Finding a 'no fee' apartments in Manhattan

Finding an apartment in Manhattan is not difficult, but the broker fees might have a big impact on your decisions. I’ve just discovered this tiny website named 1techstreet.com that claims it's able to notify members about craigslist.org Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens listings that meet certain parameters. I quickly registered and saved a search for listings in Brooklyn, up to $,2000 and either “broker no fee” or “apartment by owner”. And voila’…in a matter of minutes I started receiving notifications about new listings posted on craigslist.org that met my search criteria. How nice was that!! In addition to that, I could also run my search at any given moment and view the listings I have been notified. One recommendation to the website creator: create a mobile version of this asap!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Interesting website about public and private schools

I bet that many of your clients asked if you knew anything about public/private schools offered in New York. Well, I found this website pretty interesting even if there is a disclaimer that says “Website under development” at the bottom.

http://schools.oscarhosting.com

It integrates Google Maps with a search by Zip Code. In addition to that you will find schools contact information, students/teachers ratio, grades span and enrollment by race/ethnicity. It seems like it’s covering all the United States. This tool seems to fit either if you want to educate yourself or if you want to give it away as an extra service to your customers.

Cheers!

Create your own pictures motion video

In the past few weeks I have been asked by some RE estate professionals how they could create some nice videos about listings by using pictures they took during a view. Here is a nice guide on how to do it.

Benefits of featuring on YouTube:

1) Videos are searchable on Google using keywords set by YOU;
2) You can see how many people viewed your video;
3) You can share the video and send the link in your email;
4) Videos can be displayed on phones and TV;

Necessary logins and software:
1) Open an account on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/signup?next=/index);
2) Download and install Windows Media Player 10 (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/10/default.aspx);
3) Download and install Windows Photo Story 3(http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx);

How to create a pictures motion video
Once you have downloaded and installed the software listed above, open “Windows Photo Story 3” (WPS3), select “Begin a new story” and click “Next”.

Import and arrange your pictures
Click the “Import Pictures” button and look for the folder where your pictures are located in your computer (for best result the pictures should be all horizontal or all vertical). Select the pictures you want to import (multiple photo selection by keeping pressed the “CTRL” button and click with the left button of the mouse) and click “OK”. Now, Click on the link “Remove black borders…” and select “Yes to all” (it’s up to you to choose another option). Click “OK” and “Next”.

Add captions to your pictures
You have the options to add “Effects” and “Title” to your pictures (if you have the time, you might play around with them). Don’t enter anything and click “Next”.

Narrate your pictures and customize motion
You can “Customize the transition”. Just keep the default and click “Next”.

Add background music
If you have a music file in your computer, you can click the “Select Music…” button and browse the folder location of your music file. If instead you don’t have any music file, just click the “Create Music…” button, select the genre, style, band, etc., click “OK” and click “Next”.

Save your story
In the “Activities” box, select “Save your story for playback on your computer” (default) and in the “File name”, specify where you want to save the file on your computer. Click “Next”. The program will save your story and you are done, just remember where you saved it!

Upload your video onto YouTube
Login onto your YouTube account (http://www.youtube.com/login?next=/index). On the top right navigation, select “My Videos” from the pull down menu on your user name link. Click on the yellow button “Upload “ and select “Video File” (top right). Click on the browse button and locate on your computer where you saved your story (pictures motion video file). Select the file and click the “Upload Video” button.

Set video title, description and keywords
While the file is uploading, update the Title field with something meaningful to your listing (ie: “514 West 18th, #7H - Beautiful apartment size, etc, etc...”). In the Description box, type a nice description complete of your contact info and link to your web listing (** very important). In the Tags field, enter key words separated by spaces, so the video can be found on Google (ie: “514 west 18th 7H two bedroom Chelsea Manhattan etc. etc.”). Check the Privacy option on “Share your video with the world” and click the “Save Changes” button.

Enjoy!

Reports, reports, reports, so what??

In the last few days I read articles from Real Estate magazines about some weakness in the rental market showed during the summer. Reports showing that some lawyer companies postponed their associates starting dates, so the apartment searches have been postponed as well. Reports showing merely percentages about the decline compared to the previous year. Numbers?? Companies policies?? So what, that’s all we have to say about one of the greatest real estate markets in the entire world? It doesn’t seem very much to me, when everybody already knows about the problems that our economy is facing. We don’t need reports showing the market decline, or showing that corporate companies are becoming wiser with their investments, or that less students can afford the tuition/home combos offered by NY Universities. We don’t need to know what we already know, that’s simple.

I honestly liked a short little paragraph from Citi Habitats CEO saying that landlords are willing to offer incentives (a thing that probably only RE professionals know about) in order to rent their units. This is what we need. We need tips, not reports. People need to know how they can rent in Manhattan without spending a fortune in a weak market (it wouldn’t make much sense, right?). And while everybody is looking themselves in the mirror by showing and explaining reports, someone else is showing how to rent properties in Manhattan (this is probably why they are the #1). So much paper for reports and almost absence of tips for apartment hunters won’t help the rental market to go back faster than the recovery of our overall economy.

I don’t have a photo editor on my computer

I still remember a few years ago when I used taking apartment pictures with a 35 mm camera, go to the closest 1 hour photo development store and get a cd with the digital stills. Now with my 3 years old Canon Powershot those days is history. Cameras are becoming cheaper and cheaper and pictures are suitable for large printed material as well.

However, the large files produced by these kinds of cameras are not always ready for the web and have to be resized down. Oh no, how can I do that? I am not a graphic designer!!! Well, there is a great tool on the web that comes handy. Its name is FotoFlexer, an on-line web site that allows to upload a file, manipulate and save it with a different name. A photo editor on your finger tips!

So, what is exactly PhotoFlexer? PhotoFlexer is the engine behind PhotoBucket and its interface is entirely developed in Flash, so it’s not even browser sensitive. In addition to that, users don’t even have to subscribe, so there is not even the hassle to remember a new user id and password. At this point, just add the url http://fotoflexer.com/ into your Favorites and you are ready to go!

Enjoy!!

When RE brokers meet with the IT people

When I was a little kid, I used to be scared of my first day in a different school. With my family I used to move quite a lot around the States and settling with new friends and teachers was always challenging. When I became a teenager and faced the job market, I became scared of the new people I would have met at work. It wasn’t really the “meeting someone” that scared me, but the challenge of becoming part of an existing mechanism.

It’s a fact in the Real Estate business, the IT department plays a major role in the company’s day-to-day operations. It represents a well oiled mechanism that allows brokers to use incredible tools to increase their business. It also represents the scariest department for a newbie broker. I wonder what kind of real estate broker never felt at least once lost in the procedures and instructions provided by the IT department. We are scared because we are not stupid, but we feel like stupid, we know how to use a computer, but we feel like children. Well, I saw many times these kinds of faces strolling around in the office. I felt bad for them!

So, I came out with the idea of running a blog about this. I want to make brokers with few IT skills more confident about new technologies and the web. I want to make brokers with no IT skills not felt behind of colleagues who master the IT language. Don’t feel lost, don’t feel upset, just check this blog once in awhile and write me an email! Its’ that simple!!!

À bientôt!