So you’ve just purchased a new place and now its time to add some furniture. Where do you start? Many people will buy home décor magazines to get some ideas. That’s not a bad start if you’re not the best with coordinating colors and styles. However, many of us are on a fixed income and can’t afford the expensive pieces we see in those magazines. So here are some suggestions if you’re looking for affordable ideas for your home.

The flea market. Some of the best places to shop are not at the top of everyone’s list, and the Flea Market is one of these places. Here you can find pieces that may not always match but can still look good in your living space. Bargain with the vendors to get lower prices, they are expecting this anyway. Get there early because you want the best choices not the left over pickings from the day. Lastly, bring a large vehicle or truck so you can load up and take your furniture home.

Scratched and dented furniture. Another way to save on pricey furniture is to check out your local furniture stores and ask about their scratched and dented furniture. You can also ask about their old floor pieces and get these at a great deal. Most stores are willing to sell them at a low price since they may be worn from being on display. Bargaining is again a good thing to do when trying to purchase these pieces.

Discount furniture stores. Stores like The Dump in Hampton Roads, VA are another great place to buy inexpensive name-brand items. These pieces are mostly discontinued goods from other name-brand stores. Bring a large truck or vehicle with you so you don’t have to pay extra to have the pieces delivered.

Walmart and Target. Don’t discount these two stores. They are great for buying basic furniture and accents for your home. They offer throw pillows, curtains, bathroom shelves, and more. They really have it all.

Online sales. If you prefer to shop online, some great places include Macy’s, Overstock, and IKEA. Be mindful that not all items you find online are available in stores and vice versa. While shopping online there may be online specials and sales that you won’t find in the stores. Store sales are not always available online as well. At IKEA mostly smaller items like kitchen utensils and cookware are not available online so make sure there is a store nearby where you can purchase these items. JC Penny’s, Kohl’s, Walmart, and Target also have online shopping available with specials and sales not in stores.

Whether it’s for your cozy apartment, your condo or a house, you can furnish it to fit your budget. Having your home looking great and classy does not have to break your pockets.

Websites

• www.macys.com
o Currently celebrating their 150th anniversary, check out the in-store and online gifts, while supplies last. Free shipping statewide for purchases of
$99 or more.
• http://www.ikea.com/us/en
• www.jcpenny.com
o Free shipping on orders of $99 or more.
o Lowest prices of the season sale currently in effect.
• www.walmart.com
• www.target.com
• http://www.thedump.com/
o Weekend coupons available on this page.
• www.kohls.com
o Lowest prices of the season sale currently in effect.
o Always an in-store sale happening

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So you’ve been out all day taking photos of your real estate listings. After downloading them from your camera, you see that they’re good, but they’re just not perfect. You know that with just a few tweaks they’d be perfect. You're not the most tech-savvy and you don’t have the budget to purchase super fancy photo-editing software, so what do you do?

Don’t worry!

I found some web-based photo-editing tools that are not only easy to use, but FREE. Did I say FREE? Many of these tools will give you comparable results to brand-name software, but without the steep learning curve and hefty price tag!

One of my favorites is www.picnik.com. This site has all the basics you need to modify your photos. After registering for a free account, you can upload and modify photos in a flash.

The basic tool set allows you to:

· Rotate

· Crop

· Resize

· Fix exposure

· Change colors

· Sharpen

· Convert to new file type (png, gif, tif, bmp)

Should you feel a little adventuresome and want to test out the advanced tools, you can do the following:

· Convert to black and white or sepia

· Add borders

· Add drop shadow

· Add text

· Touch up

Picnik has all the editing tools that the professionals use, just without the high price tag. Best of all, this site is available to you from any computer connected to the internet—for FREE!

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Does it seem like sometimes there are just too many websites you need to access online throughout your day? Many of us need to visit a dozen or so different websites to make online payments, check email, receive critical updates, access social networking, all of which require entering their own login information. If this sounds like your daily schedule, remembering various domain names and the occasional “password amnesia” can cause serious frustration and overload.

Pageonce.com, marketed as your “personal internet assistant,” provides a free service to their users which allows them the ability to access all of their various online accounts through one central login screen. Their service allows you to integrate directly with top national banks, cellular companies, utility companies, various email accounts, eBay accounts, social networking sites and many others.

