Frequently Asked Questions. |
General Questions
• When a call comes in on my property, what happens? Who handles the call?
• Why is For Sale By Owner a good idea?
• Why sell your home by owner?
• Why buy a For Sale By Owner property?
• How do I get started?
• What amount of traffic can I expect for my listing?
• Do I need a real estate attorney for this?
• I've heard about the Sign Package. What is that?
• Is there a privacy policy for my email address?
• How can I hunt down For Sale By Owner properties that are for sale?
• How successful is Change My Street?
• Does ChangeMyStreet.com operate other sites as well?
• How do I choose the perfect photo for my property?
• Do you sell my email address or send spam?
MLS
• What is the Multiple Listing Service?
• Is it possbile to have an MLS listing go longer than six months?
• Who is my agent in the transaction?
• Will a 3 percent commission draw enough interest?
• Why does Realtor.com not list contact information?
• Why would anyone show a home without possibility for a commission on its eventual sale?
• How many photos does the MLS allow per listing?
• Does the agent provided by the buyer work on transaction paperwork as well?
• What forms need to be filled out to land an MLS listing?
• From the time I purchase an MLS plan, how long does it take to get my home listed on the service?
Payment
• When are fees charged?
• What are the costs to sell a piece of real estate?
Edit Your Listing
• I need to edit my ad. Can I and how often can I change it?
• How do I upload pictures?
• My listing still shows a previous photo after I went through the upload process.
What now?
Error Messages and Problems
• My connection disconnected. Did I lose everything?
• I have misplaced my account information. How do I retrieve it?
• I forgot my password.
• An error message has kept me from adding a listing. What now?
• I went through the creation process but did not activate my ad. Can I now?
• My Map It button is broken
• I need more help, how do I contact you?
• My listing has not shown up yet on Yahoo.com
Upload Photos
• Getting Started: How do I upload photos?
• Are you sure I can upload pictures?
• What if I don’t own a scanner? What now?
• Oops, I made a mistake. Can I go back in and change my photos?
• I changed my photos but the old ones still appear. What’s up?
• What happens if I get errors during the process?
General Questions
When a call comes in on my property, what happens? Who handles the call?
The Change My Street program is entirely flexible, giving you the ability to retain as much control as you like. You can take ownership of all showings, questions and subsequent transaction items if you like. The program also provides an affiliate agent at your disposal that can help with some of the paper-pushing aspects of a real estate transaction and take any burden off of you that you like for a small fee.
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Why is For Sale By Owner a good idea?
We have compiled information sheets that can help you determine the advantages of a for sale by owner. Click here for reasons to sell by owner and click here for reasons to buy for sale by owner properties.
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Why sell your home by owner?
Remove your stress:
Selling your own home gives you control over your own real estate transaction. Your life does not have to be interrupted every time a real estate agent wants to show your home and you don’t have to go through and meticulously clean your property when you think there’s even a possibility for a showing. You have control over showings and can decide when you want strangers in your home. You don’t have to go through a real estate agent for every step of the process and can remain in more direct contact with the potential buyer. Your sale can be done quicker and simpler on every level.
You know our home - sell it:
No real estate agent will feel as passionate about your home or know as much about it as you will. You can convey all of the positives about your home and its area better than anyone else, giving you a better selling technique than most real estate agents. Price your home properly and help it show well and you will achieve a sale relatively easily.
You determine your price…and everything else:
You are able to do your own research to determine a sale price and you can decide just how you want to publicize your listing. Gone are the days of angrily calling up a realtor and demanding more be done. You are the realtor and you decide the best course of action for your own home. Take the home off the market, put it back on, modify the price, everything is at your disposal and no contract has to be signed to commit a realtor to your property.
The big one – save money:
Real estate agent commissions typically run at or near 6 to 7 percent. Going through the process yourself will save you that money and give you a bigger buffer on a possible sale price. You don’t need a go between and you don’t have to fall prey to someone else’s schedule. Keep your money and equity to yourself.
Enjoy a quick real estate transaction:
Real estate agents have a propensity to start out with a price higher than market and gradually move downwards to get the highest possible price. Every time you have to lower your price adds time to your entire transaction. Because you are in control of your transaction, you set the price and you can largely determine just how quickly your property sells.
