A Couple of Useful Technology Tools that I Like

I was working yesterday using a couple of my favorite technology tools, and my client seemed interested in them, so I thought it might be a good idea to share them here at Active Rain.  They have both become second nature to me, and since this forum is full of tech-savvy agents, you may already be using them.  If not, I hope you find this helpful.


 


I started my own brokerage three years ago, and I was trying to manage my incoming and outgoing faxes better.  I didn't like the fact that I had to receive them at home OR at the office.  Why couldn't I just get them on my email?  Well, I can with eFax.  I think it costs about $20/month for the eFax Pro, and it works really well.  If you give out your eFax number, all of the faxes will come straight to your email.  My business partner and I share an account, and all of the faxes to this number go to both of our email addresses.  eFax comes with its own proprietary reader, or you can set it up to send in PDF format (which I did). 


This has been invaluable to me when I am sending or receiving offers.  I sometimes fax it to myself via eFax, then I can easily email it to buyers, sellers, or other agents.  It is not a big deal, but everyone usually seems happy and impressed that I can email rather than requiring them to have a fax machine available.  I would highly recommend this service.



 


The other "tech tool" that I LOVE (and it's free) is CutePDF.  This is an awesome program with a quick download that enables you to easily convert documents into PDF.  I have used this for property flyers, Word documents, and contracts.  CutePDF sets up a "virtual printer" on your system, so when you want to convert the document, you just print it to the CutePDF printer, and it will ask you to name it.  At that point, you have successfully created a PDF.  Yes, it is that easy!


 


 


As a side note, I made the switch back in June or July to a web-based email program, and I have no idea why I waited so long.  Actually, I do know why.  I didn't realize that I could retain the same email address (which I have had for nine years now) but still use one of these handy services.  Once I realized that I can keep the same address, this was a very easy decision to make. 


I am using Gmail and my wife uses Yahoo mail.  I have been pleased with the spam filter and it saves me a lot of time; Gmail doesn't allow me to sort by sender name, but Yahoo does.  so I may switch to Yahoo soon.  Either way, I love having the ability to log on anywhere and get my messages.  For many of you, this is probably old hat by now, but for me, it was a revelation.


 


I have suggested these items to the people I work with, and you guys are my buddies, so I hope you find this useful as well. 


If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me and I can probably walk you through it.  Have a great day, and thanks for reading!  You may have some great tools of your own that you would like to share below.


 


Copyright 2007   Jason Crouch    Austin Real Estate

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