I know firsthand that accessing so many different sites daily can get overwhelming at times, so I decided to setup a Pageonce.com account myself. I was initially skeptical about the service though, heavily concerned about security issues and the possibility that my accounts might be hacked through Pageonce.com. As it turns out, Pageonce.com only has access to your information as part of a “read only” online feed, which can not update or change your accounts. The Pageonce.com service and security is considered to be on par with military level security, certified with Verisign, Truste, and deemed "hacker safe" by McAfee. Another benefit of using a Pageonce.com account is that one can reduce exposure to and eliminate the possibility of “phishing” fraud, a method used to obtain login information of victims online by creating bogus login screens of popular websites.

Though it did take about an hour to setup and store all my usernames and passwords, I believe my preliminary hard work paid off. I can now view from one consolidated login screen and see my credit card balance(s), utility bill balance and next payment, DirecTV balance and next payment, cell phone balance and minutes left, Marriott Rewards balance, LinkedIn messages, Hotmail emails read/unread, Starbuck’s card balance, and a number of others. And even though my local utility company was originally not listed as a partner, I submitted a request to add them as a new partner. About a week later, I received an email notice stating that my utility company was added to my websites, illustrating the adaptability of Pageonce.com. As part of their commitment to user security and communication, Pageonce.com also sends email notices when a significant change is made to one of my accounts through their site.

While still in beta testing, the consolidated website account access from Pageonce.com is a fantastic concept and definitely worth giving a try.

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My guess is that you’ve heard about the new iPhone release – twice as fast and half the price.

But the aspect that I’m just as interested in is the built-in GPS. As mobile devices like the iPhone and Dash become more sophisticated, the possibilities for agents and home shoppers get pretty exciting.

For example, how nice would it be to drive through a neighborhood, stop your car, click the “show-me-homes- that-match-my-preferences-near-where-I-am” button and magically see a map with listings pinned.

Then maybe you could press the “speak-the-driving-directions-to-me” button, and have a voice-automated tour of the homes on your list.

When you got within reach of your home’s wireless network, you could click the “print-my-favorites” button.

It’s just a matter of time.

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Is your email inbox more of a dumping ground for the long list of tasks that seem to continuously grow? Have you even tried to find that specific email regarding the issue you know was resolved, but seems to have popped up again? Are you constantly digging through emails from your colleagues to find a signature with their phone numbers on it? I have to share my favorite organizational tool with you, and it is FREE!

This savior of my Outlook Inbox is Xobni! Funny name for a great tool (it is inbox spelled backwards) but it truly works! Some of the features are:

--Easy to navigate, right side tool bar that instantly shows connections between you, the highlighted sender and the people you both communicate with
--Document/attachment history from each contact
--Email conversation “threads”
--Super fast email search through all of your Outlook
--Easy and quick appointment scheduling
--Automatic phone number extraction for each contact
--Editable contact profiles

One feature I love is that you can search by people—and it will search your entire Outlook, not just one folder! This free product has really made my email much easier to use. Honestly, after using Xobni for the last 3 weeks, I don’t think I can go back to not having it!

To download your own free Outlook inbox miracle, visit the Xobni website:

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Where will you be this week?

Thousands of real estate agents & brokers will be heading to Washington, DC May 14-16, to join in the 2008 National Association of Realtors Mid-Year Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo.

As the National Association of Realtors celebrates its 100th birthday celebration during this year’s expo, the agenda promises to be the best yet.

Homes.com is exhibiting as part of the Dominion Pavilion, Booth #320, along with eNeighborhoods, Advanced Access and #1Expert.

All agents & brokers are welcome to stop by and register for your chance to win a FREE iPod, and various show specials.

Hope to see you there!

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This morning Homes.com & Zillow.com announced a new listing partnership in a joint press release to the media. Over 105,000 Homes.com property listings were fed directly to Zillow.com, the first of many hand-entered listings from Homes.com, expanding the listing distribution options currently available to real estate agents and brokers.

