I realize the smart thing to do as a practitioner is to carry a flashlight with you at all times, but haven't you been caught without one when you open up a home at night and realize there is no power?  These days, the greater number of foreclosures and short sales make this scenario much more prevalent.

A few weeks ago, I walked into a home with a group, and the lights were out.  Of course, I didn't have a flashlight with me, and so we all proceeded into the house trying to light up the house with the LCDs of our cell phones.  While this isn't a terrible option, I stumbled across an option on my phone that has become of great use.  I use the AT&T 8525 (manufactured by HTC), which, like many new phones outfited with a camera, comes with an on board camera "flash".  When activated, the flash, which is only a white LED, turns on and provides a continous glow of light.  This is supposed to help in poor light photos, but in a house with no lights, it's a pretty handy feature.

Since then, I get a lot of "wow"s from clients impressed with the amount of light it puts out, and it's generally a great ice-breaker with new or newer clients.

Many of you may already have this feature and just never tried it, or others may not have it at all.  In any case, I hope this info is useful.