Posted by Joan Bergstrom on 11/5/07 12:18am
Msg #219722

It's dark out there!

For most states (Arizona & Hawaii don't turn their clocks back) today is the start of clocks being set back one hour and its dark very early for several months.

It is very easy to find locations when it gets dark at 8pm but it's another situation when it gets dark at 4:30-5:00pm. Most of our signings are during 5pm to 9pm so this is definitely a problem for loan signers and real estate agents and probably a bunch of other people in business.

I recommend a big flashlight as a starter.
I use a GPS system that is voice activated and doesn't have a map on the dash board, but it is very expensive: $1400.

What do other loan signers use and what is the cost?

I have used mapquest, google, and yahoo but I think the first "luxury item" you should buy is a GPS system.

Reply by MichiganAl on 11/5/07 12:36am
Msg #219724

I've been waffling on two luxury items

A GPS (which I've been reviewing since Charles posted the link on some great deals on refurbished ones) and a printer setup for my car. Heck, I think the car printer might be a necessity more than a luxury. Just last week it would have saved me a couple hundred miles of driving and made my days a lot less hectic. I've done fine with printed maps. I WANT a GPS (I've been looking at a Magellan Roadmate), but probably don't NEED a GPS. But the car printer setup, that would make my life a lot easier. I think I know what I want from Santa.

Reply by Dorothy_MI on 11/5/07 8:23am
Msg #219744

I don't consider either of these luxuries

Al, I have a car printer and when I got my new cell phone I got one with a built in GPS. GPS works just fine. Only problem I have is while using it you can receive incoming phone calls just fine and then immediately go back to navigator; however to make outgoing calls, you have to shut off the navigator part, make your call, go back to navigator and go to recent searches to start it back up again. Not as good as a dedicated GPS, but many $$ less. If you want more info on the car printer, give me a call.

Reply by JK/TX on 11/5/07 12:47am
Msg #219725

Re: It's dark out there! ........

I know !!! i get lost in my rural area.... don't drive in it if i don't have to and I would not remember any trial runs,,,,,

I was sooo excited when day light saving time came into play, cause I could see all these "Farm to Market Road" signs and borrowers would not think 7 or 8pm was late because it's still daylight outside.......but then the bottom fail out out on loans .... so now I'm back at ground zero.

Wish I had a navigation system in my car (mapquest sends me on the tourist route).

Sure hope the cows come home every night this year....... otherwise, I'll miss my turn !
I never appreciated that saying.... until now !

Reply by hp/MD on 11/5/07 5:35am
Msg #219728

It is a mistake and IMHO foolish not to have A navigation system of any kind to go out there as a signing agent. God knows how much money I have saved ( not to mention the family and vacation use) since I have had my system. I bought mine from Costco there years ago. I could not be happier the $495 investment I made In this business. Costco has it now for $299 I think. JMO

Reply by jba/fl on 11/5/07 6:45am
Msg #219732

Living in large city, MapQuest and its ilk do me just fine, but the biggest problem I had was finding numbers on houses, mailboxes, fence posts, right under lights so that they are in shadow, and so on. I finally got a flashlight, BIG one, with rechargeable battery like construction tools. It is so bright, lasts longer, pierces the shadows, and I can find things - even if only the neighbor's house as bor. doesn't have number anywhere. This has been my favorite acquisition this year, prob. because it is my most useful and helpful.
(It is the simple things that thrill us!)

Reply by BetsyMI on 11/5/07 8:09am
Msg #219742

I splurged big time. When I got a new car last December I got one with a navigation system installed. It cost a lot because it was part of an entertainment package that also includes a great sound system with Bose speakers.

But I love having it and it's made finding houses so much easier. I also invested in a high powered Big Light that can shine right on the borrower's address since sometimes the house numbers are still not visible even when the GPS says "you've arrived at your destination on the right".

I have to laugh at the Big Light though...it looks like something the cops would use and I wonder what the neighbors think as I'm scanning their houses!

Reply by Calnotary on 11/5/07 8:06am
Msg #219741

I had gps since 2002 and can not do loan signings without it. I used to carry a big flashlight that I bought in costco, it had 10 million lumens<spell? and one time I was doing a signing in a very new tract home section and I stopped at the side of the street to light the street's name in the post and all the traffic stopped. Oh my gosh, they thought I was in some kind of a law enforcement vehicle!

Reply by LC/AZ on 11/5/07 8:34am
Msg #219746

When I first started, and in a panic to see the street signs at night, I carried a big flashlight and binoculars (My son said, "That's great, Mom, if you want to see the MOON!" Alas, I am still relying on Mapquest, but hoping for GPS from Santa!

Reply by BrendaTx on 11/5/07 8:42am
Msg #219749

Re: It's dark out there! - You guys are funny. thanks

for the chuckle.

Reply by Sarah/CA on 11/5/07 9:27am
Msg #219758

I have a Garmin nuvi 360 and love it. It tells me the street names (sometimes very funny pronunciations) but the best part is telling me I have "arrived at address 1234 on the right". It really helps to know when I am at the address especially on a long street and which side of the street it is on. Some of the homes near me are in the country, very dark and have small house numbers. I also make it a habit of asking the borrowers if there are any special directions I need to know in finding their house. Sometimes people live at the end of long easements but have the main street as their address. I would not want to be without my GPS especially this time of year.

Reply by JandB on 11/5/07 11:09am
Msg #219770

We use a rebuilt GPS. It's a Garmin and cost about $400 but I consider it priceless. It has bailed me out soooo many times on rural roads I can't even begin to tell you. Many of the rural roads in PA are little more than a cow path that has been paved. There are no shoulders and there are trees and big rocks on some roads that actually touch the side of the pavement. Taking your eyes off the road to look at a map or printed directions is out of the question. I always pull a map off of Map Quest and read the directions because Ms Garmin will direct you down a side road which might be the shortest route but not the best route. She will "recalculate" if I pass up her first suggestion. In other words, I work the map and the garmin together. That said. If it's dark or the roads are too narrow, I just do what she says and she has never failed to get me there...or home.

Reply by JBarnes_NY on 11/5/07 11:28am
Msg #219772

MS Maps and Streets w/GPS

This is the thing to do, especaially if you already have a laptop, it costs like 100 for the program and the usb GPS receiver, and it works right off your laptop, it works great especially if you do inspections, because you can load your whole days route on there and optmize the stops and off you go.

Reply by Teresa/FL on 11/5/07 11:37am
Msg #219773

Re: MS Maps and Streets w/GPS

It's called Microsoft Streets and Trips.

I like being able to map out my day and save the map as a record of mileage for that day.

I have saved a "base" map with my usual stops (home, FedEx, UPS, Staples) and just pull it up and rename it each day, then add it my appointments. It's very helpful when trying to calculate how far it is to a signing location so I can give a realistic fee quote based on time and distance.

Reply by Calnotary on 11/5/07 2:21pm
Msg #219786

I Tried Microsoft Streets and Trips

and did not like it. I end up with the a very loose screen in my brand new laptop. And if the road is bumpy<spell
windows xp shuts off. It happened to me several times when I was about the get to my destination.

Reply by Ilene C. Seidel on 11/5/07 5:45pm
Msg #219838

I have a gps but it doesn't get me in front of the house so I call the borrower and ask if they would flash their portch light so I can find them.