What tools do you use to increase Efficiency?

[Byron K.]

One thing that has always intrigued me is what do the experts use in the field to make investing easier. By tools I mean, technology and data. Tablets, cell phones, cameras, applications. What is the combo that works for you and what would, if created/available, help make your endeavors more efficient?

Hopefully this starts some healthy conversation and I hope I'm not repeating a topic!

[Bobby Gerry]

I have one technology tip. Not sure if it’s of any use to anyone but here goes..

When I was buying foreclosures, I would drive to visit properties that were in pre-foreclosure and coming up for auction. I had all the properties listed in Excel.

When I figured out which properties I was mainly interested in, I took my final list and made that my drive list. I opened MapPoint from Microsoft and imported the list of properties into the software. Then I instructed MapPoint to create a route for me, which it does quite well. Then I downloaded the route into my Garmin GPS (which sits on my dash), and off I went.

This is an enormous time saver for visiting a list of properties. I never even looked at the street signs. I just went exactly where the GPS told me to go and would cross each property off my list as I visited it.

With some GPS devices you can’t get the route directly into the GPS. But I have a workaround for that. If this is of interest, just ask me.