This means many potential benefits to both the agent and consumer- something that has not gone unnoticed at either Zillow or Homes.com. “This partnership is just one example of our ongoing efforts to provide Homes.com customers with the most effective means of marketing their listings to multiple consumer destinations while providing the convenience of managing their distribution from one central location,” explains Jason Doyle, vice president of Homes.com.

Zillow joins Vast, Google Base, Oodle.com, HarmonHomes.com, Trulia, Propbot.com, Yahoo Real Estate and Bargain Network at the newest listing export channel for Homes.com customers.

For more information on this listing partnership, visit: Homes.com’s Press Room or Zillow’s Blog.

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I need reminders of appointments and tasks that need to be completed. Since I am rarely at my desk, I need these reminders to come to where I am. Since my phone is always with me this is the perfect tool. As a tech guy I would setup email reminders to my phone using some scripting language. This helped but it was not enough. Sometimes the email would be held up on some email server somewhere. The reminder would be late getting to my phone and I would be late to the appointment or the task would not be done in time.

I started using the Google calendar. The main reason I use it is for the SMS paging capabilities. SMS is text messaging. If I want to get paged I want it right away. The SMS paging does this without having to worry about whether my email server is slow. I can also use the Google Calendar to keep my schedule. I can share my calendar with other people. I have some security in it to prevent people from knowing my exact schedule but they can see when I am busy and when I am available. I can even have a separate calendar for my co-workers to see what my schedule is like that week or month.

Most of this can be done with competitors but what I appreciate most, no ads. I do not have an ad flashing at me. The layout is clean and simple. I can also see what my schedule is from my phone’s web browser. In all, Google calendar gives me a simple and easy interface to keep my schedule and sends me text messages on time when I have an appointment. Best of all it is free with no ads.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/googlecalendar/overview.html

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Tech-Up for Y’ers: Four must have tools to help you get in sync with Generation Y.

They’re calling across borders, emailing bosses, and arriving to their next appointment thanks to advances from Palm, RIM and Windows Mobile. It’s Generation Y, a new market for realtors and brokers alike.

No matter who your next client may be, success means staying at the forefront of emerging technology. So get ready because Generation Y makes up 35% of all first-time homebuyers. And they’re not just smart and independent, but a new breed of young multi-taskers who have been immersed in the world of advanced technology since birth.

Knowing this, we’ve compiled a list of the top must-have tools for you to tech-up for the Y’ers.

1. Smartphone
Never before has there been a more seamless integration of web, email, maps, GPS and business tools quite like the Smartphone. As an owner of a Blackberry 8830, part of Blackberry’s 8800 series, I’ve found that it has a large screen, full keyboard and superb email capabilities. Other Smartphone makers include Palm and Windows Mobile. Which ever device you choose, these phones help to put you on track to communicating more efficiently with your next client.

2. Mobile GPS
The mobile GPS device has proved useful for the active real estate agent[5]. Top devices by Garmin, TomTom and Magellan, come with features such as a touch screen and integrated traffic tuner. This device will help keep you on track to your next destination while keeping you on time for your next appointment.


3. Tablet PC
The tablet PC brings together handwriting and computing technology into one innovative, versatile design. It’s great for the Realtor on the go! The Tablet PC stores written information as “digital ink” using Windows Journal. HP, Dell and Lenovo top the list of companies using the Tablet PC[6]. This device works seamlessly with the VREO Real Estate Dashboard and is a must-have for the ultimate mobile realtor.


4. VREO Real Estate Dashboard
Really want to wow your clients? Skip the paper work altogether with the VREO Real Estate Dashboard. This software allows agents to sign forms and contacts electronically when used with the pen feature available with a Tablet PC. Create a superb experience for your client; with one program, you can provide faster service that will save you both time and money.


What's your opinion?

References:
[1] Forbes.com
[2] Inman News
[3] Black Enterprise Magazine
[4] www.cnet.com
[5] www.mytechopinion.com
[6] www.tabletpcreviews.com

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Sending photos to prospects or to fellow agents? Take a look at the following guidelines to insure prospects are able to view your pictures and more importantly able to receive them in their inboxes. Even with the recent increases of inbox size for email programs such as Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo!, etc, many consumers still use their ISP’s email accounts that generally have a 2-10 MB capacity. Large images also may not fit the viewer’s computer screen resulting in difficult viewing.

