Using Tools to Manage Tasks

Keeping track of details is an eternal issue for real estate agents, and there's never been a shortage of "solutions" to the problem in the form of paper and hand held organizers, paper and electronic calendars, and so on. Of course, no tool will keep you organized or on scheduleyou ultimately have to use these tools and have a system in place that takes advantage of them.

Having a system is keyand it doesn't really matter whether you use one designed by a time-management expert, one based on a management system such as Franklin Organizer, or one you create yourself. By handling tasks systematicallyknowing what they are, when they are due, and when they have been handledyou'll greatly reduce the chance of forgetting a vital step.

But technology can make the process of managing tasks easier. You'll find that different technologies can help make it easier to manage different kinds of tasks.

Appointments, Contacts, and To-Do Items

Electronic calendarsprograms like Microsoft's Outlook or Now Software's Up-to-Date and Contact that run on your computer, or functions built in to your handheld organizer or cell phoneare very handy, since they can be set to alert you to deadlines ahead of time. Plus it's often easier to read the appointments, tasks, and reminders on screen than decipher a note on paperat least for someone with handwriting like mine.

It's hard to find a calendar program today that doesn't manage contacts and to-do lists. And that's a good thing, because you can use one tool to manage all these details.

Because real estate agents often work away from an office, I recommend that you use a handheld organizer or keep a laptop with you to run these tools. (Chapter 1, "The Right office Tools," covers the hardware and software tools you might use. Chapter 8,"Managing Your Contacts," covers the process of contact management in more detail.)

CD Resources: For contact and schedule managers, trial software from Eurekaware on the CD, as well as links to Eurekaware, Microsoft, Now Software, Palm, and Sage. Forhandheld organizers, links to Hewlett-Packard and Palm.

Financial Information

To manage financial informationyour income and expensesyou should use a spreadsheet program like Excel or a basic accounting tool like Intuit Quicken or Microsoft Money. Ifyou're savvy about accounting, you'll prefer a professional program like Intuit QuickBooks. I find that the spreadsheet and the professional accounting program are the best tools for me, since the basic accounting applications are really glorified checkbook registers, lacking the categorization options that let you track expenses in various areas and quickly figure out your net profit each quarter.

Checklist Tools To Manage Tasks

Among the tools that help you stay in control of the tasks and transaction details you must manage are the following:

• Mileage log: This log can be a notepad you keep in the car or a spreadsheet you maintain on your computer. Remember: At the end of the year, you must subtract the daily round-trip mileage to your brokerage office from your deducted mileage, even if you don't go every day (just multiply the roundtrip distance by 250 to get that figure; this calculation assumes you take two weeks off a year).

• Expense and income records: For quarterly taxes, cash flow management, and general awareness of how your business is doing, keep track of your expenses in a paper workbook, in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet (such as the Zango Group's ZangoTaxCalcQ), or in a basic accounting package such as Intuit's QuickBooks or Microsoft's Money.

• Transaction tasks and deadlines: Keep a to-do list and note all deadlines in a paper or electronic calendar. Use a PDA if you're away from the office a lot. It can alert you to deadlines and keep your to-do list handy, and it's easy to carry in a purse, jacket, or car's glove compartment. You might also create a checklist in a program like Microsoft Word of all the documents and tasks required for each specific transaction, so you can tell quickly if any steps or documents are missing. Enclose a printout in your transaction folder, and consider keeping a copy in your car or in a handheld device or laptop for easy access when on the road.

• Other appointments, tasks, and deadlines: Use the same system you use for your transactions to manage other tasks, from your marketing schedule to appointments with prospective clients, from accounting deadlines to PTA meetings. You might produce separate pages for short-term tasks, such a list of all open houses to see on a particular broker's tour rather than include the whole list in your current calendar.

Yes, I know that no one but me likes to do accounting and taxes. But if you don't manage your finances, you could be hit with big tax penalties for underpaying taxes during the year, miss out on deductions, or get into a bind when your expenses start exceeding your current incomereal estate, after all, is not a steady business for the vast majority of us.

You don't have to put on green eye shades and be an accountant to keep a log of your expenses, so at the minimum, keep that log.

CD Resources: For financial management software, trial software from the Zango Group, as well as links to H&R Block, Intuit, Microsoft, Sage Software, and the Zango Group.

Tracking expenses and taxes using a program like ZangoTaxCalcQ helps reduce unpleasant surprises like tax penalties and cash-flow crunches.

Lists

To manage lists for a specific tasksuch as a list of homes to visit during a broker's tour or a list of documents to review for a buyera word processor remains my favorite tool. Unlike the to-do lists in contact managers and personal organizers, a word processor gives you a lot of room for detail, so your lists can beas long as they need to be. In a business where agents are sued for not dotting all the i's and crossing all the t's in reviewing documents and ensuring the client has all relevant information, I believe it's critical to have complete lists. Using a word processor lets you do that.

And it's amazing how many things you can create lists for that are truly helpful in the real estate business.

If you're listing a property, I strongly recommend you compile a list of all the documents that you have for your disclosures to potential buyers and create a checklist form, so they know what to look for. It helps both you and the buyer's agent ensure that all the documents have been delivered. Because these documents tend to be the same across transactions, you can create a template in a program like Word that you then modify for each listing.

Likewise, you can use a template file to create a personalized checklist for sellers of all the items and tasks they need to handle to prepare their home for sale.

If you're representing a buyer, there are all sorts of lists you can create. Here are a few examples:

• a list of preoffer buyer requirements

• a list of common issues to look for in evaluating a home

• a list of potential providers, such as contractors, inspectors, mortgage brokers and so on

Lists generated in a word processor can help both you and your clients ensure that all details are handled in a transaction. Here's one I use for disclosures in my listings.

Keep these lists in a folder on your computer so they're all easily accessible if you need to make a copy for each transaction.