Ask Technical Terry,Get Ready...a New Reverse Prospecting Is

Ask
Technical
Terry:
Customize Search Results,
Uploading Listing Photos on
Macs
Ask Technical Terry is a series RMLS™ aims to offer once a
month. RMLS™ subscribers will drive the content—submit any
question about RMLS™ to Technical Terry in the comments or by
emailing [email protected]. Don’t be shy—we won’t
identify you by name.
Dear Technical Terry,
Much like your post about saving ML numbers for future
searches (THANK YOU!), I’m desperate to figure out if I can
customize my search results to contain only the fields I want
to see for a specific client. Is that possible?
Carol in the ‘Couve
Excellent question, Carol! You can, in fact, create “custom”
displays of the initial search results based on your specific
client needs. You’ve been able to perform this customization
for several years on RMLSweb, but much like the process for
saving ML numbers, it does require a bit of orientation.
Check out Customize Your Search Results (Document #1749)
available on RMLSweb in Forms and Documents. This document
explains in detail all aspects of creating and saving custom
search results displays to meet a specific need. As you review
the document you’ll see that in addition to data elements, you
can also include both a thumbnail image and a map image. You
can also look at your custom layout to ensure it meets your
needs in the Preview section of the layout window. Keep in
mind that the tool will allow you to create layouts that will
exceed the typical print margins of a standard 8 1/2” x 11”
page. All of this information and much more is included in
Customize Your Search Results (Document #1749). Additionally,
the RMLS™ Help Desk and Training Departments are always happy
to walk you through the process if you need any help.
Dear Technical Terry,
Will we ever be able to upload photos on Listing Load using a
Mac like PC users do? The current option for Mac users is
really clunky…
Manzana Macintosh
Yes…in fact, the timing of your question could not be better!
On October 15th RMLS™ will deploy a brand-spanking-new photo
loader for RMLSweb. This new module eliminates the need to use
Microsoft Silverlight so the module will work the same for Mac
users as it does for PC users.
The improvements are numerous, but let me touch on just a few:
• Up to 32 high resolution images can now be loaded.
• Multiple photos can be uploaded at one time. (Note: this
process is bandwidth-sensitive so if you’re on a slow
internet connection, you may find uploading photos one at a
time is more efficient.)
• Users can upload photos from a mobile device.
• The new module can recognize photo orientation: if the
photo is uploaded in landscape orientation but should be in
portrait orientation, the module will adjust the photo
automatically.
• Photo editing will be possible in the new photo loader: you
can crop, rotate, and change brightness and contrast.
RMLS™ staff is hard at work on preparing a video and other
materials that will provide subscribers with the information
they need to efficiently use the new photo loader. Keep an eye
out for it!
A New Listing Status and
Photo Loader: Final Steps in
This Year’s Forms Change
RMLS™ is releasing two improvements in October that represent
the final steps in the RMLSweb forms change for 2015. We’re
confident that subscribers will find something to like in
these important changes to RMLSweb, all recommended by the
RMLS™ Forms Committee!
Pending Lease Option (POP Status)
Pending Lease Option (POP), a new listing status, was added on
RMLSweb Thursday, October 1st. This status is for listings
which have offers accepted with lease option terms. When a
listing is marked as POP, the anticipated lease end date is
collected to use for status change reminders from RMLSweb.
This will result in fewer unnecessary emails to the listing
broker, when their listing remains in Pending status for
months or longer. POP listings will also be separated from
regular Pending (PEN) listings, meaning cleaner statistics
from RMLS™.
The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations were changed to reflect the
new POP status…have a look!
An All-New Photo Loader
RMLS™ will introduce an all-new photo loader on RMLSweb the
morning of October 15th. We’re confident that subscribers will
be enthusiastic about the new setup, which features higherresolution imagery that will really dazzle clients.
We’ve doubled the capacity for listing photos—users may now
load up to 32 photos per listing with a 4MB file size limit.
Files may be added via drag and drop or by selecting the
correct files on the user’s machine. If a photo is larger than
the maximum file size, the system will shrink or adjust the
file to fit in the RMLSweb parameters.
Subscribers may also take advantage of basic photo editing on
the interface—cropping, rotating, brightness, and contrast
adjustments can all be handled from inside Listing Load before
publishing a listing.
