My husband laughs at Sacramento drivers who, upon leaving the vehicle, turn around and point the key remote at the car to lock it. That's because some people think it works like a TV remote, which emits infrared signals to the TV, but it doesn't. It sends its signal by radio, through the air. So, you don't need to face the vehicle to lock it. Although, I admit that I do look at the car, just to make sure the lights flash, which tells me it is definitely locked.
Hey, where would we be in modern society without our gadgets?
Take my DisplayKEY, for example. It opens SUPRA lockboxes, which lets me retrieve house keys to show homes. It's an essential part of my real estate business in Sacramento. While I was in The City this weekend, I received an email from MetroList that said it is retiring our DisplayKEYs. It is switching to an ActiveKey system that doesn't update daily in a cradle. Not only that, but MetroList informed me that it has already scheduled an appointment for me to exchange my DisplayKEY for an ActiveKey.
The only problem is the date it has scheduled me for is a day when I will be in Vietnam. Now, you know that MetroList has been working behind-the-scenes on this for months. But it just dropped the bomb in my lap on Friday. A little advance notice would have been nice. Because when I return from Vietnam, my DisplayKEY will no longer work. If my DisplayKEY doesn't work, I can't work. Thanks for the heads-up, MetroList.
Of course, if I had been using eKEY, I would not be in this position. The eKEY system lets an agent access a lockbox through an agent's cellphone. That sounds like an excellent solution. I went to the GE Security website to check devices that support eKEY software, but my BlackBerry 8700 was not listed. Now I remember why I am not using the eKEY system.
I popped over to my service provider's website and, low and behold, the BlackBerry BOLD 9700 is now available. I've been waiting for its release for months! And the BOLD works with eKEY. Plus, it has a video camera, a faster network connection and utilizes trackpad navigation. My 8700 is headed for a funeral. As my service provider reminded me, I've had this phone for 38 months. That's an eternity in a cellphone's life.
That research has solved 2 problems, but a 3rd problem still exists. My email downloads to my BlackBerry. I'll most likely bring my cellphone to Vietnam as I have World Access, which will let me check email from my phone. That will save time as I won't have to visit Internet cafes. Who wants to sit in an Internet cafe when you're on vacation? Instead, I can turn on my phone once a day to stay connected through email. That all sounds feasible except for spam. I deal with overnight spam by deleting it in huge blocks from my computer in the morning. But that won't be possible in Vietnam.
I receive daily huge volumes of spam. The worst offenders are two short sale promoters. How I end up on their targeted spam list is beyond me. One would think they could use their marketing dollars in a more effective manner. They bombard my email with short sale spam. As a Sacramento short sale agent, I don't need their short sale courses since I am tortured enough daily through my very own activities. So, this brings me to the solution of signing up for a spam-blocking service. The downside is important emails may be delayed. But the upside is I will never again have to manually delete their crap.
Some people use spam blockers that require the recipient to click on a link and enter a password to prove that one is not a robot. Those sites annoy me. If they annoy me, they probably annoy others. I guess that leaves Postini or Barracuda to consider. If you have any suggestions regarding spam blockers, I would welcome the input. I hate to do it, but this Sacramento agent has got to lock the gate.
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Certified HAFA Specialist
My Sacramento Real Estate Listings
Elizabeth Weintraub is an author, home buying columnist for The New York Times-owned About.com, a Land Park resident, and a Land Park real estate agent who specializes in older, classic homes in Land Park, Curtis Park, Midtown and East Sacramento. Weintraub is also a Sacramento Short Sale agent who lists and successfully sells short sales throughout the four-county Sacramento area. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759. Put 35 years of real estate experience to work for you. Broker-Associate at Lyon Real Estate. DRE License # 00697006.
The Short Sale Savior, by Elizabeth Weintraub, available at Amazon.com.
Lyon Real Estate is not associated with the government, and our service is not approved by the government or your lender. Even if you accept this offer and use our service, your lender may not agree to change your loan.
Photo: Unless otherwise noted in this blog, the photo is copyrighted by Big Stock Photo and used with permission.
The views expressed herein are Weintraub's personal views and do not reflect the views of Lyon Real Estate.
Disclaimer: If this post contains a listing, information is deemed reliable as of the date it was written. After that date, the listing may be sold, listed by another brokerage, canceled, pending or taken temporarily off the market, and the price could change without notice. It could blow up, explode or vanish. To find out the present status of any listing, please go to elizabethweintraub.com.
