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JaCi Wallace
More on Translation App Tricks for Real Estate
If you have been using a translation app in real estate, I have more translation app tricks to share. You may recall that I wrote a blog on this subject a while back. Yesterday, something very interesting happened, I received a call from a Chinese buyer with limited English speaking skills. While on the call, I tried to converse using the “Translate Me” app on my cell phone, but the app was not working properly. Then, quickly I used another app, “Google Translate.” It worked perfectly. Free apps, you know. Should not complain.
Unfortunately, after several tries, the female caller had hung up. I had politely kept asking her to speak, please. The app only works if the other person actually speaks, and she had not responded. When I called back, her voice mail was full.
Now, there is a particular setting in the app called Conversation. You click on it after you have selected the languages. In this case I had chosen a Chinese dialect and English. You may not know this, but there are more than 200 Chinese dialects and really no such thing as a Chinese language. Most common is Cantonese or Mandarin.
Here are more translation app tricks in real estate that are so cool. As you speak, what shows on your screen is the conversation written in both English and your selected foreign language, however; it also speaks aloud in the foreign language. If you have your phone set to speaker, the caller can hear you speak and your voice is translated instantly to a different language.
When the buyer speaks, it translates onto the screen in English for me to read but does not speak English out loud. This is the perfect approach for language translation on a cell phone. Additionally, if we were communicating in person, it would work the same way.
This call, however, made me wonder if she had read my previous article or if someone who spoke Mandarin had told her about it? How did she find me? How did she know to ask immediately when I said hello, “You speak Chinese?” I’m going to call her back today using this app. The hope is I can leave her a voice mail message in her language, as there are always more translation app tricks to apply in Real Estate.
As a top Sacramento Realtor, I look forward to extending help to many clients who speak other languages. I am planning to work with our exclusive buyer’s agent, Josh Amolsch, who is very tech savvy. He can help perfect the use of this app for our entire team. We can help so many people that ordinarily we would not be able to understand us or visa-versa.
If I lived in China, I would want to work with a very experienced local top producer Realtor and, if that person knew how to apply translation app tricks to help me, I would hire that agent in a Shanghai minute!
If you would like to work with a real estate team that uses technology to overcome any obstacles in the homebuying or selling process, call the Weintraub & Wallace team today! 916-233-6759.
— Jaci Wallace
Blogging From My New Command Center
Blogging from my new command center, I feel a bit like the Captain of the USS Enterprise. Beam me up, Scotty! With my new 42-inch monitor, I can view multiple screens open while I’m uploading photos, researching links, and writing — all at the same time. As if that isn’t enough, I also have my laptop on my desk, so I can also work on my email. Whoa, talk about multi-tasking! This is just so awesome.
Blogging at my new command center is just a part of what I can do using this 42 inch monitor. I can now write contracts, have MLS open, keep my eye on email, and watch our Sacramento real estate ads on social media. This not only saves time, it creates more efficiency in my task schedule. Thinking over each day, jotting down a few blog ideas, and taking photos of our daily work adventures, reminds me how much our team does as a collective, each day, for our clients.
My friend and partner, Elizabeth Weintraub, of Weintraub & Wallace Realtors, inspired me to blog. She has been encouraging me for over 10 years to write a daily blog. So, I owe her a huge shout out for helping to make this happen. Watching Elizabeth blog on her large screen monitor, was like watching a technology movie! She had so many screens opening, copy, paste, edit, upload, link, so I knew right then I need a new technology center. My old 20-inch monitor would just not do. This monster size monitor is so much fun to work on.
My friends, family, and our clients tell me they enjoy reading our blogs. I know the beauty of this first hand as I have read Elizabeth’s blogs for so many years. Reading them each day I felt more connected and current on what ever she was doing. So, Elizabeth, this blog is for you my friend. You have been an inspiration and your encouragement never wavered.
Blogging from my new command center has certainly enriched my work and my life. No matter how tired I am at the end of a 16-hour day, I’m totally inspired to write. If you want this kind of dedication and tireless effort to work on your behalf, call the top producers of the Weintraub & Wallace team today at (916) 233-6759.
–JaCi Wallace
Buying Another Computer at Best Buy
Buying another computer at Best Buy has turned into quite a bit of work. This started Tuesday when I took my Dell XPS into the Geek Squad at Best Buy. I dropped it off to check the fan as it was not turning on. They said a few days and I would know the scope of work and have an estimate. Wednesday I received a call that it is not the fan and needed to be sent out as the motherboard was not functioning. Of course, I could not have my computer be out of service that long.
