Medford, MA Homes for Sale – Deb on the Web » Technology

Electronic Signing

DebOnTheWeb — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:42:46 +0000

Technology continues to change the way real estate transactions are done. A few years ago I started using electronic signature software for my clients. This has greatly simplified signing documents for both local clients and people from out of state. Scanners have made it easier to read real estate contracts are they are sent around for signature. However there are still agents who don’t use a scanner so even a one page change document can be difficult to read once it’s been faxed 2 or 3 times in order to get all of the parties’ signatures. I want to make sure that my clients can read (and understand) these very important and legally binding documents!

Electronic signing is easy and can be done on any computer or smartphone. The document remains clear and easy to read. As an extra bonus – this also saves paper. We used to need 4 copies of each Purchase and Sale Agreement (which run anywhere from 7 – 20 pages each). With electronic signatures, everyone receives an electronic version so no trees are cut down :)

I’ve had clients sign and accept offers on their properties while in Europe, on family vacations and even on the T commuting home from work!

Recycle Your Electronics

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 16:26:37 +0000

Do you have old electronics sitting around in your house that you don’t know what to do with? On Saturday, October 1st, you can recycle your electronics while supporting the Brooks School PTO. Here are the details:

RECYCLE DAY!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 FROM 9-1
In the Brooks Elementary School Driveway
388 High Street, Medford, MA

Drop off your used and/or broken electronics and appliances. All items will be unloaded from your car/truck and sent to a facility for proper recycling.
FEES:………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
$5- unlimited amount of small electronics – CD Rom/DVD Drives Mice, Keyboards, Plugs, Speakers, Wires and Parts/Accessories of Computers, Walkmans, Ipods and accessories
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Fee per item:
$10-medium electronics- Laptops, CPUs, Servers, Copy/Fax/Scanner/Printers, Phones of any kind and Phone Systems, UPS (computer battery back-up systems), Camera/Video/Audio Equipment, DVD Players, Stereos, VCRs, electric lawn mowers.
$15- larger electronics and all appliances-Computer Monitors, Microwaves, Air Conditioners, Refrigerators, Freezers, Dehumidifiers, Hot Water Tanks and Heaters, Washing Machines, Dryers, Stoves & Dishwashers.
$20- All TV’s

This collection event is open to the public.
Please help spread the word about the bargain prices for recycling!
Questions? Contact Cathy Aliberti cathyaliberti@yahoo.com

Garbled Message From Stoneham Seller

DebOnTheWeb — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 21:55:37 +0000

I love technology – I’m not afraid to admit it. Most of the time it lets me be much more efficient and do a better job selling homes for my clients. Today, though, I’m frustrated. I received a voice mail message that was totally garbled. Since my office forwarded the call to my cell phone, caller ID doesn’t help since it shows the office number. :(

So, if you’re the gentleman from Stoneham who left me a message this afternoon, please call me again on my cell 781-608-4692 or send me a text or email!

Using QR Codes to Sell Homes

DebOnTheWeb — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 14:26:59 +0000

Have you started to notice QR codes like this one? QR stands for Quick Response. These 2 dimensional pictures are a new form of bar code which can be scanned using a cell phone and one of the many free bar code apps. QR codes bridge print advertising with mobile media and make it easy for potential buyers to get full information on a house for sale.

I use these codes on sign riders to capture the interest of people driving by the house. I also use the codes on flyers, in mailers and on the business cards I print up for each home for sale.

Each cell phone and even each model has an bar code app that works best for it, so do a search for your make and model phone and download the app that works best for your model. Once you have the app, give it a try on this code.

Depending on your phone, you’ll either be taken directly to the full website on the house or the mobile version.

New tech tools keep coming out that help me spread the word about homes I have for sale. QR codes are cool, fun and useful – the best type of technology!

Craigs List “Account Suspension” Scam

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 20:41:39 +0000

Craigs List is a great tool. I use it to help spread the word about the properties I have for sale and seminars I run. I’ve had clients use it to sell furniture they no longer need when they’re selling a home and buyers use it to get great deals on things they need for their new homes. It’s a perfect way to recycle and reuse to everyone’s benefit. Unfortunately whenever something is successful, scammers come up with a way to try to make a buck on it.

One of the lastest scams is a phishing email telling you that your Craigs List Account has been suspended.

Notice that it looks like it’s truly coming from Craigs List, but it’s not. The link looks legitimate, but when you hover your mouse over it, you can see that’s if you clicked, it would take you to another site, not to Craigs List. The problem is the other site looks just like Craigs List. It’s a phishing site and the scammers are fishing to get the login information to your Craigs List account. Let them pull in their line and find it empty. Don’t fall for this scam!

Does Google Know 2 Much About U?

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:33:21 +0000

Okay, I admit it – Google has some very good products that I would have trouble giving up, but as they get bigger and bigger, I’m not sure how comfortable I am with so much of my informaiton in the hands of one company. Google has just come up with Dashboard. This new service lets you see how many different Google accounts you have and what the company stores about you.

Think they don’t know much about your life? Obviously if you use Google Docs, Gmail, Google Alerts or Google Analytics, these are Google products. But Google has also bought up Picassa, YouTube, Blogger and Feedburner as well.

The good news is Dashboard gives you easy access to your privacy settings for each of your accounts.

