My beloved wife got me an iPad for Christmas. I know. A new one is coming in a few weeks and I should return it, but I just can’t do it.
In two days, I have already seen how it will transform how I interact with clients and my work/life flow.
For my buyer clients, the ability to have MLS sheets without needing to print them out is simple and brilliant. MLS on Mac > PDF > Dropbox > iPad. Sweet.
For my (potential) seller clients, being able to have a conversation about the listing process with the iPad as the facilitator will be simple and functional.
First, I asked for help on Twitter and on Facebook and received outstanding tips, “Nice. (My wife) got me an iPad. Now taking recommendations on best apps and practices. :)”
Within a day, I realized that everything had changed:
Top 5 Observations:
1 – I’ll be able to leave the Macbook at home. Eventually.
2 – The Cloud is crucial. Google sync, Dropbox and Evernote between all my devices. Brilliant. I just hope the interwebs never go down.
3 – I don’t foresee getting rid of the laptop anytime soon. For involved work – real work – property analysis, video, photo editing, writing and assembling well-researched blog posts – the laptop is (so far) irreplaceable.
4 – There’s an app for that. Usually. And the .99 add up. Quickly.
5 – The iPad has changed how I work. And I look forward to evolving with it.
Update: Engadget has a great post covering some of the best apps and accessories. I’d love to see a study showing how much revenue the iPad generates in ancillary and accompanying purchases. They’ve created an economy.
(Update: I hate Apple - they are preparing three versions of the iPad 2).
For those of you interested, these are some of the first apps I have installed:
– Google Mobile – Must have
– Box.net
– Dropbox – Must have
– Evernote
– Docusign – Must have – if I could mark up Contracts on this, it would be nearly perfect. Alas, I still need my laptop. Unless I’m missing something
– Zillow – Must have
– 1Password – – Must have
– Realtor.com – Must have
– WordPress
– WSJ – a freaking brilliant app. I can’t get morning print delivery where I live, so this makes my annual subscription worthwhile.
– NYTimes
– BBC
– Tweetdeck
– Friendly Plus (for Facebook)
– Flud
– CNN
– CNBC
– Angry Birds
– Smurfs
– Star Walk
Add GoodReader for reviewing and marking up documents, and Keynote for presentations. Plus Pulse reader (haven’t tried flipboard yet); Skyline browser so you can view websites that feature Flash, Analytics HD for a great look at your Google analytics (credit Gahlord Dewald for that recommendation) and add the Kindle app while you’re at it.
You need to try Flipboard. I’ve downloaded many if not most of the apps that Matthew recommended, but I’m done now. I’ve filled up my iPad and it’s time to actually use it now. 🙂
Flipboard might just blow your mind, like it did for me.
iAnnotate is MUST-MUST have
Idea Boards – Great Mind Sharing tool
Adobe Ideas – Mind Sharing Tool
Keynote, Numbers and Pages are good, Keynote is a MUST
The WordPress app is ok.
Skype
Dragon Dictation allows me to dictate a blog post while driving
Skyfire for flash webpages
Xmarks – Syncs URLS between Macbook Pro and iPad
Mortgage Calc – Awesome Mortg Calc that does more than just PMI
ZipForms Mobile – Awesome, but you must have ZipForms online first
I think Kindle was mentioned, but I like iBooks better
YouVersion for Bible App
PS Express is a free iPad Photoshop tool – It doesn’t resize, but PhotoPad does
Flickr App
Tryda – the “411” of iPad
Shazam – tells you what song is on the radio – great for Droid, too
Air Video – Allows you to watch videos that are saved on your Macbook Pro (VERY cool)
Open Culture – Visit OpenCulture dot com too, it’s an amazing source of free ebooks, videos, audiobooks etc…
Twitterlator is the best Twitter app I’ve seen
IBartender – ’nuff said
Yelp
HootSuite
“Backgrounds” is good too.
For Fun: Get “ArcReader” if your kids want to read comic book .crb files. It’s pretty neat, too.
Those are a few of my favorite things!
What a cool wife!
The reason I bought one was when I met with clients they were already using one and looking at the photos (or lack of photos) on listings. And then they used that Realtor.com app to search instantly for homes available close to their current location… that is the app every buyer/seller/agent needs right now (iPad and Android).
I finally got an iPad after reading one of Teresa Boardman’s posts a month ago. You’re right about getting rid of paper PDFs for buyers — having these all on an iPad is surprisingly awesome.
I would love to sign documents – listings and buyer contracts – on the iPad. It seems like Docusign would be the solution here, but the workflow simply doesn’t work for face-to-face interaction…. hopefully this will improve (or I’ll be able to figure it out).
I hope to sign documents on the iPad in early 2011. I find iAnnotate to be a real pain for large documents (or any document for that matter). I am much, much happier with Noterize. It’s much simpler and inking (I think that’s the term) is superior as well. Still – it creates humongous files once signatures are added. I’ve only been able to upload to Google Docs. A couple other lessons learned — a pen is essential (tried a couple, Boxwave has been the best for me), and Noterize is awesome with small kids. They can draw stuff while Mom and Dad are looking at homes. I’m a hero/saint/Mary-Poppins-miracle to a couple of my buyer clients
Also – agree on the R.com comments — what a great mobile app for iPhone/iPad.