AJAX ain't just something to clean with
You may or may not be aware of what AJAX is, but it is a definate timesaver for the real estate agent. For most agents (that I've talked to, anyway), AJAX seems like some sort of computer voodoo- it might as well be magic. Nevertheless, for the real estate agent, it can be a time saver. For example, ever wonder how it is that you can move the screen with your cursor on Google Maps, without switching screens? AJAX. I'll be honest about the fact that much of it is foreign to me as well, but for our purposes we'll just explore a few of the current uses of AJAX enabled websites and applications that will enable the real estate agent to save time. You need not be able to code it to use it. With a little patience, you can put it to use for you without really having to know exactly how it works. There are (but definately not limited to) three ways that a real estate person could utilize the power of AJAX: with homepages, with Flickr photosharing and by using certain Firefox extensions that plug into your browser. For our first lesson, we'll look at AJAX Homepages.
Basically, an AJAX enabled homepage will allow you to have almost all of your most frequently visted sites all on one page, along with your favorite RSS feeds, your photos and your del.icio.us bookmarks (more on this soon)- not to mention your ever important things to do list and calender. All of this information (even constantly updated media such as blogs) can be accessed from one custom page that you create- and best of all, you needn't know any code and you'll have the ability to move the content around and rearrange it however you like (just like Google Maps!). This is a timesaver! Why? 1) Less typing in URLs 2) less plowing through bookmarks 3) all of your photos and feeds in one place and most importantly, more time for you to spend working on the most important tasks, like being a dynamite real estate professional. You design your page in whatever way you like, just like 1, 2, 3. It's remarkably fast! Howver long it takes to put it together is all up to you. The more content you want, the longer it will take you (obviously), but for the sites that I am about to show you the average time was 15 minutes for setup.
AJAX enabled homepages to check out:
The guru on the subject of AJAX (and most any other current techy subjects) is Techcrunch-which has some very nice detailed descriptions of each site, if you don't have time to sift through them all. What the REBlogPro recommends is to spend a little time finding the one that works best for you and appeals to your senses- then go about gradually adding the content until you have a managable homepage that holds all of the information that you need during your daily routine. Be sure to go into your Tools header and select Options and then in your General preferences pick Use Current to set your homepage at the one you chose.
For a great overview of how AJAX works internally, check out this article. Be sure to check back in a day or so as the Pro will demonstrate a few more terrifically tactful time saving secrets for the hard working real estate agent.
By the way, ever checked out Google Suggest? Its powered by AJAX too.
technorati tags: AJAX, tips, tools, realestate, timesaver, agent, homepage, tech