Planning on moving soon or rearranging your furniture?  Redecorating and moving furniture can take hours of your time.  Getting a virtual layout to the scale of your space is a great idea.  I’ve used Arrange-A-Room(now requires registration) to move my vintage 1950’s mahogany desk and filing cabinet from one room to another.  Not only did it save me from moving this heavy desk around the house but it also gave me an idea of measurements for open walking space around the room. For comfort and safety it’s always a good idea to make sure that there is ample walking space in the room before you place your furniture.  Even if you aren’t much of a planner, give this software a chance so that ...

The Official Free Credit Report Site

  I’m sure just about everyone has seen the credit report commercials all over the internet and television.  Many of these sites require payment information to get this report except for Annualcreditreport.com.  This is THE OFFICIAL free credit report site, that pulls your credit history from Experion, TransUnion, and Equifax.   Keep in mind that this does NOT have your Beacon Score number.

  A credit score (or beacon score) is pulled from the three above companies.  Equifax seems to be the one that most people associate with a credit history, but all of these weigh in on the factors of your score.  Many times a credit score inquiry pulls information f...

Sync Between Computers with Dropbox

  Looking for additional free online backup space or wanting to sync your files between your laptop, desktop and iPhone?  I’ve told you how to use the free photo storage with Google’s Picasa program and now you can do the same for your important documents with Dropbox.  With Dropbox you can share files between all of your computers with a quick and simple software download/install.  Get it now for free

Mortgage Calculators

Planning on refinancing, buying a new home, or just curious of how much you pay in interest each year?  Online calculators can help you get quick answers.  All that you need to do is supply the information and run the numbers.  Keep in mind that if your numbers don’t match the figures on the calculators below then you probably have one of your variables wrong.  Interest Rates and Annual Percentage Rates (APR) are common miscalculations.  You also need to know when your first payment begins.   On every property detail, from your search results, you will find a "Mortgage" button.  Just click on this button for a quick reference for your payments.

  If you are fairly g...

Free PDF Software

If you are frequently sending and receiving files online it is important to know that your recipient has gotten your file correctly.  I have found that in the real estate business I am constantly sending listing sheets, tax maps, contracts, plats, and disclosures to clients.  Even other real estate agents expect a clean copy of a document when selling a home or land.   In any business that involves online document transfers you should have the basic tools to send a clear legible document through email.  Adobe Acrobat Reader has become the standard for viewing information online.  It is free software that can be used on any computer and is compatible with Apple and Windo...

Not sure if a website is safe? There are many websites that are geared to hacking, phishing and stealing your personal information. If you don't have an internet security program running on your computer, you can always use an online tool such as McAfee's Site Advisor or Norton's Safe Web. Both of these sites are free and reliable. Our Columbia SC Real Estate website has always been safe and ethical. If you ever see anything suspicious, please let us know.

There are also lots of free tools available for your use.  I know several people that swear by AVG's anti-virus software.

Free Google Photo Storage and Backup

As a real estate agent I have found my computer over filled with real estate photos of homes and land for sale that I've collected throughout the years. Many times I have to email photos to a client or post them on a website. Since I have become a huge fan of Google's innovative and user friendly software, I've discovered yet another essential free tool by the name of Picasa. Picasa automatically uploads photos from your computer to an online album with any Google product account information,(such as G-Mail, YouTube, etc.) Picasa has intergrated local software with online software so that all of your information will be in "Sync" and sharing pho...

Keep your Email Address with this Free Email Account

Looking for a way to keep all of your email addresses in one place? Well, this isn't exactly an article on how to use our site but should be helpful nonetheless. I've had so many real estate transactions and correspondence between buyers, sellers, customers, clients, attorneys, inspectors, investors and developers that I have found a perfect solution to keeping everything organized and retrievable in seconds. It's a Google product called "Gmail". The reason that I like this so much is that I can check my email from any computer and locate a past email message in seconds. If you are using Outlook or Thunderbird, there is no reas...

Owner Financing Property | Amortization Schedule

If you are owner financing real estate then you will know that there are strict laws on what you must provide. There are several ways to handle a contract or a mortgage and you should check with a local attorney before taking any advice from this website. We are not lawyers and can not suggest how you should handle your assets. There are several legal documents that are required in real estate and a real estate attorney can draw up all of the complicated documents for you to use. You may also want to get advice on how you want to finance the property. You can give a deed it at the closing, or have an "installment sales contract" or "...