Like any industry, Realtors and appraisers in the Houston area that primarily utilize HAR.com for all their MLS data are somewhat limited to how they can view this data. Until now, Internet Explorer was the only web browser that would properly navigate the MLS system. Having an IT background, I’m not a fan of IE at ALL. It has always been a huge target for hackers, crackers and other nefarious individuals that just love to wreak havoc onto anything Microsoft.
I prefer the web browser known as Firefox; an open source program. To those of you with no clue what I’m talking about, open source means that software developers are free to disassemble the software to view the “nuts and blots” of how it works. This allows developers to create plug-ins for the browser that add numerous functions and utility to the browser itself. Firefox is also a much more stable browser and more impervious to spyware, viruses and other malware.
So how does a Realtor or Real Estate Appraiser use it? Well, by utilizing one of these handy plug-ins, or add-ons as they are properly referred to, you can view ANY “IE only” website using Firefox. Simply head to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1419 and download the latest version of IE Tab. Once installed, all you do is simply click the little button it places in the bottom right hand corner to switch the rendering from Firefox to Internet Explorer. IE TAB is a very handy tool for any of us in the Houston real estate market.