Resize your images - Large files (2+MB) take longer to download, longer to send and will often fill up your prospect’s inbox quickly…so be user friendly to your prospect's Inbox! If you do not have a way to resize or crop your photos, check out Picasa by Google. Picasa is free to download, use and will work with Microsoft Outlook or a Gmail account; allowing you to email your images as soon as you edit them. Picasa will also search your computer for photos and categorize them automatically so you can find them easily. XnView is another free photo editing program that offers a few more editing capabilities than Picasa, but can be less user-friendly.

Send a link to the photo instead of an actual photo attachment – Avoid the hassle altogether. Add a link in your email so your prospect can link directly to your listing photos. Go to the specific listing on your website as a consumer would and copy the URL in your browser’s address field for a direct link to that page.

Let your prospect know you are sending an email with an attachment – If you are sending actual photo attachments, let the prospect know. With the prevalence of computer viruses, consumers may see any attachment as a potential threat and may delete your email before reading it!

Reduce picture quality setting on your digital camera – Most digitial cameras will have the highest quality setting on by default resulting in multi megabyte images. Lower the picture quality on your camera and you will not only reduce the photo file size, but you will free up more space in your camera’s memory for more pictures!

Zip the photos – Zipping a file creates a compressed version of the file that is much smaller than the original file. If you have several large photos that you want to send via email, your best bet is to send them to a compressed folder. To do this, simply select the photo files that you want to Zip. (You can select the entire contents of a folder by choosing the "Edit" menu and then "Select All".) After selecting the images, Right Click on any of the selected images. This will prompt an options menu. Choose "Send to: " and then "Compressed (zipped) File". This will create a single file containing all the images you selected. When you want to email it, add the file as an attachment by simply clicking "Browse" and selecting the newly created .zip file. One thing to note, even .zip files can be too big to email. So make sure you don’t put too many photos in a single .zip file.

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With the competitive real estate market of today, replying first to a client inquiry sometimes means the difference in getting a new listing, closing a sale, or beginning a relationship with a potential buyer.

Many technology savvy agents and brokers are already taking advantage of text message add-on services with their internet products to assure they get their messages first, while others are providing their text message email addresses associated with their cellular phone.

If you do not currently have text messaging built into your internet presence, we recommend adding your cell phone email address as a secondary option to assure you stay connected with your client’s communications.

To help you track down your cell phone email address, we’ve listed below a great link which compiles all current phone carriers.

http://www.notepage.net/smtp.htm

As with any service, please send test emails before adding as an additional email option and always review your phone service plan for additional charges that could apply.

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A friend of mine is an agent with a site that needs a little TLC. He’s currently using a template-based site from a competitor, and in my attempt to help him “see the light,” I decided to give his site a relatively simple make-over. The results are shown below along with a step-by-step listing of my thought process as I moved from “before” to “after.”

Before:


After:


And the Changes:

1. 
   Fixed the odd vertical line alignment. Apparently the “Comfort Creek” logo is too wide for this template to handle. Consequently, it is pushing the content area to the right, and the thin, black, vertical lines no longer connect. Rather than try to reduce the size of the logo, I chose to remove the vertical lines altogether.
   


2. 
   Left some items as they were. Some elements of the design seemed to be working fine. I chose to leave the main beach photo, font for “Barry Bevis…” and the Featured Listings box alone.
   


3. 
   Strengthened the branding. The logo was tweaked a little and placed in the upper left area above the photo of the country road. Moving the logo into the header also gives the brand a small boost and helps the header area emphasize Barry Bevis. I also moved the top navigation bar down underneath the header section to added emphasis to the brand.
   


4. 
   Made the navigation links look more clickable. I’m a sucker for tabs. They are so helpful for organization. Adding a tab-based menu clarified which page is currently being viewed.
   


5. 
   Consolidated the redundant left-side links. After a quick review of the top navigation and the left-side navigation, there seemed to be unnecessary redundancy. By eliminating the duplicates (Home, My Listings, and Search MLS) and by consolidating the other links into one “Resources” page, the complexity of choices on the page was greatly simplified.
   


