5 Twitter Tools for the Real Estate Investor

If you’re not using Twitter you’re dumb. Not kidding here. When I first heard about Twitter, my first reaction was “that’s dumb.” But after ignoring it for several months, I realized that I was the dumb one.

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows you to post messages limited to 140 characters.  These messages are called Tweets and can theoretically be seen by every Twitter user.  In practice, your Tweets are most likely seen by people who have chosen to “follow” you and by others who are conducting a search for one of the words you used in your Tweet.

I think it’s one of the best online tools for marketers that’s been developed so far. You can use it to build a list of thousands of loyal followers, market your houses, rentals, build a buyers list, you name it. The possibilities really are almost endless.  In addition to the service itself, there are tons of new applications, most of which are free, that have popped up to make our lives on Twitter easier and more productive.  So, here are my recommendations for the top 5 Twitter tools for the real estate investor:

TweetLister
This service lets you post as many listings as you want for residential, commercial, vacation and any other type of property. Schedule each listing to post as often as you’d like for a set period of time – until it sells, rents or leases and build enhanced listing detail pages. Free for 14 days.

TweetDeck
TweetDeck is my personal favorite tool for Twitter (and Facebook). It syncs up all my Twitter accounts almost like a dashboard of Twitter. Allows me to see tweets mentioning me and direct messages in real time. I also have the app on my iPhone so I can tweet from anywhere.  Great service and free.

GeoFollow
This is a location based Twitter directory. Search by city and it’ll show you the people you should follow (who will hopefully follow you back) so you can build a list in a particular market. I’ve used this to build buyers lists in specific markets and also to vet realtors. Free.

Twollow
This tool lets you automatically follow people based on keywords. If someone tweets “looking for a house in Austin” and you happen to have inventory in Austin, do you think you want to have that person on your list? Tons of uses for this one. Free.

DemandSpot
Similar to Twollow but cooler, I think. They’re in beta so the site’s a little funky but it’ll show you who’s looking for real estate in any area in the world. I just entered “denver, co” and it returned 175 people that are looking for houses or apartments in Denver. All I have to do is push a button to follow them OR send them a message. So cool and free.

Get on Twitter NOW.

Follow me at http://www.twitter.com/susanlyons