Real Estate Solutions

60 Websites in 60 Minutes

I’ve been selling real estate in Eastern Connecticut for over 33 years. I’ve had good success, sold a bunch of houses, won some awards, and as a result have been invited to speak at a number of real estate events including RE/MAX International Conventions, Inman Connect and regional conferences.

Lots of speakers at conventions and conferences will tell you how to sell real estate and use technology in your business. Unfortunately, many speakers have never actually sold real estate. I’m not a professional speaker and I didn’t sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night but I do sell real estate and use technology in my business just like you.

About a year ago, I created a presentation called “60 Websites in 60 Minutes”. After delivering the session at Triple Play in New Jersey, someone in the audience asked me where they could go to discover my other “finds”. Although I post many of them here, it occurred to me that Facebook was a natural place to post my favorites including those I use in my “60 in 60” presentation. And so my 60 Websites in 60 Minutes Facebook page was born. I hope you’ll stop by, like it, and learn some cool stuff.

60 Websites in 60 Minutes

I’ll be doing some real estate technology sessions next week for the good folks at RE/MAX Landmark in Stoughton MA. Here is a sneak peek of my presentation.

60 Websites In 60 Minutes

View more presentations from Linda Davis.

Google Maps for Real Estate

Did you know that Real Estate listings can be found by going to Google Maps , finding a location, and clicking on the "More" button in the upper right corner of the map page.  Select "Real Estate" and an overlay of properties for sale will appear on your Google map as well as a search window to the left letting you select "For Sale", "For Rent" and "Foreclosure" property types.

Try it out!  Click on "More" in the upper right corner to enable REAL ESTATE.

P.S. While you are at it, don’t forget to fill out your Google Profile.

Big Huge Labs for Real Estate

Big Huge Labs is one of my favorite places to visit when I’m feeling creative. As their website shouts out, “Helping you do cool stuff with your digital photos since 2005.

At Big Huge Labs you will find online photo toys which give you the ability to make calendars, cubes, badges, slide shows and magazine covers from your own digital photos. One of my favorites is the Motivator toy which lets you create a poster with a humorous or inspirational message. I created my twitter background, seen below,  using Big Huge Lab’s Mosaic Maker.

There are plenty of useful real estate applications at BigHugeLabs. Just use your imagination!

60 Websites in 60 Minutes

I won big in Atlantic City in December but it had nothing to do with gambling. I presented 60 websites in 60 minutes at Triple Play, a fantastic convention put on by the combined efforts of the Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey Association of Realtors. I won some great friends and new ideas for future 60 in 60 presentations as the audience share some of their own favorites.

Triple Play - 60 in 60

View more presentations from Linda Davis.

PhotoJoJo

I would guess anyone reading this blog owns a digital camera. And like the Photojojo website says “you’ve probably taken a bajillion photos with it.” PhotoJoJo offers creative ideas for your photos many of which you can adapt to real estate. (Ok, maybe not the idea of putting your face on a cupcake.) Photojojo’s twice a week newsletter is a quick read and full of cool tips, projects and even unusual photo “stuff” to buy. While their newsletters are fun and entertaining, they cover serious stuff like how to take family portraits or photos at night.

A School Widget for Your Real Estate Blog

I don't like to junk up my blog or website with too many widgets but here's one I found on the Education.com website. In addition to the widget generator, the site also offers lots of other good tools and information for those interested in education.

Ledyard Schools

• map
• school list
• find

Ledyard Schools
Connecticut Schools

Get your own Local Schools Widget

Eye Jot for Real Estate

I could write about EyeJot video mail for real estate but my friend Pei Lin Huang from Syracuse, New York does a great job explaining EyeJot by using an Eyejot! She introduced the idea and showed her branded eyejot at our CyberProfessional Meeting in Orlando and the group was impressed. There is a free version but the $99 to upgrade to Eyejot pro is worth the price for the ability to brand your mail with logo and color scheme.

Tech solutions – PDF to Word

ConvertPDFtoWord.net does just that. It converts PDF files to word files. Not much more to say. It’s cool. It works. Try it.

You.Info

This is not an original idea.  I borrowed the idea from Jeff Turner and I think it is brilliant. Actually, I think Jeff is pretty brilliant too.

I was ordering some new business cards and trying to decide what websites, blogs and links to include.  I kept shifting the order form from one side of my desk to the other because I just could not make up my mind.  I have different audiences and thought maybe I should just go ahead and print different cards for different occasions.  Not a bad idea. 

I was on twitter and Jeff twittered a link to his new "blog", www.JeffTurner.info.  I clicked the link and found my answer.  Jeff created his little blog to list all the places he can be found on the internet.  I headed to GoDaddy and bought www.LindaDavis.info and my little blog was born.  Now I have the best link to give to anyone trying to find me on the internet. Cool,  huh?