The Search Form appears in the center of the Real Estate Listings page and on the Home Page at the top of the left hand column. This FAQ discusses the the search form selections and tips on how they work.
GENERAL: Making multiple selections within any of the drop-down selector lists by pressing the Shift key is not supported. Also, all selections may be bypassed by using the Radius Search (please see the Radius Search section below regarding its limitations).
LISTING TYPE. Selections include All Types, Sale, Rent, or Lease. Note that commercial properties are for lease, while rented properties are residential. You can choose only one selection of property type at a time. However, one of these selections is All Types, which is admittedly not all that useful. The type selection may be bypassed using the Radius Search (see below).
PROPERTY TYPE: Narrow your search to property type categories such Homes, FSBO's, Condos, Apartments, Commercial, and others. These are all fairly self explanatory, except to note that if you are looking for a residential rental, they may not all be listed under Apartments. There may be homes, condos, and other residential properties for rent. This selection amy be bypassed using the Radius Search (see below).
You can choose only one Category at a time. However, recall that one of these selections is All Categories, which in this case can be useful. For example, apartment hunters can choose the For Rent type, All Categories, and then narrow the selection to a given County and Town/City (see below).
COUNTY and TOWN/CITY: The County and City/Town selectors are "chained", which means that the Town/City selections are programmed to change accoring to the County selection. Therefore, you must make the County selection first so that the corresponding towns and cities in that county will appear in theTown/City drop-down list.
If you select "All Counties," then no Town/City choices will appear (selecting All Counties logically also includes all the towns and cities in those counties). You can also choose a County and then Select all Towns/Cities to search all listings in a single county. These selectors can be bypassed using the Radius Search (see below).
RADUIS SEARCH: This enables searching a geographic area using a radius in miles around a given zip code. It requires simply entering a zip code in the yellow background text field, then choosing a radius from the drop-down list next to it.
No other selector lists above are required for this to work. However, bypassing all other selectors will give you every listing type of and property type within that area, as well as adjacent counties that overlap the radius. It is recommended to still narrow your selections of listing, property type, and even county if need be. The Radius Search mainly helps avoid having to use the Town/City selections which can be too narrow. For example, you may be content to find property within an area that overlaps many towns. In this case you would enter a zip code that is centrally located to where you'd like to be, and then choose an acceptable radius out from there.
START A NEW SEARCH: A new search requires resetting and returning to the form. There are a three way to do this, depnding on where you are: 1) Click on the Search Form link in the Listings Menu; 2) Click on the Main Menu "Real Estate Listings" tab at the top of the page; 3) Use the search form on the Home page.
Search results display listings in a compact summary view. By default, five properties are shown at a time. For a full detail view of the listing click the thumbnail photo or the "Go to full listing" link.
These summary listings also have an "Add to Favorites" link in the lower left corner for registered members to save the listing. You must be logged in to use this function.
Navigation tools are found beneath the last listing in the search results: the number of properties returned by your search is shown to the left; in the middle is the page quantity and navigation; and to the right the Display# drop down box allows you to override the default and define the number of listings displayed.
The detail listing page has a Tools menu which allows you to Add to Favorites, View Favorites, Bookmark This Page (to your browser), Send To Friend a link directly to the listing, Print the page, and Join Our Mailing List.
1) For both free and premim listings, you must first register. Then log in and return to the Real Estate Listings page. The Listings Menu with the links you need for managing your listings on that page only.
2) Look for the Listings Menu in the right hand column. This menu has links for: browsing properties by category, opening the Search Form, viewing favorites and open houses, and entering the My Admin Panel.
3) Click My Admin Panel in the Listings Menu to enter into the member's administration area. This is where you manage your listings, favorites, open houses, and profile. Get acquainted with its layout and the features.
4) A profile must exist before placing both free and premium listings and only requires minimal information. Click the My Profile button and fill out your profile information in the form provided and submit.
5) To place a free listing click the Add New Listing button. If you don't have any listings yet, the button will appear in the open area beneath the "You have no current listings" message. After you have entered listings, they will appear in place of that message and the Add New Listing button will be beneath them.
6) You can either place a free listing with option of upgrading later, or choose to purchase a premium or featured listing immediately. Free listings can be upgraded at any time, so the third option allows you to enter the listing first so you can see it, and then upgrade immediately.
7) If you choose to immediately place a premium listing, click one of the Buy Now buttons. The transaction will take place first through the PayPal network. Then you can return to the Admin Panel and place the ad.
NOTE: Visa, Discover, MasterCard, and PayPal can be used to purchase ads using the PayPal network which operates just like any other online transaction (a PayPal account is NOT required, but you have the option of setting one up). The transaction takes place on PayPal's secure servers, not ours, so it's impossible for us to have any access to your credit card numbers or any other personal information you submit.
There are a number of ways to search and browse through the Free Directory.
1) Browse By Category. The main Free Directory page displays all categories and a few of their sub-categories beneath them. Clicking on the category name will bring up that category and all sub-categories. Listings in that main category will appear beneath and you can browse through the pages. Clicking on the sub-category displays that sub-category its listings, which you can then browse through. This is all fairly self-evident once you start browsing.