Remove your confusion
:
Because you have a better handle on the transaction and maintain more personal contact with your potential buyers, you can get a better idea for the level of interest a buyer has and what needs to be done to get the home sold. Because you have an extreme level of personal interaction, the guessing game of determining how interested a buyer is gets taken out of the transaction entirely.
The process can be quite simple:
Millions of consumers feel comfortable selling their own car and selling a home is more similar to that transaction than real estate agents would let on. Through ChangeMyStreet.com, you can go through the various stages of the process with expert advice on your side. Save on commissions and save on stress through using our simple system.
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Why buy a For Sale By Owner property?
More money in your pocket:
The six to seven percent real estate agent commission that is typical on agent listings has to come from somewhere. Many times, sale prices are raised to cover that commission above what the market would normally demand. By skipping the commission process entirely, you save money and keep the cash between the buyer and seller, not an outside agent.
It’s such an easy process:
Because you take the real estate agent middleman out of the process, you get direct contact with the seller and that direct interaction can often lead to simpler, more efficient transactions. You get first-hand information from the seller and never have to go through a slew of different people just to get a question answered. You and the seller can decide on a price for yourselves and never involve an outside party to complicate the process. Additionally, because as a buyer you will only see the homes that are right for you, you will have less difficulty negotiating items later and get better matches right off the bat.
Serve yourself:
With any real estate transaction, the buyer and seller are the only two parties that really need to have input into the process. Whenever an outside party like a real estate agent is involved, the process gets entirely more complicated and the needs of the real estate agent suddenly enter the fray. These needs are never as important as the needs of the buyer and seller and including them in the process only complicates things. Don’t let a real estate agent force a property on you that is not perfect for you because the agent wants to get paid quicker. By pursuing your own potential properties, you are free to take the time you need to get the property that is right for you.
Real estate agents would love for you to think that the entire real estate process is entirely too complicated for the average buyer to navigate themselves. This is simply not true and through entities like your title company and other resources, you can quickly and efficiently pilot yourself through the process. Title companies receive the same amount of money whether a real estate agent is involved or not, so they have no reason not to work as hard for you as they would for an agent. While you can always consult experts like a real estate attorney later, you customarily won’t need to and can rely on a title company to execute your transaction properly.
Cut down on the time you spend:
Because no third party is involved in the transaction such as a real estate agent, you can have direct contact with the owner of your prospective home and avoid phone tag for days to get simple things accomplished. Finish your deal faster and get your new home that much quicker.
It’s simple:
The perception may be that purchasing a home from an owner instead of a real estate agent is a difficult prospect. That is simply not true and going through a buyer directly can facilitate communication that is key to any real estate transaction. No third party is putting their own agenda ahead of yours and you and the seller are free to operate to accomplish your own goals. You get a property that is right for you without having to pay out a commission later.
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How do I get started?
Go to PLACE AN AD and you can immediately begin the process by going through the process detailed there. You will create your ad in its entirety and when you are finished, it will be added to the millions of other homes we service, ready for exposure to our sites stream of visitors.
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What amount of traffic can I expect for my listing?
ChangeMyStreet.com is one of the leaders in the for sale by owner field, ensuring that your listing will be seen by thousands of visitors. Through ChangeMyStreet.com, a slew of visitors will come to your ad and easy-to-use reports will tell you just how many came to your property’s listing. Web directories all around the Internet feature our listings and recognizable names like Yahoo, ATT, Military.com, USAToday.com and others will give you even more exposure for your listing.
Note: The amount of exposure your ad receives is dependent upon the plan you choose.
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Do I need a real estate attorney for this?
Typically, the answer is no. Title companies throughout the United States are customarily able to handle the various aspects of a real estate purchase or sale that you will need to go through. ChangeMyStreet.com of course helps with this process, offering a list of reliable title companies in your area. Check that list here.
Of course, in any transaction that is so important to your personal dealings, many users do retain attorneys just to make sure everything goes as it should. That real estate attorney can handle things like a review of your sale or purchase contract or escrow when the time comes. Every area of the country has countless attorneys, but find one that is experienced in real estate transactions.
