Click on the flyer to view full size as a pdf.

What Is HouseLogic?
HouseLogic, NAR’s new consumer Web site, offers everything home owners need to increase, maintain and protect the value of their home. The site provides free information and tools to help home owners with home improvements, maintenance projects, taxes, finances, insurance, and even community involvement. HouseLogic helps consumers make confident decisions about what is often their largest investment – their home.
www.HouseLogic.com The official launch is Feb 15, 2010 but the site is open now!
REALTORS® may find information of how they can make great use of HouseLogic on the MLS Announcements page.

Steve Mapes from Instanet wanted us to let you know that there is a new change coming to Forms Online Gold. He is part of his email.

On January 5th, 2010 we will be upgrading Forms Online Gold within TransactionDesk giving your members several great new features – including DocBox2Go for access from their mobile phones free of any charge! The upgrade also features a brand new toolbar that our customer advisory group helped design for ease of use. Plus you will now have full Macintosh compatibility for forms editing. TransactionDesk as a whole will now be Mac compatible.

To make this easy on you and your members, we will email all registered users of TransactionDesk twice an informational document and a link to the User Guide for the new toolbar, prior to that date. We will also post a notice, with a link to the FAQ and User Guide for the forms editor, on the home page of TransactionDesk the morning we make the upgrade live.

Here’s a summary of the upgrades will become available on January 5th:
* DocBox2Go – Our mobile solution allowing and access to documents, transaction, forms and contacts from a mobile device. There is no additional cost for this item.
* Newly designed toolbar for making editing and system navigation even more intuitive.
* Vanity Fax Numbers – Inexpensive personal fax numbers that integrate with TransactionDesk and DocBox.
* Desktop InstanetFax Cover sheet – A desktop based fax cover sheet for fax to email that can be used without logging into the MLS or TransactionDesk.
* Faxit@TransactionDesk.com – Send email to fax from any email address.

We have links, below, which you can send to your members to help get out the word. Just so you have everything in one place, here are links to the User Guide, the FAQ and a webinar overview of the new forms editing toolbar. Please share with any appropriate staff and feel free to use them in any communication you would like to provide your members.

* A fact sheet and user guide is available by following this link.

Steve Mapes
VP of Sales
Instanet Solutions
404-551-2204 (one connect) | 404-625-1217 (mobile)

Broker of the Year: Cynthia McQuaig
Realtor of the Year: Michelle Ginn
Citizen of the Year: Judith DeVita
Affiliates of the Year: Hunter Palmer and Irene Wynn
Realtor Ambassador of the Year: Alisa Stone Herring
Roy Crecelius Award for Distinguished Service: Tom Neubauer
Presidents Awards: Janet Roan and Mary Sowell

Honor Society Awards:
Jan Cox
Judith Devita
Denise Fitchben
Rex Free
Alan Graham
Alisa Stone Herring
Anthony Jensen
Christi Jensen
Doreen Morgan
Vince Price
Janet Roan
Anne Stroud
Vicki Swenk
Jim Vider

HAMPTOM, VA - Dec. 7, 2009 - Felicia Bradley found a great deal on a town house for rent on Craigslist.

But the more the Hampton resident looked into it, the more suspicious she became.

“It was just a total scam,” said Bradley, who works at the Daily Press.

A hoax that first came to light in Hampton Roads in August has resurfaced. It involves phony ads on Craigslist, a popular classified advertising Web site.

The phony ads list a home for rent or for sale. When contacted, the advertiser asks for personal identifying information and/or a deposit.

In August, a real estate agent listing a James City County home for rent discovered someone else had lifted the information to create a fraudulent ad. A potential renter fell for the scam and provided her Social Security number. When the homeowners found out about the false ad, they alerted police.

After the August incident, Rebecca Grossman, chief executive of the Virginia Peninsula Association of Realtors, conducted a series of educational meetings about social media and its associated scams, such as the Craigslist ones.

Consumers need to know that these scams exist so they can protect themselves, she said.
Last week, Bradley was browsing Craigslist when she spotted a two-bedroom town house for rent in the Michael’s Woods area for about $850 a month. She e-mailed the contact for more information.

“They replied back saying they were Christian people and they were interested that a decent person gets it and keeps up the property,” Bradley recalls.

The man who responded asked for $350 before she even looked at the property. He also included an application form that asked for her date of birth.

“It sounded funny to me,” she said. “I said, ‘I don’t want to give this information over e-mail.’”

That’s when she reread the e-mail and noticed it was full of spelling and grammatical errors. She told him that she wouldn’t send money until she met someone and saw the property.

His reply asked for her phone number to discuss it. She instead asked for his number.
“He sent two numbers that looked really crazy,” she said. “I said, ‘Thank you, but no thank you. I felt more comfortable if I could meet someone in person.’”

And that’s the advice that Craigslist offers to avoid scams. Browsers should avoid scams by dealing locally and should be wary of arrangements involving Western Union, Moneygram, wire transfer or a landlord or owner who is out of the country or cannot meet you in person, Craigslist warns.

Copyright © 2009 Daily Press, Veronica Chufo; Newport News, Va. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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