AskHouse Tweeting Service

1. You need to perform the setup task described in this step only once, not each time you're asking about a property.

   Send the following text message from your mobile phone to Twitter at short code 21212:

   ON AskHouse

   This tells Twitter that you want to follow user AskHouse and ensures that tweets from this user will be sent to your mobile phone.

   [At this point, if your mobile phone has not previously been added to a Twitter account, you will receive a text message with instructions on how to create a new account or, if you have an existing account, on how to add your mobile phone to this account.]

   You will receive a text message reply that says You're now following AskHouse. You will now see their Tweets on your phone. Send OFF AskHouse anytime to stop receiving their Tweets.

   It is sometimes also necessary to text the word ON to Twitter in order to turn on the master switch that starts the flow of text messages from all the Twitter users whose tweets you've asked to be sent to your mobile phone. You only need to do this if this switch was previously turned off, however.

   Alternatively, you can perform the setup task above by going to the Twitter website at www.twitter.com with your web browser and following these steps:

   • Sign in to your Twitter account (or sign up for a new account).
   • Go to the Devices tab of your Twitter Settings page to validate your mobile phone number (if you haven't already done so), then set the Device updates option to either On or Direct Messages. (AskHouse sends Direct Message tweets, so either setting will work. Choose whichever setting you use to follow other Twitter users whose tweets are being sent to your mobile phone.)
   • Go to the webpage www.twitter.com/AskHouse and click the Follow button to follow the Twitter user AskHouse. Click the mobile phone icon that appears on the status line (after the word Following) to turn it green. This turns on the Updates are sent by SMS to your mobile phone option.

   For more information on how to use your mobile phone with Twitter, see the following resources:

   • Twitter Phone FAQ at http://help.twitter.com/forums/59008/entries/14014
   • Adding your phone number to Twitter at http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/10711/entries/14589
   • The Official Twitter Text Commands at http://twitter.zendesk.com/forums/10711/entries/14020

2. When you're driving through a neighbourhood and see an interesting house for sale, send the following text message tweet to Twitter at short code 21212:

   @AskHouse xxxx

   where xxxx represents the actual street number of the house.

3. A short time later, usually within a minute or two, a Direct Message tweet comes back to your mobile phone in the following format:

   xxxx MARINE DR $429K 3BD 3BA 2118sf 0.16a http//GaryLittle.ca/f.php?q=1234 Gary 604-741-5347

   The information returned is the full street address for the house, the asking price (in thousands), the number of bedrooms, the number of bathrooms, the house size (in square feet), the lot size (in acres), the address of a webpage containing more information about the house, and my name and telephone number.

   On occasion, houses with the same street number, but located on different streets, will be for sale at the same time. In this situation, the reply tweet comes back looking something like this:

   xxxx MARINE DR $429K 3BD 3BA 2118sf 0.16a [+2] http//GaryLittle.ca/f.php?q=1234 Gary 604-741-5347

   Only one property is highlighted in the reply with an indication — [+2] — that others were found as well. This isn't too useful if the property you're interested in is not the one highlighted. To avoid this situation, you can send a tweet that includes both the street number and the street name — in other words, text @AskHouse xxxx Main instead of just @AskHouse xxxx, for example. Alternatively, if your mobile phone has a web browser, you can go to the webpage found in the reply to get complete information on all the properties found.

   Of course, if you've supplied the street number of an apartment building where several units are for sale you're going to experience a similar problem — only one unit will be highlighted. The only way to learn about the other units is to view the webpage shown in the reply.

4. Call me to make an appointment to view in more detail the house you've found!

On rare occasions, you may receive a reply saying that no information about the property has been found in the MLS® database. There are several possible reasons for this:

• The property is not an active listing on the Multiple Listing Service® because:
  • It was put on the market very recently and has not yet been recorded at the Multiple Listing Service®.
  • It has already been sold or has been taken off the market.
  • It is listed exclusively.
  • It is for sale by owner.
  • It is not for sale.

• The property is a vacant lot. Street numbers for most vacant lots are not stored in the MLS® database, so you can't find the lots with AskHouse even if you did happen to figure out the street number.