It’s no secret that as a real estate agent, the experience you provide your clients is one of your biggest selling points. A skilled agent who manages to make the home buying or selling process seamless and stress-free is the agent who will win the repeat business and referral. However, when your days are filled with juggling a million things at once, this is no easy task.

Most of your day-to-day activities and communications are conducted through your email, so it is absolutely crucial to keep your inbox organized, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. There are many programs, extensions, and plug-ins that tout the ability to boost productivity and keep your inbox clean, but how many out there are designed specifically with real estate agents in mind? The answer, not many. That’s why Folio really caught our attention.

Folio completely changes the experience your clients have throughout a real estate transaction and simultaneously helps reduce the email chaos that we all experience in real estate. So, in our quest to make life easier for Realtors, we thought we would share.

Connects with Your Gmail Seamlessly

If you are an avid Gmail user, then have no fear. You don’t have to leave your beloved email platform behind to utilize the incredible features Folio has to offer. The app can be downloaded as a plug-in for Gmail, tying it directly into the existing interface. Folio also offers the option to integrate with Outlook.

Sort Emails and Documents with Ease

So how does Folio differ from the regular label and filter functionality in Gmail? The app’s technology allows it to automatically create Smart Folders for each transaction, based on the address and/or client name referenced in the email exchange. Early on, when it detects a new address or client, it will ask for your approval to create a folder. Moving forward, Folio’s self-teaching algorithm will learn and evolve based on what you approve. Folio also watches for any patterns in the manual moves and updates you make in the existing folders. Users can also manually create a Smart Folder if they wish.

The program crawls and analyzes each email for certain keywords and phrases that indicate it is referring to a certain transaction. Real estate agents can use this technology to keep all emails and documents from their clients, title representative, lender, inspector, and others who are working with them on that transaction in a single folder. That way, if you are looking for that lender agreement for the home on 3456 1st Ave, you don’t need to waste time searching through every email in your inbox. And the staging quotes you got from five different companies? All of them live in the same place as well.

Every attachment sent in reference to a transaction has its home as well. Folio’s technology will extract documents related to each transaction and place them in a ‘Files’ tab in the respective Smart Folder.

Change the Transaction Stage

You may be wondering how Folio can assist with communications with a potential client when there is not an address associated yet. Within the app, you can set a folder to pre-contract, allowing all emails from a specific email address to be pulled into that Smart Folder. When that lead becomes a buyer or seller under contract, the agent can simply update the status (as shown below) and tie the address to the folder as well. Then the algorithm will begin to pull any communications associated with both the client and home in question.

Live By Your Notes

As an agent, the experience you provide is of the utmost importance. That is your reputation on the line. Use Folio’s notes feature within the Smart Folders to keep on top of your game for each transaction. Take notes during every conversation with your client and other partners, then pull them up side by side with the next email you write or while you’re on the phone with them.

Create and Share the Transaction Timeline

One of the biggest responsibilities you have as a real estate agent is managing the timeline of the transaction and giving your clients peace of mind that everything is on track. Once the Smart Folder has been converted to under the contract, you can start laying out your listing and closing timeline for the property directly inside of Gmail. Add key dates, such as the staging appointment, photoshoot, listing, open houses, showings, inspections, loan deadlines, and closing. This not only creates the timeline flow, but it will place a calendar invite on your Google Calendar as well.

In addition to adding a timeline within Gmail’s interface, Folio automatically creates a unique landing page for each transaction. Once you pop that open using the ‘View Timeline’ button, you can add additional dates and reminders. Then share the timeline landing page with your clients, title representative, lender, etc. They can access the timeline site from any device and it does not require them to have a Folio account. This allows for full transparency with others involved with the transaction, decreasing the number of “What’s the status of this?” texts, calls, and emails you receive.

Set Real-Time Reminders and Events

When setting up a transaction milestone, you have the option to set a reminder. Anyone who has access to the transaction’s timeline landing page and who opts in will receive emails or text messages for alerts you have set on timeline milestones. Additionally, they receive an email if an update to the timeline has been made.

Folio also offers the agent the option to be alerted if you receive an email that references a financial transaction. The app will crawl each email for words like money transfer, deposit, wire, and more, which will trigger the notification, allowing the real estate agent to address it immediately.

Keep Resources in One Place

Your timeline landing page can be your clients’ one-stop-shop for all the information they need regarding your transaction. In addition to key dates, you can add names and contact information for other partners involved in the transaction to the page, such as your inspector, lender, title representative, and more.

Plus, you can provide even more value to your clients by sharing your recommended service providers and companies for all things related to their home right on the page. This can be your trusted home security guy, your top moving company, or your favorite home insurance representative.

You can also create a template with your preferred service providers and resources that will transfer to each new transaction landing page that is created through your account. Then you can manually adjust if need be.