Real estate professionals are taking advantage of the power of CyberSpace. Members of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society,share their tips and tricks for using thesetools to leverage their effectiveness and profitability. I'm a quarterback receiving those tips and it is one of my joys to pass these Cyber tips and tricks along with pointers to special Internet places of special interest to real estate owners, investors and related professionals. Now you can go to http://www.recyber.com/reintelligence and link directly to any of the Great Places appearing here or in any previous Real Estate CyberTips Columns.

CYBER MAGIC TRICKS

TRICK #1: What Did It Sell For?

http://www.homepricecheck.com/

Here's a handy place where you can quickly check from over 20 million U.S. home purchase price records covering 50 top metropolitan areas in the U.S. covering more than 75 percent of home sales in the country.

You can search by single address, by street, or by price range. You will immediately see the purchase price, sale date, and address of properties (both residential and commercial) matching your search criteria.

Neat--quick--and free!

TRICK #2: The Best Little Helper In The World Today!

http://www.gurunet.com

This little gem will easily make our "Top Ten Tricks of the Year" list --- it's one of the handiest helpers we have seen yet! This mini program lets you click on any word, in any Windows program and, if you're online, it brings you instant info about that word--just like that! Once you do the no brainer install it lurks in the background at your beck and call!

With this treasure you point at a word and have the information delivered to you instantly in a neat organized pop-up window. And this guru is smart--it figures out whether a word is a city--a business--or just a plain old word. Depending on what it sees it brings you the entry from a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia. Or real-time information such as news, weather or stock quotes --all pertinent to the word you select!

Next to best of all this genie works in any PC application, such as e-mail, MS-Office, PIMs and any browser. Best of all ----it is free!

GREAT PLACES!

GREAT PLACE #1: Your Personal Tech Help Line -- Fast and Free!

http://www.help.com

This is as good as it gets! A nominee for our Top Ten Places of the year award!

Now comes an online help line for just about any aspect of computing and connectivity you can name! Simply type in your question on line and click a short series of guides to send it on it's way to the guru who handles your type of issue.

This is quick --it's easy --it's free--- it works--and it beats the heck out of sitting on hold for an hour or two!

GREAT PLACE #2: Check Out That Builder/Remodeller Online!

http://www.knowx.com

Here's a way to avoid the builder or supplier who appears to have brought grief into others lives as evidenced by recorded liens, lawsuits, judgments or bankruptcies.

Thanks to the Internet, resources like this can now be an important part of your decision making process. Here is a source for several databases to choose from and for fast online information about companies and people. Searches including background checks cost about a dollar per database. Reports cost about seven to fifteen dollars.

Good way to enter into any major contractual arrangement --- with your eyes wide open. Not free---but priceless information for peanuts!

Published: April 4, 2000

Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright laws.

John M. "Jack" Peckham is the Executive Director of REcyber.com (the Real Estate CyberSpace Society). In that capacity he oversees the development and delivery of the latest up to the minute Real Estate Cyberspace tools, strategies, networking structures and services that the Society provides its members to leverage their effectiveness, visibility, professionalism and earnings. As host of Real Estate CyberSpace Radio, he provides over 40 hours of programming to help listeners integrate the power of the Internet into their daily business lives. He is the author of several real estate books published by Prentice Hall and Harcourt Brace Jovanovich including his latest Master Guide to Income Property Brokerage from Wiley Publishing. A columnist for the Boston Herald for nine years, his syndicated columns have appeared in over 100 papers nationwide. Jack loves to sell real estate has been involved directly in the sale of over one billion dollars in Real Estate. Today he sells in his jeans and fuzzy slippers as a one-man shop and has closed over $40,000,000 in sales on the Internet recently in 20% of his working time. The balance he spends directing the affairs of the 10,000 member Real Estate CyberSpace Society. The Society awards the RECS (Real Estate CyberSpace Specialist) Designation to members based on the current criteria. He served as Chairman of the Strategic Planning Committee for the National Association of Realtors (NAR), is a Past President of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and has been honored as the Massachusetts State Realtor of the Year. You can reach Jack at or by calling 617-523-4441.