The solution, I decided to buy another computer. A helpful sales clerk walked me around to look at what was in stock. There was a computer that would work, so I bought it on the spot. Then a tech support package was needed so the data could be transferred to the new computer. Tonight another trip back to Best Buy to pick up the new computer! Three trips later and now we are putting the computer up and installing a 40-inch monitor.
This Sacramento Realtor is buying another computer at Best Buy because even one day without a desktop can cost our team business. Sure I have a laptop and a cell phone, so I can always do the basics. For me working on a desktop is a much more efficient working environment. Why? My days are filled with computer action items all day long and the more efficient, easy to use, and reliable the equipment, the more work I can complete in a day.
This is how we manage our team listings. Simply put we spend whatever is required to sell our listings. If we need to change locks or get windows cleaned that’s what we do. If we need to clean up a backyard or shampoo carpets, haul debris, then we call private vendors. If we decide buying another computer at Best Buy is needed, then we invest whatever is required. If you want top producers working for you, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors today at 916.233.6759. We go the distance.
— JaCi Wallace
How Successful Sacramento Realtors Roll with the Flow
Just how do successful Sacramento realtors roll with the flow? Well, everyday living is a good example to answer this question. Work is a part of daily life. Most challenges require problem solving and adapting to change in the middle of unexpected issues and challenges.
Tonight, I was getting ready to work on three market analysis studies and write a blog. Lo and behold, I sat down on my laptop and boom the power is instantly out at 7:30 PM! I am sitting in the dark. SMUD reports more than 1,000 homes are out of power in my area. My mom is here, and it is dark and the dogs and cats are tearing around underfoot. First things first, the flashlight app on my phone, I turn it on. Next, I suggest my mom stay put, as we do not need her falling!
We have lanterns in every room, candles and extra batteries. We have solar lights located outside at every exit door. Also, of course a few Mophie USB port phone battery backups, and a hot spot for internet. A daily must is keeping your laptop charged. Being well prepared and doing your homework always pays off.
Living in the country and working from a home office, a Realtor must prepare for every outcome. So, how do successful realtors roll with the flow? Weintraub & Wallace Realtors do just that. When the unexpected happens, we keep our oars in the water and paddle like hell. You must move with the current because there is no choice in that. You maneuver to avoid obstacles while keeping calm but highly focused. Skill comes into play as knowing how to respond is the key. Top of mind is to reach the destination as quickly as possible using your decades of experience on the journey.
How do successful Sacramento Realtors roll with the flow? We navigate forward no matter what the obstacle. Always a Plan B. Call Weintraub & Wallace for a smooth sale at 916-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Is Meeting the Real Estate Appraiser at the Property Important?
Is meeting a real estate appraiser at the property important for a listing agent? This Sacramento Realtor thinks so. Yesterday, I had a call from an appraiser. He was requesting access to a pending East Sacramento listing of the Weintraub & Wallace team at RE/MAX Gold. We met yesterday at 11:00 AM.
In fact, after offer acceptance, I had changed the access notes in MLS to appointment only. This ensures the appraiser does not make entry without my attendance. The reason for this is so that I can ensure he has comparable sales to support the sales price. Additionally, it gave me the opportunity to provide a list of upgrades and replacement dates of systems such as heat/air, roof, and sewer.
Now, the fact we had multiple offers on the property was indicated in MLS, but not every appraiser believes that should afford a price well over the list price. I prepared a market analysis showing sales in the area, attached to the list of upgrades that I gave the appraiser. It is never a guarantee of appraisal value, to offer information to an appraiser, and meeting the real estate appraiser at the property doesn’t always turn out the way we want. However, ask yourself if the above actions are important, rather than just letting the appraiser use the lockbox with no information whatsoever?
As a top producer, we always go above and beyond the typical service level. Our seller lives out of state and has put his faith in us to act on his behalf. We put his interests above our own. Not only do we believe this is important for out of state sellers but for every seller, even if right next door!
Most of the time, we find that meeting the real estate appraiser at the property is a good idea. You now have enough information to decide for yourself. Don’t guess with your real estate sale, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors today at 916-233-6759!
— JaCi Wallace
