Here is the outline from my recent iPhone class at Realtor Association of Miami and the Beaches.  The class covered some navigational basics and then a brief look at my favorite apps for the real estate agent.  All but one of the recommended applications are free.  Click on the name and it will take you to the iTunes store link.

1.  Spotlight.  On any iPhone a simple swipe to the left from the home screen will bring up the Spotlight search  tool which allows you to search your entire phone, including mail messages.

2.  Voice Control.  A must for real estate agents on the go.  Press and hold the home button at the bottom of the phone and the Voice Control will appear and you are able to call anyone in your phone book, dial by number or control your ipod simply by speaking into the phone.  This feature is a great safety feature for those of you who drive and call.

3.  Google.  My most used application by far.  The easy access to search (including the voice search for driving and searching) is probably the way I use it most but I also use the docs and spreadsheets and the google 411.  The search integrates with the google maps on the iPhone which speeds up and makes safe many of “on the fly” directional searches.

4.  MLS on the iPhone - Absolutely. First you will need to register as a mobile user.  Click here to register. Once you are registered just open up Safari on your iPhone and go to the site http://sef.mlxwireless.com/.  Enter your public and private ID and off you go.

You might want to add an icon to your front page so that you don’t have to type in the web address all the time – so here is how you make  an icon by web bookmarking. Go to any web page  that you want to make an icon for.    One the site is rendered tap the + plus button and a pop up menu will appear.  Select Add to home screen and your icon is born.

5. Animoto. A quick and easy way to make your own virtual tour with pictures you have taken with your iPhone.  In a few simple steps you can take the pictures, put them in order, add a soundtrack and publish it.  This is a great way to memorialize a day with a buyer or share a new listing.

6.  Photoshop. A nifty little photo editing tool to make your phone pictures look professional.

7. Around Me.  The geolocational application that will get you to the closet back, gas station or great place to lunch no matter where you are.  You can also use the search tool to find the closest real estate office, among other things.

8.  Envirian. This free mortgage calculator is good  and I think the best free mortgage calculator application.  If you want to spend the bucks, the HP12C is my favorite and the app is still cheaper than the real calculator.

9. Real Quest.  This is taxroll for your iPhone.  The application also has some good market graphs and some pre-foreclosure info.  Very useful when out showing property.

10.  Real Estate Search apps – Trulia has long been my favorite search app, but realtor.com is coming on strong.  You have to love the simple open and find the properties nearby function on both.  Simple, easy to use and good info.

11.  Dragon Dictation.  Not to go Oprah on you here, but texting and driving is just about the most unsafe activity I can think of.  This handy app allows you to dictate your messages and send when you can safely look at the phone.

12.  Zosh.  This is the best $2.99 you will ever spend.  I like it so much, I dedicated an entire blog post to it.  Anytime you need to print scan and send back you can Zosh.  Unlike some of the other electronic signature solutions, this is a one time charge and will make your real estate life so much easier.

13. Dropbox. Another favorite free  tool.  Dropbox is a cloud storage solution which means that you can have the documents you need anytime you need them.  This is a great tool to share documents used in a transaction as well.  Here is a little more info.

Other resources:

I wrote this post with some more details on some of the apps when I did the iPhone class last year.

If  you would like the Power Point presentation with the screenshots, drop me an email.

Good luck!  I hope you love your iPhone as much as I do.  If you have an application you think is great, please share.