In today’s real estate market, we can see more clearly than ever that having the ability to easily tailor your website to fit the needs of your customer is an essential part of having a strong online presence. To that end, I want to bring to light a tool – or more accurately, two tools – which are going to be able to help you achieve this goal.

This service recently came to my attention when one of our customers asked about the ability to have users upload files, photos, and blueprints directly to him through his public website – a service Point2 doesn’t offer natively. Some coworkers and I pooled our collective knowledge, and out of that union we found JotForm, a powerful one-two punch which provides highly customizable forms for your website, as well as the option to upload files directly to your existing Dropbox account. (You DO have a Dropbox account, right? If not, it’s time to make one! We’ll come back to this in a second.)

This is an incredibly powerful tool, and it provides you everything from the ability to add forms and capture data from Facebook, to the ability to take payments through trusted vendors like PayPal, ClickBank, and Google Checkout. The more in-depth you wish your form to be, the more complicated it’s going to be to set up – however, that said, there is a fantastic User Guide which goes over nearly every question I could think of, which you can access through this link.

Now, moving on to the highlight of this little blog post: The ability for a client to upload files directly to your existing Dropbox account. Now, those of you who have Dropbox already and know what it is may skip over this next paragraph. For those of you who are wondering exactly what I’m talking about, Dropbox is another free service which provides you the ability to host files online, which you can then access from any computer with an active internet connection (in fact, for those of you with smart phones, you can get the app). So if you haven’t already set up an account with Dropbox… what are you waiting for?! Did I mention it was free? You can sign up for the service by clicking this link.

Once you’ve got your Dropbox account set up, the next step to getting your customers the ability to upload files through your website, is to sign up for JotForm (or if you’re already signed up, integrate your Dropbox account), by going to www.JotForm.com and following the on-screen prompts. Once this has been completed, you’re nearly set! The last step is to simply find an existing template which uses the Dropbox integration (Templates available here), or create your own from scratch.

Once you have your custom form, or your new upload page, simply copy the code provided in JotForm, and paste that into an “Advanced Content Module” within your Point2 website. The form will immediately show up on the public end of your website.

Now, one last note: as with all free services, both Dropbox and JotForm offer more space and the ability to use more forms with paid subscriptions. For most users, the free service provided will be more than you’ll need – however, if you find yourself hitting your limits, both services provide upgrades at a reasonable price for a great reward.

I really cannot say enough good things about these two tools. The fact that they integrate so well with each other, and with Point2, is really just “icing on the cake”.

Without a contract, the perceived ‘representation’ is limited to the agent conveying information provided by the other party, buyer or seller, that the buyer or seller must then analyze and make their decisions upon. This is referred to more as working ‘with’ the customer, rather than working ‘for’ them. A far cry from an optimal position, in as far as the customer is concerned.

True value and advantage lies in the customer’s ability to tap the agent’s extensive negotiating, neighbourhood insight and overall expertise, to their advantage. To benefit from their recommendations on how to approach the negotiating process, rather than just relaying to them an asking price and carrying back counter offers. As a home buyer, you want your agent to put serious skills to bear, much like a lawyer might. But they can legally only do so if they are under contract to ‘represent you.’

While the benefits of remaining free to work with one or more agents may seem appealing to some, there are many risks associated with such an approach. Carolyne Realty Corp. has a great write up on representation that covers the subject in far more detail and might be a good read for any buyer or seller. Realtor.com, on its website, also stresses the importance of proper representation when consumers are ready to take their search from online to real-life. Not just in securing the best deal possible, but also to access accurate data and facts about a property before making the leap.

We know what sniffing is, and what fishing is. But Phishing, with a ‘P’? And ‘Smishing’?

After digging a bit, yours truly also figured he didn’t even know what fishing really was, even though I’d been ‘fishing’ ever since I was a child. Not in technology terms at least.

Malicious activity chasing personal banking and other private information on someone’s computer comes in many shapes or forms. In a world going more and more mobile however, new tactics – and terms – have emerged. So take note.

Especially if you use an Android powered mobile device, hackers’ ability to trick you into allowing them to grab your information is seemingly higher than if you use an iPhone. Don’t shoot the messenger. I am simply stating some facts garnered on AARP, a technology resource favourite for many.

Android powered phones are outselling iPhones, but unlike the Apple marketing machine, which closely monitors what applications are posted in its iTunes store, Android based apps aren’t supervised as well, if at all, as this article by Steve Morgenstern claims. There are as such higher chances that you upload a malicious app on an android-powered phone or other mobile tool such as a tablet.