Of course, Google is touting this as a great thing, but I’m still feeling the hand of Big Brother. What do you think?

Thrilled with My Hero

DebOnTheWeb — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:16:54 +0000

I bought an HTC Hero on Friday. This is a Google phone that runs the open source Android platform. I’m a big fan of open source. I use Firefox as my browser and I built my website on WordPress. When you open up code to everyone, you get excited people sharing to make wonderful things together!
I warned my husband to expect at least 3 days of me interrupting him at all hours to show him some new cool feature that the phone can do. Even he was impressed when I took him outside, pointed to a star and said, “I wonder what star or planet that is?” whipped out my phone, opened up Google Sky Map and found out we were looking at Venus.
It’s not just fun, but a serious work tool as well. My mobile MLS runs much faster than it did on my Treo. I can also group all communication with a client together, integrating text messages, email, voice mail and phone calls together. Pretty slick.
With 10,000 apps for the Android, it looks like my husband is going to have to put up with my gushing enthusiasm for much longer than 3 days!

Social Media Blog Carnival

DebOnTheWeb — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:26:48 +0000

I was very excited to be this week’s Social Media Blog Carnival judge. All in all it has been a very interesting and educational experience but I must admit that I was a bit underwhelmed by the number and quality of some of the entries. The biggest ah-ha that I had for my own blogging was that most of the posts weren’t visually interesting and IMHO could use some more fun in how they were written. The good news is there were some interesting topics mixed in with the spam (nice try, but I won’t be giving you any love!)
This Week’s Social Media Carnival Winner
PicktheBrain’s post 20+ Must Read Education Technology Blogs for Teachers, Students, and e-Learners is my choice for the best educational post this week. Although not the most exciting post to read, it is full of good information about what blogs to read if you’re interested in e-learning.
Second Place
Anna Farmery’s A Disposable Company? The Business of the Future? is a very interesting read. Anna brings up the question – is “long standing” a good thing in a business? Yes, I know this isn’t technically a post on social media, but I’m the only judge for this week and get the final say. (I think the power’s going to my head!) If PickTheBrain is unable to fulfill the responsibilities of this week’s Social Media Carnival winner, then The Engaging Brand Blog will be entitled to all of the perks (?) of winning.
Honarable Mentions
David Miller’s How to host a WordPress blog for free. David does a good job spelling out how (and why) you should host your own WordPress blog.
HazardousPaste’s 12 Reasons Why Facebook’s New Design Sucks. There’s nothing like a good rant, especially when the rant is backed up by solid examples.
Tired of sitting on the sidelines and think you’ve got a post that could win? Submit your best blog post from the last 2 weeks in an upcoming Social Media Carnival and see you around the campus!

Stop Advertising Your Cell Phone Carrier

DebOnTheWeb — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 21:03:54 +0000

Do you use a Blackberry , iPhone or Treo? Send yourself a test email and then look at the bottom of the email. Every email you send from your smartphone probably says something like “Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry“. Unless Verizon or the other smartphone carriers start paying us for every email we send out, why advertise them?
Go into your smartphone’s email application, find the place for your email signature file and either just remove it or put in a link to your website or your favorite quote. It’s your email – make sure it says only what you want!
You might wonder why I care. I definitely got this attitude from my father (thanks Dad!). I remember going with him once to buy a car and he was adamant in telling the dealer not to put the dealer’s information on the back of the car. I have my father’s eyes (notice the glasses), his sense of humor (we’re Mel Brooks fans) and his intensity not to advertise someone else unless I truly want to!

Free Websites & Software

DebOnTheWeb — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 20:28:19 +0000

I was teaching a class last week for the Massachusetts Association of REALTORS. We spent the day talking about ways to do a better job marketing our listings for our clients. Although the class isn’t a technology class, many times the agents would ask me a question and I’d say “well, there’s a great website that will help you!”. So, here is
DebOnTheWeb’s List of Fabulous Free Sites & Software

PDF’s for Free
CutePDF – why pay over $400 for Adobe Acrobat when you can use CutePDF to convert anything on your computer into a PDF file for free. This nifty program installs as an additional printer. Once you install the software, just select anything on your computer, hit Print and choose CutePDF as your printer. That’s all you have to do!
Foxit – ever get frustrated with how long it takes Adobe Acrobat to open? Foxit is a small PDF reader that will open in a flash.
Social Networking
ReTaggr - puts all of your social networking information in one place to put on your blog or website. You can create an email signature, too.
Flickr.com – A great service that post photos & videos and share them here.
TweetDeck – This free program will help you make sense of the Twitter Stream
TwitButtons – make it easy for people to follow you on Twitter with these free buttons
Online Meetings
Skype – free computer to computer calls, free one on one video conferencing. Skype’s been the leader for years and with good reason!
Vyew – I’m amazed that this very robust meeting/collaboration site is free. You can even share your computer screen.
Tracking & SEO
Google Alerts – what are people saying about you or your business online? Stay on top of the buzz with this free service from Google.
Google Analytics which help you track what pages are popular on your website and how people are finding you
WebCeo – Take your tracking to a new level and even compare your site to your competition
There’s one more I have to add even though the software will cost you $49.95
SnagIt – this is your “print screen” button on steroids. I use this all of the time to snag screen shots to put into my listing presentations, to make a PDF of an entire website (not just what I can see on my screen). Its one of my favorite tools for my blog as well!