More hiccups... there's no one you can rely on but yourself...

I'm gradually learning that there's no magic was of doing things better than you'd do them yourself and relying on any other way is hazardous.

Take for example, this company "forsalebyowner" that I'm using to help with the listing of my property.  Their website has this fan dangle portal for vendors that allows you to do all sorts of things - or at least that's the promise...

After our first inspection I log on and duly enter in all the details of those who attended.  It's a bit clunky - there's no spot for comments and you have to include an email address in order to save the person's details.  I wasn't collecting email addresses, just mobile numbers so I just thought I'd give people the default email of either interested@nonegiven.com or none@given.com so that I could follow up those I marked as interested after the open house.

Yesterday I logged in to try and sort through the interested vs not interested only to discover that although I've put in the data I can't actually access it!  The website refers to a "contacts tab" that isn't there but just to make sure I'm not going blind, I email the owner to ask him how to get that information.  You can imagine how impressed I was when he confirms that no, I'm not blind, and no, there's no way for me to access the information.  He can of course, so if i want a particular person's phone number just let him know and he'll retrieve it for me.....  So I take a deep breath....

Guess I'll go back to the trusty excel spreadsheet and do it myself!  Seriously there should be a warning brochure when you sign up:

1. Your inspection times might drop off at any time, please check regularly
2. Don't input any data you ever want to have access to in the future....
3. Oh, I'm sure I'll be adding to this list as I go on....

Maybe I should charge him a fee for finding and reporting all the faults with the damn website!  Or maybe I should just shut up until I've sold my house and then refer him to my blog for constructive feedback...  What do you think?

In the meantime that bloke came over on Sunday to inspect the house - Nathan (2 yrs) was here and did some talking.  He told me everything he didn't like about the house (apparently a good sign?), told me the house down the road that sold earlier this year was a better house (why didn't he buy it??) and then asked if the price was negotiable... He was a bit older than the other prospects, probably late 40s, early 50s, said he might bring his wife back but had to think about it...

Today I had a call from another bloke asking about the measurement of the street frontage (maybe interested in knock down rebuild?).  I sent him the contract because I wasn't sure what I was reading... told him about the "right of way" and the shared driveway, then he asked how many "old" trees were on the land... I told him I wasn't an aborist and he'd have to get a professional and speak to council for that sort of info... invited him to the open house tomorrow - we'll see if he shows up.

It's going to be a wet old Wednesday so I'm not sure we'll get a bit turnout tomorrow... but we're still tidying up just in case....

By the way - I know there are a few of you who check in regularly - if you've got anything to say leave me a comment, convince me I'm not talking to myself (thought it won't be the first, or the last time that happens!).

Back with more news soon!