All Forum Posts by: Mark Yu

@Ned Carey Thanks Ned, I'll definitely keep the local market in mind.

@Jon Huber @Ben G. Thanks guys for the encouragement. And BP definitely has some great education resources. Been busy learning!

@Ben Leybovich 

While I am VERY much a newbie (still on the sidelines actually), I've certainly had my share of experience working in the 'real world'. And I agree with you 1000%. I've learned more from my mistakes/failures than I ever have from my successes. And depending how you look at it, I've learned A LOT. 

And being a 'realist' is fine. What's that saying - pessimists complains about the wind, optimists hope it'll change, realists adjusts the sails.

SLA = service level agreement. When you use the free tiers of service (be it gmail, yahoo, etc.), there is normally no SLA. In other words, they don't guarantee any level of up time or service (on the other hand, you're not paying for anything). When you start subscribing to paid services, they'll usually guarantee some type of service structure. Whether or not one needs to be concerned with this will depend on their use. Essentially, how much impact would there be if you had no access to email for an hour? a day? 

Microsoft Outlook is essentially an email client. From a technical stand point, there is two parts that make email work. The servers that passes emails from back and forth (Microsoft's Exchange is the most used solution in the enterprise space), the other side is the communication between the server and the end user. That is typically facilitated by applications like Outlook (which allows you to compose, read, manage emails).  Web based applications are what's being used by Gmail, yahoo etc. You're just accessing it via a web browser. Actually, Outlook is also available as a web application. 

 Thanks Brandon. And great job with the webinar last night! A bit off topic, but was that sweet looking drum set in the background yours?

Well maybe that is what I missed.  So I assign a label and then how do I list it if I want a list of all emails for one specific house? 

Steve - not sure if you're still looking into Gmail. But yes, labels work similar to folders. And depending on how you use it, it can actually be better as you can apply multiple labels to a message (although some will prefer the hierarchal structure of folders within folders).

So you basically create labels (like you would folders), then you can move messages to them. You can access the labels on the left pane (below the default labels like inbox, sent, trash, etc.).  

Since Google got its start as a search engine, I think that is one of the best functionalities that they have. The ability to use the search function to find a particular message. In fact, when you click on a label, it essentially is just doing a search for all messages with that label (you'll actually see the query syntax populated in the search window). You can, of course, also type in your own searches - essentially googling your own mailbox ;-). 

Also - Google has two offerings: their free consumer stuff, as well as a business offering that gives you a bit more storage (and other functionalities such as a SLA and backup). The cost is very low, so it may be worth looking into as well.  

Finally - keep in mind that if you use an email application (e.g. Outlook), you can still manage your mail that way (using folders etc.).  

 Small world. I actually grew up in MoCo (Went to Whitman eons ago). And you have a great point - the economic stability here and the transient nature does make it a good market. See - already learned something! ;-).  

Wow - thanks for all the responses! Great to know there are so many folks out there willing to help. And I'll definitely be reaching out sooner or later!

Been lurking on here a couple of months... Reading the FAQs/Forums, etc. (haven't quite hit the podcasts yet) and such. Really feeling the "paralysis by analysis" thing. But hoping to pull the trigger starting in 2015. Still debating on the local vs. non-local thing.

I think the biggest deterrent to investing locally are all the stories I hear about how tenant friendly the state of MD is.

Outside of that, looking at Indianapolis, and San Antonio (via Home Union). and maybe Richmond in between.

Any input/advice will be appreciated!