Business

If you're a realtor and you want to boost your business, plan a vacation.

It never fails.  Whenever I'm planning to be away for a while, my clients come crawling out of the woodwork.  Its like I've put out some invisible sonar signal that says "Call Mark now".  

This week is no exception.  The fact that this coming weekend is a 3-day weekend (Presidents Day) may be a factor.

2 clients with whom I've been working want to come this weekend to look at homes.  I've had to get assistance from colleagues so these clients can tour the homes they've been reviewing online, and hopefully 1 or both of them will want to buy.

Today I got a call from a new client who wants to look at a specific property on Sun.  I've had to get a 3rd colleague to help this person.  But since I've never met or really worked with this person, I decided to simply 'give' this potential buyer to my colleague.

And its not like I won't be working at all while I'm gone.  My personal and work emails come on my iPhone and I'll have to check them and respond to time-sensitive things a couple times each day to keep things moving.

So the next time my business is a little slow, I'm going to plan a quick trip and then just wait for the phone to start ringing.

Size matters

We've all heard the saying "Size matters".  Well, I'm here to tell you its true!

Recently Spouse & I traded up from iPhone 5 to iPhone 6 Plus.  The difference in size is substantial and quite welcomed!

iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 5

Let's face it:  most of us use our phones as interim computers so having a larger screen makes lots of activities easier.  Those of us with eyes that are over 40 (ahem) appreciate the larger screen and larger font.  The improved camera in the newer, larger phone takes superior photos too.  And despite the 6 Plus being larger, it is also thinner and lighter.

iPhone 5 on top of iPhone 6 Plus

Before getting the new, larger phone I had a small concern that its size may be cumbersome to slide into a pant/jean pocket, but this turned out to be a complete non-issue.  I have found that trying to text 1-handed is harder now, but the larger size and lighter weight are well worth that trade-off.

Both of us are really, really happy with our new iPhone 6 Plus phones!

We purchased the phones from an authorized Verizon partner store, so they did not take our old phones in trade.  However, upon transferring our contacts/photos/etc from our old phones to our new ones, we received offers from Verizon to buy back our old phones for $200 each.  They even provided the postage-paid shipping boxes!  So now we have a $400 credit on our Verizon bill.  

We couldn't be happier with our new phones and the entire transfer process.

Maps

Recently I was showing homes to a new couple who asked to see a home they'd noticed in my company's newspaper ad.  (Our company has a weekly ads in our local paper.)  This particular home was in a town quite a distance from where I normally work so I printed out directions from mapquest to get us there.

Heading south we noted a huge traffic jam on the northbound side of the highway that appeared to be several miles long.  Knowing we'd have to return this way, I dreaded sitting in the traffic jam after having driven all that way to see the home.  

My mapquest directions worked just fine, and once we finally got to the home and looked around, I verbalized to my clients that I did not want to return the same way we came.  The trouble is, I had mapquest directions to get there and planned to use them in reverse to get home.  There is a huge bay in between where we currently were and where we needed to get back to, and since I was unfamiliar with the roads in this town, I was at a loss for how to get home.

Then it hit me:  the maps icon on my iPhone.  

 I pulled over in a safe place and tapped on the maps icon.  It showed me where I currently was and what roads were around me.  I pinched the screen to show more of the surrounding area until finally I saw a route that would take us around the west side of the huge bay and then back to my office.

It worked!  The maps feature saved me and my clients from sitting in traffic for who knows how long!  This feature alone was worth the price of the iPhone.

Exchange

Spouse & I recently switched over to iPhones and my number was ported within minutes.  Spouse's number?  Not so much.

Both of us were porting numbers from different providers, and both providers were no-contract pay-as-you-go, so I knew the porting process was going to be challenging.  They told me it could take up to 24 hours, but after mine ported almost instantly I knew the delay with Spouse's number was a 'problem'.  The next day his phone was not activated so I had to call for help.  After only about 10 minutes on the phone with Verizon Wireless support, we figured out the problem.
 
Spouse's phone was an AT&T phone.  The guy at Wal-Mart accidentally gave me a Verizon iPhone and an AT&T iPhone.  I didn't realize it even mattered.  I thought that all iPhones were the same and that any number could be ported to it.  Not true.  The phones are manufactured for certain carriers and the way we determined Spouse's phone was on the wrong carrier is by the serial number.

So I had to take it back to Wal-Mart and exchange it for a Verizon wireless iPhone.  That entire 'exchange' process took an inordinate amount of time, but once I got the correct phone and the guy called in the number port, it ported almost immediately.

So now we both have working iPhones.  Mine is classic black, while Spouse's is white.

Joining the iGeneration

Today 'Apple guru' Joe P accompanied me to buy and activate a new iPhone 5 for Spouse & me.  Joe P explained to me the difference between the Apple and Android operating systems and I opted for Apple.  My new iPhone 5 has lots of cool features and a seemingly limitless variety of apps, and I believe this new phone will be a great tool for my business as well as my personal life.  The phones were $129. each with a 2-year contract with Verizon.

But it was not an easy transition.  

I had a Blackberry on a pay-as-you-go (no contract) plan with Boost Mobile.  Spouse had an LG smartphone on a pay-as-you-go (no contract) plan with Tracfone.  Apparently this is the 'perfect storm' of portability, since we both wanted to keep our numbers.

After 2 hours in Wal-Mart, I walked out with 2 iPhones!  Mine worked just fine right away but Spouse's number still hadn't ported over from his old phone to his new one.

Joe P and I went to lunch and he taught me the navigation of the phone, how to download apps, and the importance of my imported contacts list.

However, after several hours of Spouse's phone not working "no service" I decided to call Verizon.  Long story short, the guy at Wal-Mart accidentally sold me 1 Verizon phone and 1 AT&T phone.  They could tell based on the serial number.  Unfortunately I can't get back to the Wal-Mart for a few days so Spouse will have to wait for his phone.  Since its summertime and this is a resort area, the Wal-Mart is just too busy to go there in the evening or on the weekend.  I will have to go on a weekday during the daytime.  Hopefully it will be a simple exchange.