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I've heard about the Sign Package. What is that?
A sign package will provide you with signs that you can use to publicize your listing in your area. Each sign package includes a 24” by 18” sign that you can place in your front yard. Two 24” by 9” signs are also included that can be used to direct traffic to your property. Each sign can be relied upon to last for the duration of your listing and well beyond as each is made of a strong plastic that is designed to take all kinds of weather conditions. UPS will ship your signs directly to you five to eight days after completing the sign package order, giving you the immediate ability to publicize your listing. You can see examples of each sign here:
- Yard Sign
- Directional Signs
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Is there a privacy policy for my email address?
ChangeMyStreet.com has a strict privacy policy that keeps your email address safe from spammers and other organizations that you don’t want to have your email. Email addresses are solely used for critical ChangeMyStreet information and are never sold. Other competing sites do make a practice of selling their email database, something ChangeMyStreet.com has pledged never to do. Any emails you may receive will be from ChangeMyStreet.com and no one else. Any instances of suspected abuse should be directed to abuse@changemystreet.com.
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How can I hunt down For Sale By Owner properties that are for sale?
By using the Buy A Home link on the ChangeMyStreet.com front page, you can access thousands of homes that you might be interested in. By entering in your zip code, city and state or listing number if you know it, you can immediately access relevant homes. As those properties come up, you will be given three distinct ways to search by property.
One option will take in your city and state information and give you the option to specify a distance from that location that is the maximum you want to see listings for. This would allow you to put in a city like Denver, Colorado, and only see listings that are within 50 miles of the city. These searches can also cross over state lines, giving you the ability to see listings anywhere in the proximity of a particular metropolitan area. Additional options are also offered to further narrow your site.
Second, by putting in a zip code you are afforded the same opportunity to specify a proximity of homes to search through.
Third, if you know the listing number of the property you are interested in, that search method will take you directly to the home. If you see a property in a newspaper or by driving around, you can use the listing number if it is supplied to go directly to the listing, a helpful step.
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How successful is Change My Street?
The nature of the ChangeMyStreet.com site makes it difficult to track sales as we not allowed to be a part of the actual real estate transaction because ChangeMyStreet.com is not a real estate agent. That lets you avoid commissions, but also precludes us from tracking every transaction on our site from beginning to end. However, through a variety of polls we offer periodically to track customer satisfaction, responses have shown sale levels between 40 percent and 85 percent, depending on the particular metropolitan area. Location, as always, matters greatly in real estate.
No site can sell a poor home at a high price in an unattractive area and every site can sell a cheap home in great shape in great area. Every real estate agent, just as every for sale by owner site, holds true to that strict tenet.
However, what ChangeMyStreet.com can guarantee is a tireless work ethic designed to bring your property in front of as many prospective buyers as possible. Advertising is a key part of the way ChangeMyStreet.com accomplishes that goal and each month thousands of dollars are spent around North American to bring consumers to the site for your listing.
As a rule of thumb, in most metropolitan areas, ChangeMyStreet.com has roughly the same success rate as traditional real estate agents (without charging a traditional real estate commission).
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Does ChangeMyStreet.com operate other sites as well?
Yes. ChangeMyStreet.com is a partner site with ForSaleByOwner.com and operates both ByOwnerSales.com and SaleByOwner.com. When you sign up to sell your home on any of these sites, please use the site you signed up on to manage your account.
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How do I choose the perfect photo for my property?
As with all types of real estate marketing, you want to make a potential buyer take a second, third and fourth look at your home. Generating interest is the key goal of any photo and showing a beautiful shot of the front of your property is the best way to do so. Curb appeal is a very real phenomenon and conveying your attractive yard and front façade will make a buyer want to know more about your home. If a front shot of your home is not sent as part of your listing, ChangeMyStreet.com will go through the photos you provide and select the one that gives you the best possible chance of landing the most possible interested buyers.
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Do you sell my email address or send spam?