Mac users, rejoice: the new photo loader eliminates the
Silverlight software that made the previous photo loader
difficult for subscribers using an Apple operating system.
This new photo loader is also mobile-friendly, meaning
subscribers can upload photos from their mobile device!
What about listings published before the release of this new
photo loader? No problem! Subscribers can use the new software
to replace existing photos on active listings, to see the
difference in image quality right away. If your brokerage uses
the RMLSweb Slide Show feature to highlight listings on an
office monitor, high definition monitors will offer the best
presentation of the new photo setup. These higher-quality
photos will also be seen by clients on RMLS.com…so we
encourage you to explore this new feature as soon as you can!
RMLS™ trainers are currently preparing a series of materials
to demonstrate the capabilities of the new photo loader.
Here’s what we have:
How to Upload Photos Using Photo Manager (RMLSweb login
required)
We’ll update this post as we have more.
As always, subscribers with questions about either the new POP
status (released Thursday, October 1st) or the new photo
loader (being released Thursday, October 14th) should contact
the RMLS™ Help Desk at (503) 872-8002 or (877) 256-2169 for
assistance.
MLS Insight: REALTOR® Agent
Profiles
and
Financial
Calculators
MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.
One of the thing I enjoy most about writing this column is the
ability to provide extra-early notifications of upcoming
changes. So when the Board of Directors approves a new program
or there is some other significant change coming, you can get
a heads up well in advance of implementation. We told you
about the new mapping in July, and there are now two more
improvements to RMLS™ services to share with you. Both should
be available before the end of the year.
REALTOR® Agent Profiles
At their August meeting, the RMLS™ Board of Directors approved
the addition of links to the REALTOR® agent profiles being
collected by Realtor.com. They will appear in the Find A
REALTOR® section of RMLS.com, in the RMLSweb roster, and
possibly on report banners. When accessed through an RMLS™
avenue, the Agent Passport will not be branded with the
Realtor.com logo. If you want to get a jump on creating your
profile, there is a there is a quick start guide on
Realtor.com.
Financial Calculators on RMLSweb
A little history… Since our earliest
days,
RMLS™
Directors
have
consistently promoted inclusion of a
robust set of financial tools for
RMLS™ subscribers. It has not always
been easy to reach this goal. The
first tools provided were released in
1994 and were called PC Financials. A
DOS 3.5″ floppy disk was provided at
no charge to each subscriber. The 90s
were the decade when Windows took over computing, so it was
not long before the attempt was made to recreate these
financial functions in a Windows-based program. These attempts
were not met with success before RMLS™ migrated totally to its
current web-based MLS system, RMLSweb in 2002.
A set of
financial tools was licensed and added to the system that same
year, and those same tools still live in the Toolkit menu.
Over the next decade, the company licensing the tools to RMLS™
changed hands several times and eventually we lost the ability
to effectively update and repair the program. It was not
multi-browser compatible, and many subscribers attempting to
utilize the tools got an error message instead.
Fast forward to 2014. The RMLS™ Board of Directors remained
firm in its belief that RMLS™ should provide robust financial
tools for subscribers. After surveying the marketplace for
other alternatives, RMLS™ took the opportunity offered in June
2014 to assume in-house control of the code for the tools we
were already using. The first improvement was to make the
tools available through multiple browsers, which happened in
January this year. Next we hired a researcher to update the
default values, and I am happy to announce that those values
will be updated and much more accurate later this year. Stay
tuned to the RMLS™ Weekly Report for more information.
If you have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you
would like to have answered, I encourage you to post a
comment.
MLS Insight:
RESO
Data
Certification
RMLS™ Scores
Dictionary
MLS Insight is a
series about how things work at RMLS™.
RMLS™ is now the fifth MLS in the nation to be certified on
the RESO Data Dictionary.
Yes, I’m yelling—because this is a major accomplishment, and
it’s very hard to convey how much of an achievement it is
because so many of the terms have to be defined. It’s not like
saying we won the World Series or the Preakness or sold the
most real estate, which most people would immediately
understand and relate to.
RESO is the data standards organization for real estate,
whose mission is the standardization of both the process
and real estate data that is shared throughout the
industry.
The Data Dictionary provides a common standard that
defines real estate data in consistent terms and data
structures across hundreds of MLSs, so that data can be
more readily shared and understood.
NAR requires that all affiliated MLSs adopt the RESO
Data Dictionary January 1, 2016.