2) Use the Search Form. The form appears only on the Free Directory page in the right-hand column. Simply enter keywords, topics, the specific name of a business, service, or Web site, etc., just like doing a "Google" or any other kind of Web search. The Advanced Search link provides a form with more choices. If you use this form, to return to the main Categories page again, click All Categories in the Directory Menu in the right-hand column, or the top Directory folder in the Directory Tree.
4) Use the Directory Tree. In the right-hand column is an optional folder tree that works (mostly) and looks just like those on a PC operating system.
We often find links of interest to us and place them in our directory, and then notify the owners. If you have received such a notice and would like to be able to add information and maintain the listing yourself, you must "claim" the listing. Claiming the listing means that we associate it with your free user account so that you can "own" it and have control over it.
To claim the listing, you must first be a registered user. If you are not yet registered, you must create an account.
Once you are logged in, navigate to the full detail view of the listing. Then look for the box of links beneath the heading but above the description area. One of the links is "claim". Click this link and you'll get a page with a simple text entry box where you can write a message to the Web master. Please send us a message with information that will help us substantiate the claim.
If you are registered under the same email address where you received the notice, your user id will substantiate the claim. Simply type us a message that you'd like to claim your listing, and click the "Claim Listing" button. If you have registered under a different email address, please exlpain this and we will try to substantiate the claim. Likewise, if you would like us to delete the listing, let us know and we will delete it.
All claims should be processed within 24 hours. You will receive email notification when it is approved. You may then log in and edit the listing.
It costs nothing, and there are no hidden fees of any kind. We do not ask for your credit card information, and only require your name, username, password, and a current working email address. The purpose of registration is for us to create a user id in our database that is then associated with your listings, preferences, favorites, reviews, etc.. There is no other way for us to provide a means for you to save any information on this site without a user account. The email address you provide will be used only for contacting you regarding your account. You can cancel your membership at any time. Registering as a member means you agree with all of our Terms and Conditions regarding site usage.
Membership is not required in order to use the basic public features of the site. This includes searching through the Real Estate and Directory listings, as well as reading the news, blogs, FAQs, and other public sections that we may add in the future.
Membership is required to:
* Place Real Estate or Free Directory Listings.
* Save Real Estate or Free Directory Favorites.
* Add reviews or rating on any part of the site.
* Use the VIP Buyers listing alert service.
* Submit content for publication such as articles or blogs.
1) Click the Register link in the login module located on the top right of every page. A form will pop up.
2) Fill out the form with email address, username, and password. Click the Register button.
3) A confirmation message will be sent to your email address. Click the "confirm registration" link in that email.
4) Clicking the confirmation link will open a new browser window back on this site on the page where you started.
5) Log in to with your username and password. An alert box will pop up telling you if it was successful.
6) If you check the Remember Me box at the login form, your browser will auto-fill the form next time you arrive. How long it is saved depends on your browser's settings and how you maintain them. It is not a good idea to save your login information on public computers or workstations used by more than one person.
7) Once you are logged in, the login form will change to just a greeting with your name and a Logout button. As Long as you see this greeting, you are logged in.
8) Logging out occurs a number of ways: automatic log out after five minutes of inactivity; when you close the browser window; when you click the logout button. It can also occur if you link to an external page that opens in the same window. You may be able to use the browser back button and return to this site as logged in. The behavior of user sessions and external links depends largely on your browser settings.
* If you have lost your password and cannot log in, simply click the "Lost Password?" link in the login form at the top of every page. You'll be directed to a form to enter your username and password, and then click the "Send Password" button. You must enter a username or the system cannot identify you.
* You will be sent a new password at the email address registered with your account. Once this is done-- as soon as you click the "Send Password" link--the system creates a new password for you. The old password will no longer work if you suddenly locate it and try to use it. You must get the new pasword from the confirmation email sent to you.
* Once you log in again with the new password assigned to you, it is highly recommend that you change it to your own preferences and something can remember, and to record it in a safe place so you can retrieve it when you need it.
* If you have also lost your username, you will have to send a message to the Webmaster at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it from the original email address you originally registered with. We can only send reset information to this address. Messages to the Web master could take 24 hours to respond.
IMPORTANT NOTES: This is where we have to take a moment to make sure you understand our username/password policy as stated in our terms and conditions, and also just to make sure you understand how this all works.
Usernames and passwords are the responsibility of the user to securely maintain and to keep track of. We cannot be held responsible for damages from breaches of your Hudson Valley Real Estate Network account due to unauthorized use of your account login information.
Believe it or not, we do not have access to your password because it is encrypted when it is created. All we can see is a very long string of gobbledygook no one can understand except the encryption keys used. Today's encryption methods are so secure that there truly is no way for us to break the code. This is why a new password has to be created and sent to you and why you can't request us to send you the old password. We really just don't have it.
This is also why all username and passwords must be maintained in the system by the user though the interfaces and forms we provide. For obvious security reasons, we cannot persnally assign you a new password. You must work through the system as given to maintain your password to maintain the highest level of security, but also, it's a lot easier than sending us messages. Everything required to automated this process and make it fast and easy is built-in. Personal messages to the Web master could take 24 hours to respond, so a least try not to lose your username.
* You must be logged in to change your account details.
* Your username in the greeting message in the log in form should be highlighted as a link. Click on it.
* Your account details will be displayed within forms in which you may edit them.
* Make note of all the changes you make and keep your login information stored in a safe place. You will not be sent notifications.
* If you have lost your password or username, please see the FAQ's regarding that situation.