Real Estate and Technology

I publish my blogs using wordpress. Often times photos are one of my favorite aspects of the blogs I write. The wordpress interface for uploading photos has never worked right for me, but I have gotton used to it.

A few weeks ago wordpress function for uploading photos to my blog simply stopped working. I would click on “Browse” for photos to upload and nothing would happened. First thing I did was turn off my firewall, but that didn’t help. Googled “wordpress photo upload problem” without any luck.

Then I discovered the upload function worked when I used my firefox browser instead of internet explorer. I went on with life for awhile until firefox suddenly had the same problem.

Sparing all of the details, IÂ ?will say I discovered that if I disable the flash plugin in either browser the upload works again. Do this by going to tools, then manage add-ons, etc., etc.

I finally purchased my Kyocera router and shut off satalite service. I couldn’t be happier. The alltell service using evdo is fast and dependable as advertised. Once again I can log into my office computer using a vpn and work as if I’m at my desk.
There are a couple of warnings for you if you are thinking of doing the same thing however. Even though I had tried the service and brought home a trial model there was confusion with the setup which took a couple of days to iron out. The reason it took that much time was that when I called alltel support they insisted my router model didn’t exist. I assured them it did and they referred me directly to kyocera who makes the router. The folks at Kyocera also insisted the router didn’t exist until I directed them to their own web page. They told me to call back during the day.
There is only one problem that remains to be ironed out which is that the router occasionally loses its connection to the cell tower and has to be rebooted, about once a day.
Other than this the service is great.
If you know anyone who needs a dish and a satalite modem for Wild Blue they can have mine, cheap!

Think of the technology items that you pay for on a monthly basis. When I started in this business it was about $20 per month for a telephone and when I got busier I added another $10 a month for a pager.
At first the cell phone was considered a luxury but eventually I gave in and spent the $40 or so per month for the phone. Now it’s not business, but at some point I got a cable tv connection because I could bundle it with a highspeed internet connection for $69 per month.
Cable is great but we moved to the country so we got satalite tv for $79 per month which did not include internet. We needed another satalite connection for internet from wild blue for $79 per month.
My kids needed cell phones so I upgraded to a phone plan that cost about $100 per month. Then the kids started texting and I had to kick in another $20 per month for unlimmited texts.
Oh I forgot to mention our mls went to electronic lock boxes that we pay a monthly access fee to use and you can’t forget the $xx per month for MLS access.
Well, smart phones like a blackberry are pretty nice and as I’ve found, much needed. My cell phone bill including the smart phone is flirting with the $200 per month mark. My entire monthly technology bill tops $400 per month.
Just when I thought it was safe to drive by a cell phone store, the friendly folks there have informed me there is a new “have to have” item. It is the Kyocera KR2 mobile evdo router. For $229 up front and $59 per month it lets me use my cell phone signal to connect to the internet.
I have just decided I can’t pay what I pay for technology, but I think I may still buy this little gadget and the monthly service that goes with.
Here’s why:
I’m going to drop my Wild Blue internet connection at $79 per month. There’s $20 per month savings right there.
The connection I get using the Kyocera is faster and has no latency. If you don’t know what that is just figure it makes a broadband connection seem as slow as dial up. And all satalite services have it.
I can take my internet connection with me, The Kyocera is works like a cell phone, it’s mobile.
I’m going to drop my satalite TV as well and save $79 per month. I get the four broadcast networks, with netflix I can watch movies without ads and I can find many tv shows on the internet.
I don’t want to watch tv on my computer screen, but I think I can get a VGA cable from radio shack and plug my wide screen Sony tv into my computer.
The next thing I’m watching for is a way to port my home phone number into my cell phones and use a bluetooth connection to make it ring my land line. I could drop my qwest service and save another $20 per month.
There will be a lot of equipment left behind, it puts me in mind of the 8 track tape player. There will be more equipment to purchase and I’m sure there will be more services to buy.
In the end the only thing that is safe to say is everything is changing.
This subject reminds me a little bit of my advertising. Right now I pay way too much for it. You see I have a foot in both worlds. I pay several hundred dollars per month for internet ads, but I still pay for newspaper and yellow page ads. I have to because everyone has not gone electronic yet. I am hoping I can drop my yellow pages and newspaper ads soon. They are very expensive for what they produce.