Kim Hutchinson, RMLS™ Data Quality Technician, worked for many
hours to analyze and map RMLS™ data to the RESO Data
Dictionary 1.3, making sure that there was congruence without
compromising the accepted meaning of the data collected and to
make changes under the hood to conform with data length and
type requirements.
Our Distribution Services staff has begun the process of
reaching out to providers of services and products to our real
estate community to let them know that the Data Dictionary
filters are available for RETS feeds. We expect this will
expand the availability of cost-competitive products useful to
our subscribers in the future. The idea is that using a common
standard will foster innovation and help to create more of a
“plug-and-play” environment, where REALTORS® will be able to
purchase software and use it with data from any MLS operating
on the RESO standards.
I deferred my planned post focusing on our Training Department
to share this news. If you have questions on any RMLS™-related
topic that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to
post a comment.
MLS Insight: New Mapping in
the Forecast for RMLSweb
MLS Insight is
a series about how things work at RMLS™.
At their June meeting, the RMLS™ Board of Directors voted to
replace the current GeoJet mapping for RMLSweb with a new
solution. We will continue to utilize Bing Maps, but will
include layers for parcels, zip codes, schools, counties, etc.
from Digital Map Products. Neighborhood boundaries will be a
new addition.
Our contract with GeoJet ends at the end of this year, so it
was an opportune time to review that part of the system.
Bottom line pricing for the two solutions is very similar, but
we are looking to reap benefits of increased functionality and
reliability. Developers will be working on integration of the
replacement solution during the later months of this year.
The next post will focus on our Training Department. If you
have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like
to have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.
The RMLSweb Annual Forms
Change is Coming on July 29th
RMLS™ is ready to start rolling out
the results of this year’s forms change project! On Wednesday,
July 29th, subscribers will see a brand new Green/Energy
Supplement form, additional options for Showing Instructions,
and much more.
These regular changes are the result of hundreds of subscriber
suggestions and the hard work of the RMLS™ Forms Committee and
RMLSweb development team.
What’s Changing?
A few highlights:
• Green/Energy Supplement Form: The use of sustainable
building technology continues to grow, and this year RMLS™ is
moving a scattered number of green features into the
Green/Energy Supplement form, available for any residential
listing. On this form, agents can note details about a home’s
green certification and its use of solar energy. Agents also
have an opportunity to provide additional remarks about
aspects of green building and energy features on a property.
• Text to Show: Prefer to be texted when a buyer’s agent wants
to show a property? Showing Instructions will now include
options to text the listing agent, tenant, or owner. Not
everyone prefers texting though, and another new option will
exist to email the listing agent.
• Multiple Tax IDs in One Listing: Subscribers listing large
parcels of land that stretch across multiple tax lots now have
the option of including up to three total Tax IDs per listing.
(If you’ve got more than three Tax IDs, you’ll still need to
note those in the legal description or private remarks field.)
• Dual Living: RMLS™ currently lists a separate on-site
dwelling unit in multiple places, including Accessibility
Features and Additional Structures Supplement. A new field in
Advanced Search, Dual Living Y/N, will identify residential
listings where any of these dual living setups have been
indicated.
Looking for more detail? View a complete summary of forms
changes scheduled for July 29, 2015 or preview the contract,
input, and supplement listing forms. Fields highlighted in
green are new, orange fields have been modified, and blue
highlights mean the field has moved.
A Longer Outage Needed for Forms Change
Improvements take time. July’s RMLSweb maintenance outage will
take longer than usual to allow for this extra work. Plan now,
as RMLSweb will be in maintenance mode (search only) from 10pm
Tuesday, July 28th until 6am Wednesday, July 29th.
And Coming Soon…
Expect even more this fall. Other improvements to be released
later this year as part of the forms change project include a
brand new photo uploader and a new listing status, Pending
Lease Option (POP).
RMLSweb continually improves when subscribers talk back to us
about the system. We hope subscribers appreciate this work and
will continue to share comments and questions! If you have
questions about these new features, contact the RMLS™ Help
Desk at (503) 872-8002 or (877) 256-2169.
Ask Technical Terry
This month RMLS™ is proud to debut Ask Technical Terry, a
series we aim to offer once a month. RMLS™ subscribers will
drive the content—we encourage you to submit any question
about RMLS™ to Technical Terry in the comments or by emailing
[email protected]. Don’t be shy—we won’t identify you by
name.