Here are, for starters, are a few key terms to pay attention to, in order to help keep your private information safer as you navigate through the World Wild Web.

Phishing – is when an email or message prompts you should click on a link – to update security information or any other manner of personal information. These emails could appear to be issued by your bank, for example. That’s one way for the bad guys to gain access to your username and password.

Wifi Sniffing – is when private information is accessed by tapping into an open, unsecured public Wifi network that you are logged on. These can be wireless access points offered at many coffee shops and other public facilities, as well as an unsecured Wifi access point in your home. An example of this in action is the popular FireSheep application which sniffs your passwords over-the-air.

Smishing – the latest term I have come across in Web security. It combines SMS messaging and Phishing. The approach could include dubious text messages asking you to click on a short link (a Bit.ly link for instance). While convenient, these short links make it more difficult for the non tech savvy to see where the link actually leads to.

QR Codes / tags are also being used to take you where you shouldn’t go. Once you’re on the Web page of their desire, they’d just load malware onto your phone and let technology take over, grabbing whatever information they’ve designed their system to seek. Even third party contact information, so they can work them too, even by impersonating their messages as coming from you. This is a particularly effective tactic since many QR reader applications do not show you the URL the code directs to, rather it just takes you there.

But don’t lose heart. If you tend to innocently follow links that come in through to your laptop or phone, whether they’re short links, regular links or QR Codes, you may be better off looking up some anti-virus software for mobile devices such as AVG.

It’s also easy to secure your home Wifi system with a password, although that may seem like a highly technical exercise. It’s not. Start by calling customer support at your Internet provider, or the Wifi device manufacturer – they will be able to provide you with step-by-step instructions for setting everything up.

Learn More…

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UPDATE (3:10 PST/5:10 CST/6:10 EST): Public-facing websites are now back up and running.  The system restoration continues to progress according to plan and we expect to have back-end login access back up within 1-2 hours, or sooner. Thank you for your patience and support.

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UPDATE (1:30 PST/3:30 CST/4:30 EST): The system restoration continues to progress according to plan and we expect to go live in the time range indicated earlier, or sooner. Thank you for your patience and support.

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Hi Everyone,

We are currently experiencing technical system difficulties with one of our third party storage components that triggered at 2:05AM CST this morning and has affected Point2 user websites and email service. Restoring these critical services for our customers is our top priority and our engineers are working to switch services back on.

Email services have now been restored. We expect all systems to be running normally within 8-10 hours (between 5 PM and 10 PM CST) or less, and will continue to update you as we progress.

Thank you for your patience and confidence, and once again we apologize for the inconvenience. We are working to resolve the issue in the fastest and most effective manner possible.

Following are answers to some of the questions you might have:

1)   Will I lose any of my data/information?

No. All of your information will be there waiting for you.

2)   Is email down as well?

We have brought our DNS servers back online, meaning that you should now be able to send and receive email that is hosted through Point2. You can login to webmail over at: http://mail.point2agent.com

3)   Are my listings still being syndicated?

Listings added to the Point2 system up until February 8, 2012 have been syndicated to our syndication network partner sites to continue to generate leads for you, as usual. All leads are being currently funneled into your Point2 account, also as usual, where you will gain access to them as soon as our systems are back up.

4)   Can I get in touch with anyone at Point2?

Absolutely! Our Customer Care team is on hand to answer any questions you may have & provide any assistance you need. We can be reached toll free at: 1-866-977-1777.

Please keep an eye on this space as we will be updating on our recovery progress throughout the day. Thanks for your patience and understanding! We know this affects your business and we won’t rest until everything is back to 100%.

To ensure that we structure training and events that are of most value to you, we have prepared this short, quick-question survey that you can complete in 2-3 minutes. And enter to win the $100 Card, right there and then.

Your feedback will shape the types of events to come, so be numerous. The survey closes February 10, 2012.

START HERE

Florida, Arizona and Nevada were once again top traffic destinations for international buyers.  Florida attracted 31.04% of all international traffic to the U.S, while Arizona increased it’s share from 15.15% in Q3 to 19.44%.  Nevada maintained its 3rd place spot with an 8.61% share of traffic.

Canadian traffic was once again the highest source for online visits, with 93.58% going to Arizona, 78.28% to Hawaii and 74.11% to Michigan.

Las Vegas retained it’s top spot on the report’s overall ‘top 20′ cities searched, with a share of 14.53% of all search traffic, and holding on to 90% of all the international traffic recorded for the state of Nevada.

But that’s not all!  To read the FULL report, make sure to download it here.