March
1, 2007: RECS Cybertips for March 2007
Joe
Zlomek is a member of the Real
Estate Cyberspace Society (RECS). It provides these tips in a monthly
newsletter.
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Explore Angie's
List to find a recommended contractor
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Need a contractor to fix a cabinet, to replace some glass, or to get anything else done around or in the house? The Real
Estate Cyberspace Society, of which Joe Zlomek is a member, often uncovers sites that deliver good resources without cost.
Angie's List comes with a modest monthly fee, but if you’ve ever gone through the stressful job of hiring a contractor you could find its site invaluable.
Contractors are rated by those who have hired them. Most ratings are brutally honest. Each review includes detailed information about the type of work done, the cost of the job and grades for responsiveness, quality, punctuality and professionalism. In addition, there are vignettes describing the details of the experience with the contractor; often laudatory, but sometimes downright hostile.
Angie's List can save you a ton of grief the next time you need work done around the house.
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| Get discounts you deserve
using DealMine |
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Everyday there are discounts galore available to you that you may, in ignorance, pass up.
DealMine, a website currently (as of March 1, 2007) in beta testing, tracks more than 30 discount programs. There’s a good chance you belong to some of them ... whether you know it or not.
If you are a member of AAA, AARP, American Express, Visa, Delta SkyMiles, American AAdvantage or any one of many other organizations listed by
DealMine, you can visit its site, enter the name of a product you want to purchase, and get price comparisons for the product that include known discounts available to you. For example, AAA members can receive a 10-percent discount on all purchases made at Target stores.
It's an interesting site to check before your next trip to shop for items you need to dress up your home.
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| Unsure how to open that
file? Check The
File Extension Source |
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It's happened to almost every real estate licensee: they receive an e-mail from a client or prospect with an attached file that won’t open, because they lack the software with which the file was made. Want to know what program to use to open the attachment?
The File Extension Source is the place to find out.
A file extension is the three-letter acronym that follows the "dot" in a computer file name. For instance, in the file "letter.doc," DOC is the extension that often identifies a document created in Microsoft Word.
At File Extension Source you can probably learn more information about file types than you'll ever use ... or want to know. But basic information usually is accompanied by links to software vendors who occasionally offer evaluation programs that can be downloaded without charge. The trial software works only for a defined period of time (a month or less). Still, that may be long enough to get that attachment open and determine the nature of its contents. As an alternative, you may also often learn how to view the file's contents without the required program.
The File Extension Source is a bit too techie, but it can be invaluable if you need help in a hurry.
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| DealerRater
tells how a car dealership rates with consumers |
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Automobile and transportation costs are the single largest personal expense incurred by real estate licensees. It's no surprise, then, that more agents are visiting the
DealerRater website before pulling out their wallets at a car dealership.
DealerRater arms consumers with information about the experiences previous customers had with car dealers. It's among the latest of a new crop of websites in which consumers express their views about the quality (or lack thereof) of specific products and services. Some websites even rate the performance of, you guessed it, real estate agents.
Customers visit DealerRater and rate a dealer on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). Each dealer is rated on the basis of customer service, quality of work, friendliness, overall experience, and pricing. Be forewarned: there does seem to be a glitch in the website. In several reviews, customers seem to highly praise but decline to recommend the dealer. Research reveals that this conflict apparently occurs because the site's default answer to the “recommend” question is “no.”
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