Dear Technical Terry,
For some reason, the menu bar at the top of the RMLSweb
homepage is appearing vertically and none of the drop-down
menus will open! The site worked fine yesterday, and nothing
has changed on my end. What’s the deal?
Sincerely,
Top Producer Teresa
Ah yes, the old “site worked fine yesterday and nothing’s
changed on my end” issue. Are you using the Safari browser to
access RMLSweb?
RMLSweb works best with Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox,
and Google Chrome across all platforms. In most cases, when
you experience an odd view or functionality symptoms on
RMLSweb, it will either be browser add-ons (that you may not
realize were activated when you downloaded some unrelated
software) or using a web browser that does not play well with
RMLSweb, such as Safari.
Dear Technical Terry,
I’m on vacation, using my iPad, and I need to enter a new
listing. I can’t seem to find the button that will allow me to
add a new listing. Can you help?
Aloha,
Heidi in Hawaii
Heidi, you need to use the Google Chrome web browser on your
iPad to achieve full functionality on RMLSweb. And stop
working on vacation!
Dear Technical Terry,
I just love the RPR website! I would like to search on the RPR
website for a property not currently listed on RMLSweb. How do
I do this?
Thanks in Advance,
REALTOR® Rebecca
Yes you can! Either gain access to RPR by clicking through to
RPR from within RMLSweb (use the small RPR button on a listing
in RMLSweb) or go directly to RPR’s website.
If you access RPR from a listing in RMLSweb, when you land on
the RPR page for that listing, you will notice a “find a new
address” link immediately to the right of the property
address—simply click on the link to open a new screen allowing
you to enter any address in the search box. If you go directly
to RPR using the link above, you will land on a screen that
will allow you to enter any address in the search box.
Good luck!
Get
Ready…a
New
Reverse
Prospecting Is Coming to
RMLSweb!
RMLS™ subscribers, get ready—RMLS™ is putting the finishing
touches on a new reverse prospecting tool! We plan to premiere
the new system the morning of Thursday, July 16th.
What should you expect? Here’s a preview:
Map Capability
Need to find buyers specifically looking in your geographical
area? Reverse prospecting will now feature map capability,
meaning REALTORS® can connect with agents who have clients
looking in the specific area where your listing is situated.
Net result? A more effective search!
NOTE: Agents using auto-fill to populate information from a
ML# in Reverse Prospecting, take note: the map pin will be
placed where it was entered in Listing Load. It can be
adjusted in this new Reverse Prospecting interface, but it’s
always good practice to verify the map point of your listing
in Listing Load!
If the map isn’t useful to you, minimize it by clicking “Map
Point Selection Map” above the upper left corner of the map
window. This will give you easy access to the other search
fields that appear below the map.
Saved Searches
Just like our other search options, users will now be able to
save searches in reverse prospecting. These saved searches can
be accessed via tabs at the top of the screen.
A Refreshed Look
The current RMLSweb reverse prospecting system is a bit dated,
and we’ve been working to bring a consistent look and feel to
the site as a whole. You’ll notice a big difference in the
visual design of the reverse prospecting system as soon as we
roll it out.
Don’t forget, if you find yourself with questions as you
navigate around the new system, the RMLS™ Help Desk is
available to assist you via telephone [(503) 872-8002 or (877)
256-2169], email, or by chatting directly from RMLSweb.
How to Use the Accessibility
Field on RMLSweb
Are your doors wide enough for
a wheelchair? View a tour of
an
accessible
house
in
Virginia. (Photo courtesy of
Fairfax County, VA via Flickr)
Would you know how to look for a home for a client who uses a
wheelchair? Do you know how to identify accessible features
when listing a home to market them to a wider audience on
RMLSweb?
July 26th is the 25th anniversary of the Americans with
Disabilities Act, a piece of legislation crafted to eliminate
discrimination against people with physical or mental
conditions that may require accommodations. Last week, an
educational forum organized by the Portland Metro Association
of REALTORS® (PMAR) explored the intersection of real estate
and accessibility—from looking at how a brokerage can improve
accessibility in the office to the perspective of a local
REALTOR® who uses a wheelchair.
Today we aim to educate RMLS™ subscribers on how they may use
RMLSweb more effectively in both the listing and buying
processes.