When cell phones first came out I clung to my old ways. I reasoned that there was no reason to have a cell phone if you just planned ahead and made sure you had a quarter for a pay phone in case of emergency.
Now I could not be seperated from my Blackberry Pearl. At one point I even thought of abandoning my camera and using my cell phone for real estate photos. The temptation still crosses my mind from time to time.
Well, using a cell phone for photos is like carrying around a pocket full of quarters. Yes, you can get the job done, kind of, but a real camera is so much better.
I have had many sony cameras and they have by far been the best for me, but I don’t think the brand matters as long as you have modern equipment.
My most recent Sony was purchased a year or so ago at target for less than $400. It has a 15 times optical zoom and slightly more than eight mega pixels. So whats the big deal about mega pixels?
The more mega pixels the greater your possible resolution. For real estate, my older four mega pixel mavica with a wide angle lens will definitley get the job done. After all, I use a standard photo size of 640×480 pixels for MLS photos and even the photos printed on color brochures. You can produce a photo or that resolution even with a one megapixel camera.
Still, carrying a one megapixel camera around is like carrying a pocket full of quarters instead of a cell phone. “Getting the job done”, assumes you frame the perfect shot just the way you want it the first time. Thats not too hard to imagine if you just take shots of the front of homes.
Yesterday I was in a 1920’s home with lots of personality. I took shots of rooms, decorating, woodwork. When I got back to the office I realized the house had exceptional, original hardware on the doors. I was able, CSI style, to zoom in on the door hardware and produce photos of individual door knobs.
I got by with my older cameras for a long time because I used them just for real estate. Recently I’ve started doing some blogs which has caused me to take other photos. This is where the newer camera really pays off.
Here’s a photo of a blossom on a plant that I snapped just in passing, clipped the flower out of the photo and enlarged it. The ability to enlarge has come in handy with shots of wildlife and people as well. I can pull nice photos out of something I would have previously discarded.

Here are some details on using My Showing Log, including some screen shots. I know I’ve done this before, but each time it gets a little better.

We will start at the beginning — What is My Showing Log?

An internet “tool” that automatically requests and collects feedback from other agents who show your listings.

Here is how it works:

1. Real Estate Agent calls to request a showing on one of your listings.

Below is a screen shot of the home page which is your starting point. Whenever you see a screen shot in this post just click on it to see a large, readable version. Use your back button to continue with the article. There are screen shots that show what each step of setting up a showing in My Showing Log looks like further down in this post.

2. Who ever is setting up the showing collects the agent’s contact information and enters it in My Showing Log.
3. The property, date and time of the showing is selected in My Showing Log and marked as approved.

Any of the following can happen automatically if selected:
Showing agent gets email confirmation of showing
Listing agent is copied confirmation via email
Owner is copied confirmation via email

After the showing:

• Showing agent is emailed a simple form requesting feedback on the showing.(which can be forwarded to the owner)
• Listing agent receives feedback via email and it is stored for later reference in My Showing Log.
• My Showing Log functions much like the “Floor Book” maintained by many offices to keep track of showings.
• Records can be shared and updated by groups with adjustable levels of access.
• Any group member can see the status of properties and showings in real time any place there is an internet connection.
• My Showing Log is great for handling after hours showing requests.

Features that make My Showing Log easy to use:

• Once showing agent contact information is entered My Showing Log remembers it for future use.
• The last twenty showing agents are kept in a handy list and can be utilized with one click.
• Each showing request is timestamped and the person entering the request recorded.
• each user can set preferences on how they want confirmation and feedback emails handled.
• Users can enter default confirmation messages as well as editing the message ath the time the showing is set up.
• The user can ad a personal note to the feedback request.
• Feedback gathered by phone or in person can be entered manually to the records.
• The feedback form includes a photo of the house and agent contact information.

For MLS associations, My Showing Log is designed automatically maintain agent contact information through a RETS conection with a local MLS.

If you would like to try My Showing Log, go to www.MyShowingLog.com and click “Get An Account”

Microsoft does have some good stuff. Seems like it used to be when I bought a computer Microsoft Publisher came with it, or maybe it was bundled with that hog called Microsoft Office. The fact is Microsoft Publisher does it’s job pretty darned well. We use it for property brochures. It handles photos and text well, you can move things around and they stay where you put them. Within the last couple of years I’ve gone as far as actually purchasing a copy for the front desk.

