Two Favorite Tech Tools I Use in My Business

As the real estate industry becomes more and more paperless, this invariably leads us to working with many documents in the pdf format.  Offer documents, Home Loan preapproval letters, Home Inspection Reports, Title Reports, CC&R's, etc. - all in pdf format.  A client at their home or office may sign a document(s), scan them into pdf format, then return to us; sometimes as one document file, sometimes as several files. 

Many times the file size is WAY too large for one e-mail to get all the full set of documents to the cooperating broker or to the client in one shot.  This is where Smallpdf.com has come to the rescue.  I've recently used this website to shrink a 10 meg file to 4.5 megs, as an example. Some older scanners can make huge files that can see even greater reductions in size.  Once the small file size is achieved, it saves space in my storage areas; saves space in the e-mail client; and allows one e-mail to deliver more information.

Home Page for Smallpdf.com

In addition to its name-sake function, Smallpdf has been helpful in Merging pdf files; and in Splitting pdf files.

Merging a customer's offer into one file is a huge benefit, as it can be so easy to leave off an essential addendum when sending individual files attached to an e-mail.  It is also very beneficial to have all the Addenda organized in sequence to ensure better readability.

From a company/service that started in 2013, Smallpdf has grown considerably.  They have added many additional features as shown in the graphic above, as well as interfaces to cloud storage services such as Dropbox.  They have also changed their pricing plan.  Casual usage is still free with a Suggested Donation for Coffee; while Power users have monthly or annual subscription options.  Check it out and see if you can live without some of the tools Smallpdf provides!

My Second Tech-Tool:

  In the eighth grade I dutifully took Mrs. Schile's Typing class, like my older siblings before me.  Yet, Mrs. Schile never told us that we were being taught a system that was "genius" for the 1890's, but it had been made Obsolete and Inferior in the 1930's!

In the 1980's I was a bicycle commuter, and in the morning work-hours my cold, cold fingers made it difficult to type with any speed.  Having a new-at-the-time IBM luggable PC (IBM's 20lbs answer to the portable Compaq), I found out that Microsoft made available an "alternate" keyboard layout called Dvorak that was touted as being easier on the fingers (and a relief for carpal tunnel sufferers) .  Intrigued with this layout's features, such as 60% of the keystrokes are made from the home-row, I made up my mind to Dump QWERTY and learn the this layout.

Thirty some years later this is a technology tool I cannot function without.  My typing is much faster than it would have been.  My fingers don't get tired.  Another Plus - almost no one else can type on my keyboard!

However, if there is anything that troubles me about the Dvorak keyboard topic is: Why for goodness sake is QWERTY still being taught in schools?  The computers we use do not care what character is driven by the key we strike.  Thus, doesn't logic and common sense suggest we should use a well designed layout that has the HUMAN USER in mind, and not an 1890's style typewriter??? 

Although not quantified, I'm certain there's a significant price we pay, with slower and more painful typing, by unreasonably sticking with QWERTY.

For those of you that get sore, tired fingers and hands from typing, instead of Tylenol or Advil, I recommend learning the Dvorak keyboard layout!

PS - 2017's Real Estate Market is starting out strong for Vancouver WA.  If you are planning on Selling or, just want to know what your home is worth -  we offer a no-cost, no-obligation Comparative Market Analysis for your Vancouver WA Home.  We trust you won't delay!

PPS - Now is a great time to visit our Homes For Sale Vancouver WA page, or the separate page for Condos for sale in Vancouver WA.  We've put much custom work in to make it Easy for You to search by Neighborhood or by Category, with Homes  and real estate listings from the entire RMLS.  Sign-up Not Required!

This report and any custom charts (prepared by John Slocum Realtor®.

Disclaimer: results may vary with any tech-tools discussed/described in this article.  We deem the data and reports reliable but not guaranteed.