The Accessibility Field on RMLSweb
Accessibility has been addressed on RMLSweb for years, with
the Accessibility field being regularly reviewed and developed
by the RMLS™ Forms Committee. Over the years this field has
been expanded to include wide parking spaces, stair
assistance, roll-in showers, and more.
The Devil’s in the Details
How wide must a doorway be to be marked as WD-DOOR?
Specificity helps REALTORS® do their job, so prospective
clients don’t arrive at a property to find the listing
inadequate for their needs—perhaps sporting a dangerously
steep ramp or a ‘wide’ hallway where a wheelchair can’t turn.
Document #1211 on RMLSweb, Accessibility Term Definitions,
defines minimum standards for each accessibility feature.
REALTORS® listing a property should verify the specified
measurements on each feature before marking the appropriate
field in RMLSweb.
(We also include the accessibility terms on Document #1210,
Listing Abbreviations, but this document only unravels
abbreviations without specific details about each feature.)
In the Thick of Listing or Searching for a Property?
If you’re listing a property using Listing Load, click on the
linked text that says “Accessibility” for a pop-up window with
full definitions.
Searching for properties for a client? In Advanced Search,
select the Accessibility field and then click the Help link
for full definitions.
Incorrect Data? Let Us Know!
What if, as a buyer agent, you show a listing that don’t quite
meet the standards outlined on the definitions document?
Report the listing to RMLS™ using the Report Issue button! Our
staff will contact the listing agent to get things ironed out.
Have any suggestions for improving how RMLSweb communicates a
listing’s accessibility? Submit a suggestion to the RMLS™
Forms Committee by contacting Christina Smestad.
MLS Insight: The RMLS™ Forms
Committee
RMLS™ Forms Committee Chair
Maureen Bonfiglio (left)
works with RMLS™ staff
member Christina Smestad to
plan
2015
committee
strategy.
MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.
The RMLS™ Forms Committee is responsible primarily for what
information is collected in Listing Load on RMLSweb. They also
consider how that information is available for searching, as
well as the contract language in the Exclusive Right to Sell
agreement that RMLS™ provides.
Maureen Bonfiglio, RMLS™ Director and Chair of the Forms
Committee for the past two years, has actually been a member
of the committee for more than ten years. She has reviewed and
discussed thousands of suggestions in that time. In her words,
“the RMLS Forms Committee is instrumental in providing the
best venue possible for the successful marketing of homes for
sale. Each year dedicated REALTORS® volunteer their time to
serve on this committee to review suggestions from RMLS™
subscribers and address real estate trends. We encourage you
to email us with any suggestion you feel would enhance the
listing input or provide important information to our
membership about a property. If you would like to serve on
this committee please contact Christina Smestad at RMLS™.”
The 2015 Forms Committee will meet later in the summer. It
usually takes two or three two-hour meetings to review and
discuss all the suggestions.
Last year, for example, the committee reviewed about 170
suggestions over the course of two meetings. The work of the
committee resulted in 47 recommendations for changes to the
collection and searchability of property information, which
were all approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors in November
2014.
Changes approved include additional tax ID fields to denote
parcels included with the listing, additional fields in
several of the supplement forms, additional values in several
fields, and an increased number of value choices in several
fields (i.e., increasing Garage Description maximum choices
from one to three, and Lot Description from one to two.)
Search improvements include a streamlined search for
residential listings with dual or multi-household living
possibilities and any bedroom on the main floor.
A special subcommittee reviewed the Green/Energy Efficiency
fields with the objective of aligning our fields with national
efforts by NAR and NAR’s Green REsource Council. This will
result in a new Green/Energy Supplement for RMLS™.
You will see most of those changes at the end of July. Two of
the recommendations will be released shortly after that. The
ability to add up to 24 photos will coincide with the release
of updated photo-loader functionality. A new status – Pending
Lease Option (POP) – will also be released a little later.
Because accepted offers with lease option terms tend to stay
in Pending status for extended periods of time, the new status
will provide better information about them and better
statistics for the accepted offers with other terms.
There has been a standing Forms Committee at RMLS™ since 1991,
when our multiple listing service began. This goes a long way
to account for the rich dataset RMLS™ maintains about property
listed by our subscribers.
The next post will focus on mapping in RMLSweb. If you have
questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like to
have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.