Of course not. Your email address is never sold and spam is never sent. Habeas, one of the internet’s most trusted email certification sites, has approved of ChangeMyStreet.com and we conform to all internet standards in regards to emails. With a listing on the Habeas SafeList, a collection of trusted sites, ChangeMyStreet.com and its family of sites maintains a trusted standing along with thousands of the other trusted sites on the web.
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MLS
What is the Multiple Listing Service?
Most real estate agents use MLS has a key tool to hunt through homes to give hopeful home buyers a relevant list of targets. Three-fourths of all homes sold are sold as a result of a MLS listing.
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Is it possbile to have an MLS listing go longer than six months?
An additional $300 fee can keep you piece of real estate a part of the MLS database for another six month term. Customer Support can help you do that if you desire.
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Who is my agent in the transaction?
Our site maintains a list of affiliate agents and one will go through the paperwork on your transaction. However, as part of your MLS listing, all contact information states that showings and questions should go to you.
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Will a 3 percent commission draw enough interest?
Yes. The affiliate agent assigned to your transaction has already agreed to a particular fee and will not be a part of any commission. The three percent would go to an agent representing a buyer that goes through and actually purchase your property.
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Why does Realtor.com not list contact information?
Because Realtor.com is an internet-based use of the MLS, it has specific regulations on how listings can be displayed. Because a part of the income generated from the site comes from advertising packages for real estate agents, they are not keen on providing real estate agents with free contact information listed on the site.
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Why would anyone show a home without possibility for a commission on its eventual sale?
A flat fee is attractive to affiliate agents because volume makes up for any lost commissions and the exposure they receive for completing deals helps their business grow. If that same agent listings the home and provides the actual buyer for the transaction, they can reap the three percent commission as well.
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How many photos does the MLS allow per listing?
While listings are customarily only given one free photo, an additional fee that ranges between $10 and $20 can be paid to provide the ability to handle more photos.
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Does the agent provided by the buyer work on transaction paperwork as well?
Usually. The affiliate agent on your transaction will also look over the forms to protect you as well.
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What forms need to be filled out to land an MLS listing?
A “Listing Agreement” is the most important form you will fill out and in some areas, other documents may be needed. The affiliate agent will make that clear.
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From the time I purchase an MLS plan, how long does it take to get my home listed on the service?
Two business days is the turn around time between your order and contact by one of our MLS agents. The agent will then go through the process with you to ensure that your listing is up to your specifications. If two days go by and you have not been contacted, send an email to mls@changemystreet.com.
When you and the MLS agent finalize your paperwork, the MLS service takes five business days at most to list your home. Realtor.com is a bit slower and two weeks after a property is entered into the MLS, it will appear on the Realtor.com site. Remember, Realtor.com is an independent site and is not directly affiliated with the MLS or ChangeMyStreet.com
The MLS listing you receive is no different than the one a traditional real estate agent would list. With ChangeMyStreet.com you get the same service without the commission.
The MLS is a database used by local agents to develop a list of properties that a prospective home buyer might be interested in. By putting your property in the MLS, ChangeMyStreet.com ensures that each and every real estate agent in your area will have access to your home’s information.
All of this work helps you avoid the typical 6 percent commission that is paid on most home transactions. Because our affiliate agents have agreed to a flat fee, only 3 percent of that commission gets paid to the agent that brings the buyer to your home. Where 6 percent would have been split between two agents, you instead get to keep an extra 3 percent of the home’s value, a considerable amount of money in most real estate transactions.
Even better than that would be selling your home through the internet portion of ChangeMyStreet.com where you pay 0 percent commission if you find a buyer through that method. At a fee of $699, you receive the ability to post your property both on the MLS and internet section of the site. No matter how your home gets sold, you save real money that can be used on your next purchase or for anything else you desire. You maintain full control over your home and the transaction.
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Payment
When are fees charged?
If you have put your billing information into the site, your property listing is renewed automatically every 30 days. You of course are able to cancel your listing at any time. To cancel your ad, please EDIT/CANCEL. If you instead purchase a fixed-period listing, your listing simply expires at the end of your time period.
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What are the costs to sell a piece of real estate?
