To be successful in an industry that never stops moving, real estate professionals must be pros at time management. Whether connecting with past clients, scheduling and conducting listing presentations, or following up with new leads, an agent’s to-do list is never-ending. However, with the right tools and tech, real estate agents can maximize their own efficiency to keep their work weeks (and work loads) running as smoothly as possible.
Realtors Property Resource® (RPR®) is one of those tools that real estate professionals can use to save time and improve their value to their clients. The largest comprehensive database of parcel-centric property information available, RPR hosts hundreds of datasets on over 160 million properties—and it’s all available at your fingertips and included in NAR member dues.
Paul Martis, commercial REALTOR® for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Oak Brook, Ill., first heard about RPR® at the end of 2012. Intrigued at the platform’s possibilities, he scheduled to receive an overview of what RPR was all about. Impressed with what he saw, Martis began using RPR in January 2014, once MRED, his MLS, completed their agreement and went live.
“It provides me with an extra added value,” says Martis. “With RPR®, I’ll put in the zip code for a property that I’m looking to list for sale, land or retail. I’ll run a commercial trade report based on the zip code where that property is located. The trade report shows the demographics at a level beyond what I would normally give to other sites. I run all my listings on the MLS and run a report to get those enhanced demos, but it also shows the potential for a retail user who may be moving into the area. I use it for all my listings—whether it’s a sale or a lease.”
In fact, Martis even uses RPR’s robust reports when he reaches out to economic development departments in his area, attaching the commercial trade report to provide a visual representation of what a specific area can support. The friendly visual format of RPR’s reports have received great feedback from those he shares them with.
“The RPR reports give listings a little more of a wow factor,” says Martis. “I also get involved in doing commercial property reports, which are the best business reports that I might run on a particular property, which show what retail business might be good for a particular area. In this case, I’m not looking at the zip code, I’m looking at a search via radius or polygon, and being more specific to an area than just its zip code.”
When asked whether or not RPR gives him an advantage over his competitors, Martis responds strongly and decisively: “I know it does.”
He continues: “I’ve used it a number of times for completing deals that showed that I had some tools that a lot of other individuals didn’t have. I always suggest to my associates who are commercial REALTORS® to never overlook RPR. I do commercial mentoring and I always incorporate RPR to make sure they take advantage of some of the same tools I use.
“Being able to search and get info on consumer spending, best business reports and enhanced demographics—I call that the RPR trifecta. It’s a standalone product that doesn’t compete with any of the other sources that I use. It allows me to go and continue to bring value to my listings, to my clients, and to other commercial practitioners.”
For more information, visit www.narrpr.com.
