In CIRE’s September/October 2011 issue, CCIMs discussed how they use tablets to enhance their business. Most commercial real estate professionals who own tablets are familiar with listing-service apps such LoopNet and CoStarGo, but we asked CCIMs to share their favorite productivity apps. Here are the 10 most-commonly mentioned ones.
1. 10BII Calc Financial Calculator ($5.99) – “If the iPad saves you from having to pull your laptop out, this app saves you from having to carry your 10BII calculator,” says Jonathan Epstein, CCIM, of Berger-Epstein Associates. in Allentown, Pa.
2. Dropbox (free) – Debi Carter, CCIM, vice president of Hudson Peters Commercial in Dallas, uses the Dropbox app to access property fliers, video, and pictures on the go. She shares files by saving them to a public Dropbox folder and sending the download links to clients and colleagues.
3. LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99) – Remotely access work files and programs via an iPad with LogMeIn. Users can also remotely log in to their desktop to view Flash Websites, which the iPad doesn’t support. The GoToMyPC and Remoter apps offer similar features.
4. TheAnalyst ($9.99) – Developed by Blyncc, a tech company co-founded by Todd Kuhlmann, CCIM, this app includes lease vs. own analysis and investment analysis tools, financial calculators, and an environmental risk summary report generator.
5. Springpad (free) – This app organizes notes, images, and places that users want to remember and syncs them on an iPad, iPhone, or computer. Springpad also can retrieve product information from a barcode scan and includes location-based features like business and restaurant searches.
6. Google Earth (free) – Commercial real estate pros can use Google Earth to show clients aerial property images. Geo-located Wikipedia articles and user-submitted photos provide additional location information.
7. GoodReader ($4.99) – “GoodReader is an excellent app for storing and opening almost any file,” says Joseph W. Edge, CCIM, president of Sherman & Hemstreet Real Estate in Augusta, Ga. The app works with Microsoft Office, iWork, audio, and video files. It also can be used to view and annotate PDF files. Office² HD ($7.99) andDocuments To Go Premium ($16.99) have similar features, and iAnnotate PDF($9.99) and SignMyPad ($3.99) include a comprehensive set of PDF tools.
8.Penultimate ($1.99) – With“photorealistic” paper designs and a selection of ink colors, Penultimate positions itself as the stylish alternative to other note taking apps. Notes and sketches are organized into notebooks and can be shared as PDFs. For free alternatives, try Evernote or the previously mentioned Springpad.
9. CamCard ($6.99) – Networking pays dividends in commercial real estate, and the business card is the currency of in-person networking. CamCard digitizes and organizes those cards and also has features for adding supplemental information. Contact information can be exported to Excel, which makes it easy to import new contacts to Outlook and other e-mail programs.
10. Air Sharing HD ($9.99) – The iPad has built-in support for printing to any of HP’s 28 AirPrint printers. Printing to a non-AirPrint printer is possible with Air Sharing HD. It has to be networked with a Mac OS X or Linux computer – it’s not compatible with Windows. PrintCentral for iPad ($8.99) is an alternative to Air Sharing HD.
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