Hi Geoff.

I'm sure technologies have changed a bit, but here's a thread from last year that might have info for you:

http://tinyurl.com/6hzgwp

That was a great link, Phil. Last year you said you showed 13 homes! How goes this year? I am hoping things are going to pick up in my area I haven't showed 13 homes in one day in a long time!

I still go into 12-15 a day to see how much copper wiring I can get out.  :)

Seriously, I guess my demand for that many in one day is down, too.  Thank God!  That's a killer, but the GPS definitely turns a 3 hour tour into a 1.5 or 2 hour tour.   It's just amazing how much quicker the whole deal goes.  That little unit is worth its weight in oil!

Hi Geoff,

I have just recently picked up the 760 Garmin. It seems to be perfect for me and I still have not used all the features. It is a little pricey, but Costco had an internet special for, I think $349. Costco is not an authorized dealer, but they have their own guarantee for complete satisfaction and I like their guarantees.

One of the features that I like about the 760 is the voice directions so you aren't as distracted by having to look at the map, i.e., "turn right on Main street". It also has Bluetooth and you can connect your phone to it and have your conversations through your car speakers, plus, plus, plus, etc.

You can look it up on Garmin's web or just search for the nuvi 760 Garmin. You will find sites that will compare to the others. I already did all that and the 760 is what I came away with. Good Hunting and good luck with the product and the price.

John Ashley

John and Geoff raise some interesting points with this post. But, it seems to raise two (2) questions that may or may not distract from the topic at hand.

First is the GPS system that John purchased seems to be a bit on the high end of the mapping gadgets. I was about to buy the cheaper unit for $149 and maybe go for the $199 model that talks to you and pronounces the street names. I mean I live in New Jersey so, how lost can I get?

Second issue was where we buy the thing. John said Cosco which is a big box warehouse and the advertised specials were from the newspaper flyer announcement of BestBuy, another big box store. Other than on the internet, I am not sure where else I would even look to purchase a GPS. And that is my real question to everyone.

Where is real estate sales heading?

Maybe some of you have heard about this company? I was approached by realest***.com to join their company. In New Jersey they have rented two office spaces at different parts to the state that are meant to serve the entire state. They promise me 5 to 10 leads per month. And, on the low end, that is about 60 leads per year more than my current franchise company provides to me.

Does anyone think this is the wave of the future for real estate?

A big box internet based company that reduces the the overhead and man power of traditional sales to something similar to buying a GPS or computer. Could it be?

What I do if I'm not sure about something is that I will look for refurbished units that sell for a lot less than the new stuff.  If I don't like it, I haven't spent a lot of money and if I do, I have more experience with it so I know what to look for when I want to upgrade.  TigerDirect.com is a good place to find refurbished units for a little over a hundred bucks.  I did that with my first laptop 10 years ago and that thing lasted for 3 years before I finally had to upgrade.  Recently I did the same thing when I was thinking about buying the IRobot cleaner.  I bought a refurbished unit...cost about a third of what a new unit costs.  Had a problem with the battery and I had to replace it but, Robbie has been running like a trooper since then and I know when it kicks the bucket, I'll buy the new, upgraded version.  (and yes, I named my robotic vacuum...if you know Asimov, you'll understand)

I used the Magellan 300 for several years but the lack of map updates forced me to look for a new GPS. After trying out several models I settled on the Magellan 4250. It is one of the few GPS units that allows you to sort or "optimize" a list of addresses.

I need to be able to put in all the addresses of the homes that I am going to be showing and plot out a course for the day. The Magellan 300 allowed you to use software on your computer to locate the addresses on a map and plot a route and then upload the route to your GPS thru a USB cable, this was so useful but alas, Magellan decided not to include this feature on it's newer GPS's.

With the Magellan 4250 you input the addresses that you are going to visit and then choose optimize and your route is plotted out for you.

I occaisionally have to make a few changes but it seems to work OK.

I personally think the wave of the future in GPS devices is going to be the integration of Google maps with your GPS. Imagine being able to plot out your trip on Google and uploading the whole trip, including hotels, restaurants and sightseeing points of interest to your GPS.

That's what I'm waiting for!

Roianne Cox

www.clarkcounty4sale.net

Oh, I like that, Roianne!!!....My GPS won't optimize....but my next one will!!!