"Forward" with extreme caution..
An excellent piece of advice and major warning from Alan May. I rarely use my phone for email - I only use it to access and check messages. If I need to send something out, I prefer to use my laptop where I have a better understanding of things. Plus, if I need documents or other information, chances are it isn't going to be on my phone.
Word of Warning: Be Very Careful!!!!
I recently received an email. It was from the listing agent, on a deal that we had just inked. Signed by both sides, and we had requested their attorney information.
The email read:
"Our attorney is John Smith, 847.123.4567,
and fax is 847.234.5678."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
forwarded via my delicious new i-phone.Pretty innocuous, right? Very quick, very efficient... it's nice that she was able to forward me the e-mail from out in the field, 'cause otherwise we might have had to wait until she returned to her office later in the day.
But the e-mail wasn't over.. there was more at the bottom. I scrolled down and found what appeared to be further communication between the listing agent and her seller:
"They're requesting our attorney information...
please forward the name and contact information of your attorney.
It's nice that we got this under contract before Monday,
when we were going to reduce an additional $5,000, isn't it?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
forwarded via my delicious new i-phone.Yikes! Fortunately, this isn't any important information... we negotiated an excellent price on this home, and the $5,000 reduction wouldn't have impacted us at all. But this is private communication between the seller and the listing agent that wasn't intended for our eyes. In fact there was a trail of e-mails going back and forth that discussed other personal information... the number of showings they'd had, and some of the feedback they'd received, when they were going to be doing Open Houses... quite a history.
Please, be very, very careful when "forwarding" an e-mail off your i-phone, blackberry, palm, or other mobile... or in fact ANY forwarded e-mail... if you don't understand how it works. It's a potential time-bomb that could blow-up in your face. You could accidentally be divulging proprietary information that could damage your client's position, and could find yourselves in some serious hot water.
If you're concerned, (and you should be) and you're not sure if you're forwarding EVERYTHING... just begin a fresh e-mail... That's the safest method.
(253 -31)
tick, tick, tick, tick...
ALAN MAY, Realtor®
Specializing in Evanston Real Estate and North Shore Real Estate
Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate, 2929 Central Street, Evanston, IL 60201
847.425.3779 Cell: 847.924.3313 Email: Almay@aol.com
Evanston Real Estate & North Shore Real Estate
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