1. Property Management Firms Online--Part II. ... Last week's mention of property managers' online efforts triggered several interesting e-mails. ... First, AIMCO does have a web site. I had looked up the full company name, American Investment and Management Company, in a fancy search engine that didn't work. Oops. Thanks to Bill Millichap and Todd Clarke, who both e-mailed me. Lesson: When in doubt, first try the standard web address convention--companyname.com or abbreviation.com!

Norman Reef, who works in Lease Administration for LensCrafters reports that "Simon DeBartolo is the only management company who regularly corresponds with us via e-mail. This has been a great help in tracking down missing invoices, getting backup info, and confirming payments." At other property managers' web sites, he has had difficulty finding "the addresses of their accounts receivable and lease administration departments."

Jay Harris of the National Multi Housing Council points out that some "owners who self-manage (Equity, Avalon) have sophisticated Net-based applicant qualification systems. EQR in the Pacific NW takes apps over the Net, for example, and can qualify people in a matter of minutes. ... The real story is what happens internally. Often, management has Intranet or otherwise secure systems to download rent roll and other information back and forth between the site and a central location on a daily or weekly basis."

Jay's last comment is absolutely correct. The real benefit of developing a strong property management web site will be the internal connections that it makes with a firm's staff and clients. In other words, the most valuable part of a web site will always be invisible to the public. ... What's your opinion? Send e-mail to me at . ... Hyperlinks to all sites are included in the HTML mail version. See Paragraph 4 below.

2. Web Success--Equis Preps for Y2K on Web. ... Stephen Dovalas of Equis reports using the web to research the initial phase of product compliance for Y2K. According to Dovalas, "We are using the manufacturer’s websites (e.g., trane.com, honeywell.com) to research their public statements on which building systems products (e.g., elevators, HVAC and fire protection) are already Y2K compliant. We are also using the GSA’s website...to help budget for known repairs and upgrades. Of course the entire project team (engineers, database managers, project managers and field technicians) are using e-mail to communicate our progress and exchange data." The URL for the GSA is below:

http://y2k.lmi.org/gsa/y2kproducts/search.htm

Do you have a Web Success story? Send me e-mail. ... For past Web Success stories, use the following URL:

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=WebSuccess08

3. Knowledge Base--WebSiteGarage.com. ... This is one of the most incredible free tools available on the Internet. ... Go Web Site Garage, enter your web address and you'll generate a fascinating report, including the load time for your page and options for shrinking your graphics. Another report will tell you how many other web sites have links back to yours. For example, 230 sites have links back to PikeNet. Thank you! ... You'll find step-by-step instructions in the PikeNet Knowledge Base (top of home page) under the Web Related section, or use the URL below:

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=showPublicPage&page=
questions/questions/question081

4. Dispatch HTML E-mail Option. ... Remember that you can now receive this Dispatch in HTML format, so that it looks just like a web page with all sites hyperlinked. ... Take it from Walt Spevak, Autodesk's Real Estate Director, "The new HTML format is great. The dynamic links to web sites are really handy. I know I’ll be making more links to those sites which is a benefit to me and your content providers." ... Remember, not every e-mail program can receive HTML mail, but Netscape, Eudora 4.0, Outlook 98 and Outlook Express can all receive it correctly. ... If you would like to receive future Dispatches in HTML format, edit your User Profile by going to the home page and clicking the "Edit User Profile" link under the PikeNet logo, or use the following URL:

http://www.pikenet.com/pike?func=emailRequest

5. Outsource Your E-newsletters. ... I've posted details on the e-newsletter service that I'm planning. If you want to send weekly e-mail to your clients and promote your e-newsletter service to PikeNet visitors, check out the information and contact me. Use the following link:

http://www.pikenet.com/advertising/newsletter.html

6. Sponsor. ... "America's Note Network is a secondary market for seller-financed trust deeds & mortgages. Through Creative Real Estate Financing we’ve helped brokers nationwide close those hard to finance deals. Over $200,000,000 in sales with over $2 million in commissions paid on deals that were otherwise non-financeable. FREE Report & Newsletter. Take the TOUR at http://notenetwork.com."

--Peter Pike