You can use Microsoft Word for lots of things, but the truth is you are better off ?using Word for documents with pretty simple formatting demands. Things like letters.

If I’m doing any kind of document with a photo, graphics, a table, collums or any thing even just a little bit different I use publisher. You can go round and round with Word trying to make it do these things. It is even tempting to use Publisher for simple stuff like letters because it is so much more stable than Word.

The other day I was checking my email using web mail. Somehow I managed to slide the top of the window off the top of my computer Screen. Gone with the top bar of the window were the controlls for resizing and closing the window.

Faced with this sort of thing in the past I’ve resorted to shutting down the entire program to get the misplaced window to go away. Here is another option: Hold down the (ctrl )key along with the (-) key. The contents of the screen will get progressively get smaller and eventually the top of your window with its controls will come into view. Now you can slide the window back to where it belongs or close it.

When you’re done just click (ctrl +) to bring the contents of your screen back to normal size.

These shortcuts also work in pohotoshop to adjust the ?viewing size of photos. ?

I try not to make life more complicated than it needs to be. For this reason I used Internet Explorer for a long time without trying any other browser. At some point I downloaded The Firefox browser and found that I like the way it works a lot better than Internet Explorer.

For a while I’ve had both browsers installed on a couple of my computers. I’ve been sticking with Explorer for one reason. Text just did not look as good in Firefox. There are lots of “less than perfect” things in my life that I get along with, but font rendering, the visual quality of the text you see in the browser, was terrible in FireFox. If you read the news or blogs this is a fatal flaw.

I discovered something today. You can improve the quality of the text in Firefox so it looks as good as Explorer. Funny thing is that it is a Windows setting, not a Firefox setting. I wonder how Microsoft could make such a mistake, causing a competing browser to look crummy with default settings in Windows?

The windows option to turn on is called “ClearType” and here is how you do it(in Windows XP at least). Go to control Panel and choose “Apearance and Themes” then click “Display”. In Display Properties choose the “appearance” tab, then click the button in the lower right called “effects”.

Check the box in front of “use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts” and then in the selector choose “ClearType”. Here’s a screen shot. Click on it to make it bigger.

You might ask what I like about Firefox. ? I just discovered ? a good thing just now. ? For the last few weeks I’ve been dealing with an annoyance with Wordpress 2.33. ? When you insert a photo you can supposedly set padding ? and other attributes by clicking the ? little tree icon ? in the top of the editing window.

Only problem is ? that if you do that ? with internet explorer the image disappears replaced by two dots. ? If you dig around in the code you find out Word Press has made two copies of your photo and reduced them to a size of ? 1 pixel by 1 pixel.

I had wondered how Wordpress could release something that was so buggy. ? It turns out if you use firefox the photo formatting options work just fine. ? I suppose the people who design Wordpress use Firefox.

I think its best to have a couple of browsers loaded on your computer. If something doesn’t work in one, try the the other. That way you’re covered

This message is for myself and the support people at visnetic. If you are anyone else you most likely won’t find much interesting in this particular post.

Something to remember, support is pretty good, but make sure you listen to the whole menu or you might wait for 45 minutes only to get someone who can’t help you. It works like this, someone listens to your general problem, makes a ticket and an incident number. Then they give you a phone number to call. When the tech answers you have to give them an incident number in order to get help…

In the middle of last week I upgraded to the most recent version of Visnetic Mail Server. It totally broke our email for a day. The support folks were very helpful, though and helped me migrate data bases and make setting changes to get things up and running. The person who sold me the upgrade said the upgrade would not change would be “transparent” to my users. The change has not been transparent and has caused a huge hassel.

It appears that the way spam is handled has completely changed. Each user used to be able to go into a spam folder to check for mistakenly filtered out messages. Spam folders are gone and there is no method I can find for a user to see what has been blocked.

We used to be able to click a button in web mail to toggle full email headers on and off. No such option now.

There does not appear to be a way to see the version number when you click help in web mail. So I have to go to the server to find out what version I have.

