The fun of real estate, for me, is being out in the field, getting dust on my shoes, tramping along driveways, and prowling through distressed properties. I like being with the sub-contractors in a hot, grimy building, surrounded by old, shattered cabinets and stacks of new floor covering. But as much as I relish a passion for this business, keeping notes of every great idea, organizing mountains of documents, and getting necessary photos to the right people – these could be overwhelming without a great online tool that handles and organizes everything: Evernote and Evernote Business.

Evernote is an online app that instantly organizes your uploads of notes, documents, photos, and more, and makes them accessible to anyone you provide with permission to view. Not only does Evernote capture what is otherwise flying paper, once you upload a note or a photo, you and your business associates can access it from wherever each of you happens to be.

Anytime I see a property that looks interesting, a relevant article, statistic, web page, something useful for my real estate investing, I can “capture” it immediately with Evernote. I use it often for the personal notes that I take on a job site, keeping them all in one place. Crucial information and reminders are not scattered or lost and I’m relieved of the burden of carrying around paper notes.

Evernote is low-cost and easy to use. A few clicks are all that is necessary to upload, retrieve, view, and even edit, at my convenience. You even have the option of granting expanded permission to others to upload and edit material using your Evernote. Evernote is designed to be an effective group working tool, as well as an individual organizer.

Among the conveniences of Evernote is that I determine who has permission to view what.  If my rehab partner needs to immediately see a set of photos of a troublesome property issue so that we can make a quick decision, I upload them to Evernote, text him a link he opens, and he has the photos in front of him. Or, if my assistant needs the notes I took today to update my calendar but I am in a meeting or visiting a site, or if a partner needs to review a contract, both can access today’s new material in a folder they can access, when it is convenient for them to do so.

For me, Evernote is the answer for capturing my ideas and organizing quantities of material online, easily accessible to myself and my designated associates.

Do you use Evernote or another online capture and organizing app? How has it helped you?

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