The internet is a remarkable tool for real estate agents to use in their daily business life. The multitude of website providers and the information available to be used as website content is almost limitless. However, with such use also comes a fair amount of responsibility and accountability on your part as a professional. Flying by the seat of your pants and not taking these two things seriously are the stupidest things you can possibly do as an agent/webmaster.

Take this case as an example - The Pros Advantage. Seems the agent hired a firm to design a new website and they literally copied the design and code from a very well known and respected real estate website provider, Real Estate Webmasters (REW). They even left REW’s copyright code right in the agent’s new knockoff website design. How completely stupid and unprofessional is that?

Tags: internet, Technology

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) launched a new website this week dealing with imported Chinese drywall. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that Chinese drywall may be a potential hazard. Approximately 36,000 homes in Florida and many others states including Alabama, California, Mississippi, Virginia and Louisiana have been affected by the imported drywall.

Consumers with homes known to contain the defective wallboard complain of foul odors, metal corrosion and health problems from occupying their properties. The CPSC website will provide details of the ongoing investigations into the problem including air sample reports, import tracking and analysis of the health effects of the use of Chinese drywall in homes.

The CPSC drywall website can be found by visiting www.cpsc.gov/info/drywall

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Gulf Coast Associates, Realtors specializes in upscale Florida real estate in and around Ft. Myers and Naples. Our sister firm, Metro Mortgage Company, specializes in originating Florida home loans including Conventional, Jumbo and FHA/VA mortgages. Contact us today at 888-617-3674.

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Tags: Florida, living, Technology

We ran across this item the other day in the NAR Newsletter and thought a synopsis might be helpful. A link to the actual Final Rule is provided below.

The Federal Trade Commission has revised its rules implementing the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM). Can-Spam regulates commercial emails and since its enactment in 2005, has clarified what qualifies as a commercial email subject to the Acts requirements. The revisions to the rules help in part to clarify the following four items:

1. What constitutes an acceptable method for opting out of future emails;
2. Revised definition of “sender”, clarifying to whom the rules apply when the email contains multiple advertisements;

Tags: internet, Technology