Prices are different throughout the country as the cost to our 20 locations differs by the costs of each individual community. Each branch office prints marketing materials that cost varying amounts depending on the location, resulting in slightly different costs for each area.
Because of this, you must provide us with your location via entering your zip code so that we can give you an accurate slate of costs for listing your property. If we have a local branch in your area, you will also be given contact information for that branch and pricing. Otherwise, you will given our online pricing plan information. Whether you use our online service or a branch office, you can rest assured the process will save you money and give you full control of your home sale transaction.
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Edit Your Listing
I need to edit my ad. Can I and how often can I change it?
You can edit your listing at any time by simply Click Here. Submit your listing number and personalized password to access your listing and relevant information. You will see a button that enables you to Continue Editing and by clicking on the button, you are taken to a separate page where you can change or modify any of the content of your online listing.
After finishing, you can see what your listing will look like with the Preview Ad button and if that is acceptable to you and is what you want potential buyers to see, click the I’m Satisfied button and the listing will go live on our site. If you have gone through all of these forms correctly, you will see a confirmation message that your changes were applied.
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How do I upload pictures?
Adding a photo can bring additional visitors to your listing and better sell your home. To do so, there is a simple list of steps that you can take to add a photo to your listing. Internet Explorer 4.0 or above or Netscape 3.0 or above are required.
1. The site to add a photo is http://www.changemystreet.com/myListing. By logging into your account with the listing number and password, you will be taken to your listing.
2. Scrolling to the bottom of the ad will show a link that says Upload Photo. Click it.
3. As you go through the process on that page, click Browse to find the location of the photo you want to upload on your hard drive. Choose it and select ok to add the photo to your listing.
4. You will be able to go through this process for a maximum of six photos to be added to your listing. One megabyte is the maximum size for each image and each image must be in the form of a jpg, jpeg, tiff, tif, bmp or gif file. This portion of the site will also allow you to delete any photos you wish to remove from your listing.
5. Process Request is available as a link on the page and pushing it will complete your process.
6. As a way to be sure that the process went through, put in your listing number and password to access your listing. The photos you just added should be visible. You may need to refresh the page to get the new images to show. Take care with this process as photos you add to the site will take the place of previous photos in the same position.
Mail Photos to ChangeMyStreet.com
Because not every consumer has a scanner or feels able to submit photos to the site, ChangeMyStreet.com offers other means of sending in photos. For photos that are under 10 MB that for some reason do not upload to the site, you can email those pictures to photos@changemystreet.com. We will take them and upload them for you.
If you have other questions that were not answered by this step-by-step listing and other information, feel free to contact ChangeMyStreet.com through photos@changemystreet.com.
Sincerely,
ChangeMyStreet.com Support
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My listing still shows a previous photo after I went through the upload process. What now?
The upload process gives the ability to go through your listing and manipulate your photos. You can submit new photos to take the place of old ones and change the order in which they display on the site.
However, most internet browsers (like Internet Explorer) keep old versions of a web site on your hard drive for quicker browsing and sometimes new updates are missed by the browser. Your photos may in fact be uploaded, but your internet browser may be showing an older version of the page with older photos.
The simple way to remedy this trouble is to hit the Refresh button available on all web browsers that forces the program to retrieve a fresh copy of the page for display. You should see your new photos added to your listing. If this does not work, email the picture you are trying to display to photos@changemystreet.com with your listing number and we will upload it for you and remedy any problem that might have occurred.
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Error Messages and Problems
My connection disconnected. Did I lose everything?
Click Here and you will be able to continue the sign-up process without problem.
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I have misplaced my account information. How do I retrieve it?
The EDIT/CANCEL page will provide the opportunity to retrieve your account information. By entering your email address into the form at the bottom of the page and clicking on Remind Me, you account information will be sent to your email momentarily.
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I forgot my password
By entering the email address you signed up with, your account information will be sent to you with a reset password. Check your email and use your randomly generate password to get into the site.
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An error message has kept me from adding a listing. What now?
If you have gotten a listing number for your property, your ad is in the database and you don’t need to worry about something getting misplaced. Every ad remains in our database for six months and you will not have to go back in and fill out a new form. Your credit card will also not be charged if you do not complete the activation process without error, so no need to worry.
