on the go.

5. How One Realtor® Leverages RPR for Lead Generation
Did you know that you can use RPR as a valuable lead generation tool? We didn't either until a recent chat with Dale Chumbley, a second generation Realtor® based in Vancouver, Washington. Find out his advice for leveraging RPR's new mobile app in your marketing efforts.

6. How to Use Google Alerts to Monitor Your Listings Online
Real estate agents invest in a lot of tools that promise to catapult their listings to the top of search results. But how close do your single property websites, virtual tours, IDX listing detail pages, etc. actually get to the top? One way to find out is to set up Google Alerts for each of your active listings. Here's how.

7. 3 Fun Instagram Apps for Real Estate
Instagram apps are standalone apps that help you interact with Instagram in new and exciting ways. They can help you take more attractive pictures, add text to your images before posting and even make videos out of your photos! There are hundreds of Instagram apps out there (with more popping up every day), and many of them are free to download. Here are three of the best.

8. How to Set up IFTTT for Lead Generation
Have you checked out If This Then That (IFTTT) to use as real estate technology? You can create automatic actions to be performed over pretty much anything you could want or think of--like getting an email every time someone is moving to your city, or getting alerts sent straight to your phone when a certain type of home pops up for sale in your area. This is lead generation FOR FREE. Here's how to get started.

9. A New REALTOR® Shares 3 Ways RPR Helps Her Business Grow
If you've attended a real estate conference in the last ten years, you probably know of Nicole Nicolay or "NikNik." She spent over a decade speaking to agents about how to leverage technology at events like Inman Connect, NAR Annual, Agent Reboot, and more. But you may not have realized that she recently became a licensed REALTOR®. In this exclusive interview, Nicole dips into her tech training background to share how one tool, RPR, has helped her launch her new career.

10. Friday Freebie: Rookie Agents Get 6 Months to Try this CRM
New agents have a lot of expenses--and often months to go before they see their first commission check. But long before that first check, agents have to start earning another form of capital--social capital. In this week's Friday Freebie, we look at a special offer just for new agents (an exclusive one for veterans, too).