By Matt Fetick, associate, Keller Williams Brandywine Valley market center
In our fast paced, technology driven world, we are bombarded on a daily basis with the latest and greatest tech tools. It can be simply overwhelming trying to keep up with all of the options. Not to mention the cool-factor that goes along with being the first to roll out a sleek, new app.
When I'm tempted to try out or implement a new app, fresh out of the box, I give it my Technology Gut Check: First, will that technology save me time? And second, will it save me money? If it does one or the other, or more importantly both, then I'm inclined to give it a try. Here are my Top 5 Mobile Apps that have passed my Technology Gut Check:
1. 
Drop box: Used as a cloud-based filing cabinet for all of our team's documents. Whether I'm on my mobile phone, iPad or desktop, I have access to every agreement of sale, disclosure and appraisal. (https://www.dropbox.com/) - Available on iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
2. Evernote: The best place to take notes, save web clips and manage prospects in progress. You can share a unique notebook with each prospect and track their home buying or selling progress. (http://www.evernote.com/) Available on iPhone, iPad, Android and Blackberry
3. Fax burner: This mobile app allows you to shoot a photo of any document with your mobile phone, converts it to a PDF and can fax it directly from your mobile phone or iPad. (http://www.faxburner.com/) - Available on iPhone only.
4. Shoeboxed: This awesome app manages your receipts. Simply take a photo with your mobile phone of the receipt and email it to Shoeboxed. You'll have a digital copy and using Optical Character Recognition or OCR for short, it will file it and create an expense report. (https://www.shoeboxed.com/) - Available on iPhone and Android.
5. Dragon Dictation: A voice-to-text free, mobile software. This app lets you dictate emails, texts and documents and then transcribes them for you. This app is great for realtors on-the-go, because we can talk much faster than we type. (http://www.nuancemobilelife.com/) - Available on iPhone.
Next time you think of technology, choose an app that isn't only fun and cool, but rewards you with more freedom, time and money.