Maybe some of this would be solved by selections in the “options” menu, but the options menu is completely blank.

When I log on to web mail from my home, which is broadband, but satalite, webmail pops up so slowly that I can go get something to eat and return without missing anything. When I try to send a new message, multiple error windows pop up, but if I am willing to wait, I can get a message to go out. Here are links to screen shots of the errors which pop up several times:

The folks at support have been really nice so far. These are probably unique problems I am having. At the moment I’m finding I can’t submit screen shots with my trouble ticket so I’ll post them here and give support a link.

So here are my questions in order of impoortance to me:

1. Where did my spam folders go & can I get them back?
2. How can I make the options menu display so I know what I might be missing?
3. How do I stop the annoying messages when I try to send an email with webmail?

Here’s the answer to question one. Each account has to create a new spam folder*. As administrtor I created a spam folder and the spam for all of my user is going into it. Thats not right and I still have to fix that somehow. In order for the spam folder to work you have to change the message format from POP3 to imap or imap/pop3. When you do this and click save on the changes visnetic mail server does something to all of your existing messages. I’m pretty sure it changes the directory. Only problem is that it doesn’t tell you that its doing anything. It appears that the program has gotten hung up. Eventually I stopped it with the unsettling result of losing all of the messages currently in my in box.

I ended up having to change the mail settings again and reconverting to pop3 and then back again to imap. This time I waited very patiently and eventually the program came back to life.

The last two problems were related. I had already done the database migration thing but for some reason it “unmigrated”. I’m thinking it was because I applied the patch after the migration, but the tech seemed to think it was because I had some “non-standard settings that broke the migration.

At this point the options menu works and I don’t get error messages when I start an new message. I’ve discovered however that my entire address and the address books of all my users are gone. Hopefully they’re hidden in a directory somewhere.

The questions that remain are:

1. Can I adjust the server so everyone gets their own spam messages instead of me getting all of them in my box.
2. Is there a way to restore address books?

Support sent me a handy little(29 pages) document about working with spam filtering. After setting everything to their suggested settings “Spam” folders appeared in everyones accounts and I stopped getting spam that belonged to everyone else.

****

Its September 2008 and I’ve struggled with crummy webmail for six months. Every time I opened webmail the windows would jump around if I clicked on them. Recently things got worse and U couldn’t even tyoe in the reply window. I could no longer just live with it.

So I called visnetic and said I would just pay whatever it took to fix it($170) for a 3 hr support contract. It took me two hours after giving them my money ?just to get a live person. Since I followed directions on the install and the product didn’t work it doesn’t seem right that I should have to pay them just to make their product work.

 ?I gave the tech my email info ? and he logged in as me. He said it was the wierdest thing he’d ever seen - must not have seen that much. After spending a lot of time going through all of my settings and reinstalling webmail with no progress, we deleted the cache file for my account(tilde username). Everything started working. The tech said that shouldn’t have had any effect, but I’m not asking any questions.

Now webmail works including features that didn’t work before and its faster as well.

It takes about fifteen seconds to enter a showing into My Showing Log. When you are done, depending on your choices, you may have sent a showing confirmation via email to the showing agent and copied it to the seller and the listing agent via email. You have scheduled an email feedback request to the showing agent the results of which will automatically be filed in My Showing Log and emailed to the listing agent.

My Showing Log has recorded who is showing the property, who set up and confirmed the showing and when it was done. This is information you can access from any internet connection.

When you first open My Showing Log it may not look like much. Even after you have entered or imported your listings the home page is pretty simple looking. To set up a showing, locate the property to be shown on the list and click the “set up a showing” link. The quickest method of selecting the showing agent is to enter their MLS code. There are other shortcuts for selecting the showing agent as well.

Click the screen shots below to enlarge them, then use the “back” button on your browser to continue.

 ? ? ? ? ?

Once you select the showing agent, select the date and the time of the showing and and click “submit”.

Make sure you complete the status column and submit. If you don’t check everything in the status column the showing remains “pending” and no confirmation or feedback request will be sent out. If you have been unable to reach the seller to confirm a showing, you can leave it pending to be confirmed later by you or someone else in your group.

Clicking submit brings you back to the home page which displays your upcoming showings. You can click the “details” link at any time to review or edit the details of the showing.