WK Real Estate Leads the Way

The world as we know it has changed, certainly for the near term but perhaps forever, and that applies to all local businesses. As we all adapt to a completely virtual business environment, at least for now, new technologies continue to take over the real estate industry at lightning speed and streamline the way we do business.

The practice of real estate at WK Real Estate has always been based on nurturing personal relationships, developing trust and becoming the resource its clients and their families will rely on time and again over the course of a lifetime. Since 1976, WK has established a best-in-class reputation for integrity, ethics, creative problem solving, and streamlined processes and solutions that keep clients’ goals and needs front and center. Boulder Daily Camera readers have voted WK Boulder County Gold’s Best Real Estate Company for 19 years, and readers of the Longmont Times-Call have named the firm Best Real Estate Company for the last several years as well.

Ask any Boulder or Denver area resident who knows WK Real Estate to describe the firm in one word. They might suggest words like established, traditional, rooted, stable, trusted… And when it comes down to it those are exactly the qualities that anyone engaged in the largest single financial transaction of their life needs in a trusted real estate advisor. Those words and philosophy all embody #theWKway and constantly inspire us to #DoMore.

WK’s spirit of innovation
No industry is immune to technological advances, but real estate is one niche that in the past has been slower to adopt new trends. That’s never been the case at WK Real Estate. What people may not know about WK Real Estate is that their secure and stable professional practice sits atop a foundational suite of technology solutions, enhanced over time, that continues to adapt with a new and challenging business environment.

Technology for the sake of itself is meaningless. It’s easy to announce a new technology, but it’s another thing to integrate it thoughtfully and effectively into your real estate practice without disruption and distraction. At WK Real Estate technology solutions are the seamless backbone, one of the carefully curated “secret sauce”, that makes everything streamlined and easier for clients and for associates.

It is more important now than ever to provide technology tools and resources to streamline buyer search, home marketing and transaction processes. WK Real Estate keeps abreast of evolving technology trends and integrates the most effective and easy-to-use offerings that can benefit its clients and associates. Here is a sampling of the various ways WK Real Estate uses technology to shape the real estate landscape for clients today and tomorrow.

Automated house hunting and buying
Technology in this sector has evolved so much that today it’s possible to buy a house without stepping foot in the home or taking out a pen to sign a contract. The first resource in this process is a comprehensive website. WK’s award-winning website WKRE.com provides the largest real estate inventory possible with up-to-the minute active listings from both Denver/Front Range area multiple listing services. These are IRES in Boulder and Northern Colorado and REColorado in the Denver metro area. WK’s website technology weeds out the duplicates from the two systems, so you don’t have to. Once you see a listing you like, a simple click provides all property details, photographs, map location as well as thumbnails for other available properties near the one selected.

Since 2009, WKRE.com has earned the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® Website Quality Certification which reviews and evaluates eight key areas of a real estate broker’s website and is awarded to companies that have demonstrated excellence in website design, functionality and execution.

Visitors to WKRE.com can peruse the newest listings from WK Real Estate, all other publicly available listings, and explore over 30 different metro area communities. Any WK associate can easily set up a search for clients and it is incredibly simple for do-it-yourselfers to set up their own search.

At a time when social distancing and “curbside closing” are common terms, things like virtual showings and secure programs that allow contracts to be signed completely online have made it possible to continue closing transactions already in process while keeping everyone healthy and safe.

Home sellers see huge benefits to technology
Technology isn’t just for home buyers in our new online business reality; home sellers also benefit from this technology revolution. WK’s associates use advanced technology such as virtual reality to create video tours of the home and tools that leverage 3D software to create realistic virtual versions of homes and floor plans.

WK’s sellers receive regular reports on their preferred schedule (weekly, monthly, etc…) that include a full interactive list of every marketing initiative deployed for that property. Clients click on an item in the report to view digital copies of things like property flyers, Facebook ads, print ads, e-mail marketing and more. WK seller reports also include detailed statistics and analytics from their website, and a special LuxeAnalytics report available for distinctive listings over $1 million that provides in depth details of that properties’ exposure on luxuryportfolo.com.

Other technology options available to home sellers that WK Real Estate has been offering for years include…

• Interactive digital brochures with turn-able pages that include high resolution professional photography, 3D tours, video and digital floor plans to comprehensively highlight the best features of a home

• Digital listing banners, advertised across the internet locally and worldwide, using advanced algorithms to target geographically or by lifestyle to reach buyers looking for comparable homes

• Interactive walkthrough home tours and videos to take each buyer on a virtual journey, highlight unique features and give insight on a home’s layout

• Facebook advertisements for every new listing, optimized to reach strategic target audiences

Each of WK’s listings receives its own individual customizable property website to showcase the property in greater detail. There are truly no limitations to the information, from embedded videos and full screen photos, to floor plans and relevant documents. When in-person showings are allowed, interested buyers schedule showings directly on that site with a couple of simple clicks.

Additional digital resources available for WK’s many high-end luxury listings are available through their affiliation with Luxury Portfolio International® (LPI), the luxury marketing division of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World® (LeadingRE). WK Real Estate received a number of honors at LeadingRE’s 2020 conference in Las Vegas, including one for luxury marketing. Through LPI, WK offers fully narrated LuxeTour videos, beautiful property brochures and postcards that can be shared digitally, and additional re-targeting banner ads specific to luxury consumers. Additionally LPI syndicates WK’s distinctive listings to websites across the globe, reaching viewers from 200+ countries and regions, providing unprecedented world-wide exposure.

WK’s full-time and highly experienced Marketing Technology Director and Social Media Specialist work together to ensure that associates maximize every option available to market clients’ properties using the most effective and comprehensive online strategy offered in our industry. They create a content and media plan for each listing that includes posts on multiple social channels including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest and YouTube.

Digital resources for everyone
Whether you are a buyer, seller or just want to keep your eye on the local market, WK’s market reports provide prolific data and analysis. Monthly and quarterly reports include regional trends and easy to read graphics showing metrics such as average sales price or days on market. Property update reports track a specific neighborhood or area, show new listings, under contract and sold properties.

WK’s customizable Homesnap mobile app accesses the same up to date property details as the
WKRE.com website and local MLS systems. Search, filter and save properties on any mobile device using specific criteria and message directly with a WK associate.

For our associates
While WK’s clients’ needs are front and center, considerable energy and resources are allocated to ensure that WK’s technology offerings help their associates operate as efficiently and effectively as possible.

The day-to-day in-person culture the WK family cherishes above all else – their offices, staff, weekly all-company meetings and special events – has vanished at least temporarily, with the necessity to observe social distancing protocols. Zoom calls and social media help to alleviate feelings of isolation, but WK’s custom-developed internal platform WKConnect has quickly become an important and impactful cornerstone of their operations. WKConnect enables staff and associates to collaborate more effectively and stay informed and engaged with each other.

WKConnect provides access to all internal systems such as transaction management, CRM, LuxeXchange®, referral management, e-mail, marketing and online learning platforms. WK associates can access internal documents and submit forms, check the company calendar for online meetings and training, schedule open houses (not permissible now, but when allowed…) and utilize their extensive resource book and many other tools.

What word would you use?
WK Real Estate continues to #DoMore to embody words like trusted, established, rooted, and stable. But they also hope that a few other words come to mind – technology-forward, innovative, creative and state-of-the-art. Those are also undeniably #theWKway.

WK Real Estate has two offices: 4875 Pearl E Circle, Suite 100 in Boulder and 2101 Ken Pratt Boulevard in Longmont. For more information, call 303.443.2240 or visit WKRE.com.