Realtor Magazine Online - Source: The Wall Street Journal, Jeff D. Opdyke (03/17/2007)
“With the subprime lending crisis making it harder to get a mortgage, rental demand is increasing.”
Click here to view the entire article:
Practical Tips for Newbie Landlords
Wireless networking – now you can put in a wireless network in your home or office and avoid all the hassles with all the cables and wires. To create a wireless network you need to buy a wireless access point and place it near the center of your home or office. Also put it up as high as you can (e.g. above a doorway or even on the ceiling). You will also need a wireless network card for your PC or notebook computer. However, most new laptop / notebook computers already come with a wireless network card built in.
1. USB (USB 1.1 = 12Mbps, USB 2.0 = 480Mbps) = for keyboards, mice, modems, printers, digital cameras, joysticks, scanners, etc.; hot swappable; using multiple USB Hubs, can daisy chain up to 127 devices
2. FireWire/IEEE 1394 (480Mbps) - hot swappable; can connect as many as 63 devices
Want to chat with your friends, relatives, and business partners over the web? Download AOL’s instant messenger (IM) software (for FREE) at www.aim.com and chat with anyone you want for FREE. And when you are “chatting”, impress the other person with your knowledge of IM abbreviations & emoticons:
Instant Messaging Abbreviations:
brb = be right back
btw = by the way
ic = I see
imho = in my humble opinion
l8r = later
lmho = laughing my head off
lol = laughing out loud
np = no problem
oic = oh, I see
ttfn = ta ta for now
t2ul8r = talk to you later
ttyl = talk to you later
Emoticons:
:-) = happy
:-( = sad
:-/ or :-\ = confused/concerned
:-O or :-@ = surprised
:-D = very happy
;-) = wink
;P = sticking tongue out
Looking to buy a book online?
Find the best price at: www.addall.com
It’s a great website for finding the book you are looking for and at the best price. Be smart: don’t buy any book without comparing the price. It will automatically search and compare prices for you among 40+ sites, 20,000 sellers, for millions of books!
At the end of the day, what to do?
TURN IT OFF? Risk wearing out your hard drive prematurely.
LEAVE IT ON? Electricity costs about $1/day for PC & monitor running 24 hours/day. Turn it off at night, and save about $120/year! CRT (cathode-ray tube) monitors account for 2/3 of that energy. LCD (liquid-crystal display) monitors require ½ the energy of a CRT monitor.
THE ANSWER: It all depends. You can set your system to automatically shut down your monitor after 15 minutes of inactivity and shut down your PC only if you are leaving for an extended period of time (e.g more than a day).
GOOGLE – go to www.google.com, and search for anything you want, it’s a great tool. Give it a try!
GOOGLE GROUPS – go to www.google.com and click on GROUPS, type in a topic (or question) and this will give you access to a whole world of “experts”. If you register (it’s FREE) you can also post questions, and then just sit back and wait for the “experts” to write you back with answers (and suggestions). Many times this is better information than calling a “technical support group”.
FORUMS – there are lots of forums on the internet where you can go for information on almost any subject. You can search for answers as well as post your own questions (normally you have to register first, but it’s usually FREE!).
CD (Compact Disc) – used to store data files and audio files. Can hold 650-700 MB of data (e.g. about 300,000 pages of text) or more. Equivalent to 700+ floppy discs:
* CD-ROMs (Read-Only Memory): you can only read data or audio from these discs (e.g. you can’t write to them, and you can’t erase them); most software that you buy, comes on CD-ROMs.
* CD-Rs (Recordables): you can record data or audio on to these discs, but you can only do it once; very good for creating backups of your important files.
* CD-RWs (Rewritables): you can record data or audio, you can erase, you can re-write – just like a “regular” disc drive or floppy disc.
BURNING CDs: Your CD-RW drive can read & write data at speeds designated by a number followed by the letter “X” where “X” represents a speed of 150KBps (kilobytes per second). For example, 48X means your CD-RW drive can burn data at 7,200KBps. To take maximum advantage of this, you should buy CDs with ratings that match this speed. If you have CDs with lower ratings, most programs allow you to lower the write speed to match the CD-R/RW’s speed rating.
CD-Rs are CHEAP! Many times you can get 50 CD-Rs with a REBATE offer that can essentially make the final cost FREE!
What are CD COASTERS? Sometimes you might make an unusable or badly written CD, these are called “coasters”, because that’s all they’re really good for!!
DVD (Digital Video Disc) – used to store data files, mostly used for storing video files. Can hold 4.7GB of data or more on each side of the disc (e.g. about 133 minutes of video on each side of the disc). DVDs may eventually replace CDs, VHS videotape, and laser discs.
Do you get too much email and do you put it all into one single INBOX? Get better organized by using the RULES WIZARD to sort your incoming mail into various sub-folders (e.g. a folder for each of your clients, or a folder for “FAMILY”, “FRIENDS”, “NEWSLETTERS”, etc.). Once you start using folders in this manner, you can still create a SINGLE view of all of your messages using the ADVANCED FIND feature.
Don’t let your Outlook.pst file get too big – use the ARCHIVE function or create additional .pst files to store your older messages.
There are many ways to customize the “look and feel” of Outlook. For example, you can use color to highlight email messages from certain people or for highlighting other types of conditions.
1. Operating System:
“Windows XP Home” is pretty standard;
“Windows Vista” was just released earlier this year
2. Memory:
“512 MB” is pretty standard;
If you can afford it, get 1 GB or more
3. DVD-ROM:
If you want to watch DVD videos on your PC
4. CD:
“CD-R”
Allows you to install software on PC;
Allows you to play music CDs;
Allows you to put your favorite songs on a CD;
Use for doing backups“CD-RW”
Allows you to write & ERASE data on the CD
5. Processor:
“Pentium”, “Celeron”, “Athlon”, “Sempron”;
All of these are fine for basic computer usage
(e.g. Email, word processing, & internet)
6. USB Ports:
For connecting printers & digital cameras to PC;
Can also connect additional disk storage to the PC;
Most PCs will come with “2-6 USB ports”;
If you need more, buy “4-port USB Hub” with Power Adapter
7. Hard Drive:
Typical size is “80-200 GB”;
All of these are fine for basic computer usage
(e.g. Email, word processing, & internet);
Get at least 60 GB capacity or more if you can
8. Color Monitor:
Low cost monitors are typically “15 or 17 inches”;
Flat screen monitors are nice, but expensive
9. Printer:
“Photo quality color printers” are inexpensive;
Ink cartridges are fairly expensive ($25-40);
For black & white printing consider low cost laser printer
10. Modem:
For connecting to the internet (over a phone line); Typically “56Kbps”; usually standard with PCs
11. Network Card (10/100 NIC):
For connecting to the internet with DSL or CABLE;
Usually standard with most PCs
12. Wireless network card
Used for connecting to wireless networks in coffee shops & homes;
Usually standard in new laptop PCs
13. Printer cable:
Typically needs to be purchased separately;
“USB Printer/Device Cable” costs about $30;
Typically comes in 6 or 10 foot lengths (depending on how close you can put your printer to the PC)