6. 
   Cleaned-up the left side a bit more. After moving the logo up into the header and removing or consolidating the side navigation links, there wasn’t much left inside the blue-gray side bar. I moved the “Tell a Friend” link over to the right side under the Featured Listings box because it seemed more likely that I’d be telling a friend about a particular listing that I saw. I then replaced the blue-gray background color with white and moved the “Bert Bevis Realty” text up under the “Barry Bevis” text in the header.
   


7. 
   Added some additional emphasis to contact. With the left bar now empty, I moved Barry’s photo over and added his phone number and an email link.
   


8. 
   Reduced the “visual density” of the content area. By changing the font color from black to olive and by adding some line spacing, the content area began to feel less heavy. I also removed the thick black outline on the “Comfort Creek” logo and changed the coloring to from black to olive for a better tie-in.
   


9. 
   Centered the design and softened the left and right edges. The center design helps the page fill the browser window more nicely. The gradient blend on the edges help the page feel more open and less boxed in by left and right margins. The color blend added the background of the content area is mostly just for kicks. It feels optional, but I decided to leave it.
   

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Do-it-yourself listing showcase videos can be easy and fun to make. If you are not careful though, your final product could be a bouncy “Blair Witch style” tour of the home’s interior and exterior, more closely resembling a blooper’s reel than serious marketing material.

There are several tips and tricks you can use in your production:

Tripod – Using a tripod stabilizes the camera, getting rid of the “Blair Witch” effect for a more professional appearance.

Staging - Staging focuses on improving the appearance of a property. Staging a home can transform it into a welcoming, appealing, and attractive environment to potential buyers. Staging deemphasizes a home’s flaws and spotlights the attractive aspects.

Audio –Ever watch a video and see the person’s mouth moving, but can’t hear a word because of the background noise? People want to be able to hear what is being said. By creating your video early in the day or later in the afternoon, you minimize the risk of capturing unwanted sounds. This will allow you to focus on your subject.

Lighting – Is the property you’re filming dark and dreary or bright and sunny? Make sure you put it in the best light possible. Consider filming your property the early morning or late afternoon. Photographers refer to the first hour after dawn and the last hour before dusk as the “Golden Hour”. This is the time when the outside lighting is at its best. The sunlight is defused and does away with harsh shadows and highlights.

These days, just about every cell phone and digital camera can take a video. Just because you have a gadget that can take a video, unfortunately, doesn’t make you a Spielberg or a Coppola. By following the basic steps listed above, you’ll be well on your way.

Just remember… unless you want to emphasize the fact that the property you’re selling is in a seismically active location, use a tripod. Also, do not forget to stage your property. This helps when trying to hide that crime scene outline or showing off that outstanding mountain view.

If after following some of these basic steps you find yourself not winning a Best Director’s award or even being nominated, you can always leave it to the professionals. There are many companies out there that can help you showcase your property effortlessly.

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November is here and all of us in the real estate industry know that can only mean one thing: NAR!

Just in case there’s someone out there that hasn’t heard, NAR is the National Association of REALTORS and they throw the biggest and best party, um, I mean, conference, of them all!

This year’s extravaganza is being held next week (November 13-16) in Las Vegas.

Homes.com and AgentAdvantage have packed up shop and are heading west to take part in the festivities. I don’t mean to brag or anything, but we pulled out the all the stops this year.

We have partnered with our sister companies, Advanced Access, eNeighborhoods and Number 1 Expert, under our parent company Dominion Enterprises.

And we are offering REALTORS a chance to win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!

You’re eyes do not deceive, that’s ONE MILLION DOLLARS.

We have a life-size slot machine just waiting for you to take a spin.

If you’re at NAR, come by the Dominion Pavilion (booth 926) and take a spin!

See you in Vegas (I’ll be the one by the slot machine)!

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Search Engine Marketing & Optimization

Join Homes.com & AgentAdvantage October 23rd for a FREE online training session on Search Engine Marketing & Optimization. This class will cover a basic overview of both SEO & SEM, common pay per click practices, examples of good website optimization and a few tricks of the trade.

This class is for any agent looking to maximize their current PPC or Search Engine Optimization efforts.

To register, Click Here. Hurry! Space is limited!

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