In some cases, you will see an error message that says your credit card was turned down and you will need to contact your credit card company to remedy the situation. Sometimes this can be the result of entering an address that does not match the billing address your credit card company has on file for you.
Click here and choose your package to receive a listing number and activate your listing.
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I went through the creation process but did not activate my ad. Can I now?
With your listing number at hand, you can activate your listing with this link: Activate your ad! All ads created on the site stay in our database for six months, so you just have to come back within that time window to activate your ad.
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My Map It button is broken
Sometimes browsers or tool bars are automatically set to block pop ups. Because the Map It button generates a new window, it can get caught in this feature. Turn off pop-up blocking and try the link again.
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I need more help, how do I contact you?
If your answer cannot be found in this FAQ, you can chat with us through MSN by contacting support@changemystreet.com.
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My listing has not shown up yet on Yahoo.com
Yahoo.com issues can take place due to a few different issues. First, make sure that your listing is not available. Realestate.yahoo.com will take you to the system’s search page. Input your zipe code, choose the listing type of the property that you have listed and search the database.
You will get a slew of listings and your property should fall somewhere in the list. These lists can be quite lengthy, so make sure you go through all of the listings to look for your property.
Those listings created within the last 24 hours will often not be hosted on the site yet. Wait a full day before checking listings on Yahoo.com and other partner sites as most of those sites have a waiting period for new listings. Sometimes mailing address discrepancies can make listings harder to find, so go to USPS.com and see how the post office interprets your address. Differences here can explain potential problems in finding your listing.
If you have chosen to house a Virtual Tour on your listing, Yahoo.com will not accept the listing because it is unable to display it.
If you have other issues, contact us through MSN by contacting support@changemystreet.com.
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Upload Photos
Getting Started: How do I upload photos?
Uploading pictures is an important part of your listing. Login to your account by using the listing number and password you received via email when you completed your listing. By using the interface below, you can take pictures off of your computer and place them within your listing. You should receive an email with full instructions on uploading photos, so see if you can find it to make your uploading process simpler. Additional directions are available below.
While the process ChangeMyStreet.com has used for photo uploads is fairly intuitive, the following FAQ is available if you have trouble.
Photos that you have either taken of your property with your digital camera or scanned from print photographs in .jpg format can be uploaded to your listing. By using Netscape or Internet Explorer, you will get immediate access to your listing and you must log in to edit your listing to do so. Log in to your ad, go to the editing process and click on Upload Photos to access the process.
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Are you sure I can upload pictures?
If you see a Browse button next to the field you need to enter your file information, you are able to complete the upload process. The Browse button accesses your computers hard drive and lets you search through it to find the files you want to upload. If you do not see the Browse button, something is wrong and you are free to contact us so that we can either help you through the process or provide other ways to submit your photo such as email and snail mail.
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What if I don’t own a scanner? What now?
Go through the process of submitting your ad before worrying about getting photos included. If you have a friend with a scanner or don’t mind making a run to Kinko’s to use their scanners, you can add photos later with ease. If you do go to a professional location, take with you the information the photo should be 72 DPI and approximately 320 pixels wide by 200 pixels high in jpg format. Once you do so, you can always come back to your listing to add the photos.
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Oops, I made a mistake. Can I go back in and change my photos?
You have complete editing privileges for the photos on your listing and whenever you need to, you can modify or remove them if you go through the uploading process on your own. If we do the scanning of your photos, they remain in place until you choose to remove them.
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I changed my photos but the old ones still appear. What’s up?
Because browsers keep old versions of pages you’ve added on your computer for faster browsing, you may simply be seeing that old version of the page. By using the Refresh button on your browser, you force it to retrieve a fresh copy of the page with your new photos.
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What happens if I get errors during the process?
The errors most commonly seen on the site fall in two categories: either you have tried to upload a photo that is not a .jpg or you have tried to upload a photo that is too big. Keeping your file sizes low and in the .jpg format will remove a lot of the problems that result in error messages. Small file sizes get your picture in front of buyers quicker when they access your listing.
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