Real estate professionals are taking advantage of the power of cyberspace. Members of the Real Estate CyberSpace Society are sharing their tips and tricks for using these tools 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.

Trick 1: Communicate with All

The value of instant messaging (IM) as a highly effective communications method is being recognized more and more. Many folks, however, hit a brick wall because of the myriad of different platforms available -- and none of them communicates with the others. One friend uses AIM, another Yahoo; or a relative uses IRC and a business acquaintance wants to IM on MSN or ICQ.

This neat and easy to set up and use program hooks them all together and expands your ability to easily communicate many fold. In addition this program adds many features not seen in the others and enhances the functionality of others.

You won't be saddled with spyware or popups, and to make this even more attractive, the program comes to you without any initial or monthly cost. The price is right.

Trick 2: Great Google Grabbing Gimmick

You may not know that Google stores a cookie on your PC, allowing them to track the keywords you search for. With this information they create reports, track your search habits, and test features. This makes it possible for Google to sell this information or share it with others if they decide to.

This simple tool helps you protect your identity and search data. It reads the Google installed cookies placed on your computer, shows the date it was installed, and how long your searches have been tracked. With this tool you can delete or entirely block the Google search cookie from future installation.

Easy to use and it's on the house.

Great Place 1: Good Deals for Big Deals

Looking for a good deal? Every day these folks show you up to 400 of the best deals available on computers, technology, gadgets, and other items you may be looking to buy. They claim that each deal they list is the absolute lowest price available on that item from a reputable merchant.

This site has loads of bells and whistles including a daily updated and searchable coupon section where you can find coupons, rebates, and promotional codes for your favorite online stores. You can even set up an RSS feed to keep you notified in real time.

Good stuff for the bargain hunter in you.

Great Place 2: Look at a Website Back When

This great place allows you to visit archived versions of websites going all the way back to the early days of the web. Here you will find more than 10 billion pages archived so, by entering a URL, you can see what that site looked like for a span of many years.

These folks have been taking and storing snapshots of internet sites each year since 1996 and stashing them away for posterity. With a simple click you can research the development of a company or just enjoy the nostalgia.

Copies of all previous "Real Estate CyberTips" columns complete with all direct links are available here.

Published: August 22, 2006

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.