The Future of Real Estate: How Time Management Apps and Technologies Are Shaping the Industry

Time management technologies are changing the way real estate businesses operate. They use time trackers, appointment-setting tools, and scheduled messaging apps to automate tedious tasks, allowing their teams to focus on cognitively demanding roles.

There are dozens of time management apps on the market. And while having numerous options is exciting, you might feel overwhelmed if you have little experience with them. Most newbies struggle to find a good starting point and can end up wasting resources on popular yet generic systems that yield negligible benefits.

To help you find the tools, we’ll explain what these platforms do, how to maximize them, and what features you need.

What Are Time Management Apps?

Time management technologies cover various tools that manage team resources, online bookings, work schedules, appointments, and customer engagement. They eliminate roadblocks and streamline workflows by automating specific tasks. Take online calendars as an example. Instead of sending meeting confirmation emails back and forth with clients, you could have them set their preferred dates themselves.

To help you understand these apps better, let’s explore their basic features:

• Human Resource Management: Employee monitoring tools will give you accurate team productivity insights. You can use them to log work hours, spot workflow roadblocks, and assist non-performing workers.
• Project Tracking: Invest in a time-tracking project management app instead of having employees toggle between work tools. Assigning and tracking tasks under just one platform hastens workflows.
• Data Analysis: Invest in time-saving data collection tools that streamline data interpretation and analysis. Feed your business formulas into them, run multiple test rounds for accuracy, then customize the variables moving forward for automated calculations.
• Customer Relationship Management: Time-saving apps support customer engagement by sending reminders, confirming appointments, and scheduling meetings. Save your energy for complex tasks that require problem-solving skills.
• Cross-Platform Monitoring: Track the records of all your business locations and digital platforms under one versatile, convenient platform that provides real-time insights. Otherwise, you’ll waste time toggling between different tools.

How Can Real Estate Businesses Use Time Trackers

Assess the most efficient ways to integrate time management technologies into your daily workflow. Focus on their specific applications in real estate. You’ll waste your resources if you carelessly copy the way other industries use time trackers, monitoring tools, and appointment scheduling apps.

1. Scheduling Property Showcases

Real estate professionals can help clients book meetings faster and easier through appointment scheduling apps. Going back and forth with emails to find common availability wastes too much time. Just send your qualified prospects an online calendar that automatically shows your available dates. Let them choose whatever slot they find convenient.

Ryan Zomorodi, Co-Founder and COO of RealEstateSkills.com, advises real estate businesses to offer virtual tours so that they can accommodate more prospects. He says, “Your online calendar will look uninviting if it has very few open slots and limits clients to in-person property viewings. You’ll turn away interested yet busy prospects.”

2. Updating Dynamic Prices

Use real-time data tools for accurate demand analysis. Aim to implement lucrative yet fair dynamic pricing models by staying updated on local market trends. Maximize your profits in bull markets and secure your assets during recessions. You’ll miss out on several opportunities if you follow the same static pricing model across different seasons.

Tom Nolan, Founder of All Star Home, says this approach best suits landlords managing short-term rental properties. He says, “Landlords should adjust the rates on their short-term rental properties periodically. Capitalize on peak months and holidays to maximize revenue, then offer competitive pricing during off-peak seasons. The goal is to compensate for your losses during the weaker months.”

3. Sending Automated Client Reminders

Dumping too many menial yet essential tasks (e.g., mass-sending promotions and confirming schedules) on your real estate agents will tank their productivity ratings. You can’t expect them to keep up with dozens of clients manually. They’ll have little time and energy left for complex projects if their workdays are loaded with routine, time-consuming tasks.

To help your employees function more efficiently, automate the reminders, notifications, and promotions you send en masse. You can use message schedulers instead. It’s a simple yet effective approach to streamline communication systems without neglecting your clients’ needs.

4. Drafting Periodic Market Analysis Reports

While it’s essential for real estate businesses to stay updated on local market conditions, daily research and monitoring require too much time. Just going through relevant news is already a full-time job. Most real estate businesses have several workers tracking price fluctuations, competitor listings, downtrends, and local sales.

To save resources, automate market analysis and data collection instead. Look into time management platforms that interpret market insights in real-time, compile the data, and then see what’s worth including in your reports. You could also use investment calculators with preset formulas for faster computations. 

Mark Pierce, CEO of LLC Attorney, also encourages real estate businesses to use apps that summarize news reports. He says, “Use AI platforms to summarize industry-relevant news reports—focus on analyzing the most crucial parts. It’s an efficient way to gather more insights quickly.”

5. Creating Routine Financial Reports

Property managers can streamline financial reporting through automated trackers. Set up systems that calculate employee hours, monthly earnings, accumulated expenses, and business finance repayment. Just focus on analyzing these figures—see how they affect your venture.

Mark Varnas, Principal SQL Server DBA and Consultant at Red9, mentions how real estate businesses can use this approach to minimize errors with internal business formulas. He says, “Whether you’re tracking your employees’ overtime pay or computing your ROAS, program and test your calculators before relying on them wholly. Check if the formulas programmed are correct, double-check the factors computed, and routinely scan for system bugs. Of course, some issues are unavoidable, so you should still leave a margin of error.”

6. Running Timed Advertising Campaigns

Run your ads at strategic time slots to maximize your returns. Find out what times of the day your target market usually goes online, study their browsing habits, and use SEO techniques for better visibility. Launching ads during dead hours only wastes your ad spend. Once you identify the best times to run ads, integrate an automated post scheduler into your content calendar.

Gerald Lombardo, Head of Growth at Popl, warns business owners that the most optimal ad times vary per platform. He says, “New marketers often make the mistake of following just one ad schedule. Note that ideal posting times vary per platform. Carelessly applying the same schedule across your messaging platforms, social media profiles, and business website compromises results.”

7. Sending Seasonal Property Tips

Sending seasonal tips and updates en masse is an efficient, hassle-free way to engage with your client base. Recipients respond better to these than to aggressive, redundant promotions. Sending the same newsletters every day only contributes to ad fatigue, plus your brand might come across as sales-y and aggressive.

Keep the messages short and informative. Let’s say it’s wintertime—you could share tips on winterizing residential spaces, clearing snow from your driveway quickly, or preparing for spring renovations.

How Can Real Estate Businesses Use Time Trackers

Technological advancements will help real estate businesses stay ahead of the competition as the industry evolves. Find ways to streamline workflows and improve team efficiency. You might not notice it, but minute yet tedious tasks tank your productivity ratings by distracting you from your core responsibilities.

Explore various time management platforms. Identify the common roadblocks you face, look for tools that address them, and see which ones mesh well with your business model. Take advantage of free trials and freemium accounts—don’t hop on the first app you see.

To get started, try TIMIFY. It’s a robust time management platform that automates appointment scheduling, event planning, CRM, and resource tracking. You can even customize your plan to suit industry-specific needs. Create a free trial account and see how it integrates with your work tools before investing in full-suite plans.