Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

NewRMLSwebmaps

Big changes are on the road ahead for RMLSweb maps! A new mapping interface is coming to the system the morning of Thursday, December 3rd. This change, announced in July, is the first step to a better mapping experience for RMLS™ subscribers. As soon as the initial switch is made, RMLS™ developers will start planning for further improvements.

WHAT’S IN STORE
RMLS™ subscribers will notice a new look and feel to all maps on RMLSweb. The new system will still use Bing Maps as a base, but the overall user interface has been enhanced.

Here are a few features we think RMLS™ subscribers will appreciate:
Map layers that will include neighborhoods, city boundaries, flood zones, traffic, and more. These layers will not only be accessible on the map for an individual listing, but on Advanced Search and Map Search. Access the layers by opening the Tool Box sidebar on each map, shown above.
Shapes on the map can be larger than before. Up to 10 shapes can be present on the map at one time, and those can represent areas to exclude in a search. Click on the shape for a prompt to delete or exclude the area. Custom shapes can have a maximum of 50 points, and closing a custom shape will be easier as well.
Centering your map on a specific address will be easier than ever. Just type an address in the search bar inside the map, and a pin will appear on the requested address.
Customizable, printable driving directions will be available by using the Map Checked feature of RMLSweb! Select the properties you wish to visit and select the Map Checked button. Select Driving Directions on the pop-up screen. Click and drag the properties in the right sidebar to rearrange the order, then hit Calculate to generate driving directions below the map. Print these directions and the map by selecting the Print button.

RMLSwebDrivingDirectionsMap

Although the new map system will sport some changes, plenty of features related to mapping will remain the same or similar. Users entering listings on Listing Load, for example, will find the process of placing a map pin for a property to be very similar to the current system. Setting a map pin for a CMA will be similar as well.

Once this new interface is live, RMLSweb developers will start optimizing the features. Moving forward, expect further fine-tuning based on subscriber feedback and map layers that include demographic information.

NEED ASSISTANCE?
RMLS™ hopes that subscribers will find this new mapping system easier to use and more useful for helping clients. Contact the RMLS™ Help Desk at (503) 872-8002 or (877) 256-2169 with any questions or for more information.

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

Ask Technical Terry: POP Goes the Listing

AskTechnicalTerry

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 communications@rmls.com. Don’t be shy—we won’t identify you by name.

Hey, Technical Terry.

What can I do about all these emails I keep getting from RMLS™ about my pending listing? It’s got a lease option right now and I don’t need more emails in my inbox!

William Wesley Wiewel

Hey WWW-

Did you know about the Pending Lease Option status we introduced on RMLSweb last month? This status is for listings which have offers accepted with lease option terms.

Just mark your listing as POP and enter in the anticipated lease end date. This will change when you receive status change reminders from RMLSweb. You’ll see fewer unnecessary emails.

When searching for listings on RMLSweb, you can also include or exclude the POP status from your search.

Good luck on taming that email inbox!

Dear Technical Terry:

I’m sure the RMLS™ office move to the Portland airport area made perfect sense for many reasons—but those of us on the west side of Portland really feel left out! It’s such a long way to drive for a training. What do you suggest?

Alan of Allen Boulevard

I feel your pain, Alan! The Portland metro area is slowly becoming Bay Area North as far as traffic is concerned. I’m pleased to report we have been working on a sustainable solution for this very issue for some time.

Starting this month, we’ve begun offering training classes in Beaverton at The Round (the Beaverton City Hall building). We chose this location for several reasons: it’s close to Highway 217, it has free parking, and they offer a variety of classroom sizes and configurations.

Our very first day of classes was met with great success! We heard many positive comments about the facilities, location, and so on.

Tell all your west side REALTOR® friends of this exciting new training location! We’ve reserved space at The Round for the next three months and expect the location to be very successful (which would result in us reserving space going forward) but the decision to keep training at this location will be somewhat influenced by REALTOR® attendance.

Beaverton Training Calendar

Take a look at the Beaverton training calendar for November and December on RMLSweb (login required).

Remember—the RMLS™ trainers love doing office trainings/presentations as well. If you want a trainer to come to an office meeting, just let us know! Email training@rmls.com or call us at (503) 236-7657 to set up an appointment.

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

MLS Insight: Training, Training, Training

The RMLS™ Training Staff: Ryan Jacobsen, Caryl Frazier, Melanie Huff and Lynn Solmonson

The RMLS™ Training Staff: Ryan Jacobsen, Caryl Frazier, Melanie Huff and Lynn Solmonson.

MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.

When was the last time you attended a training class held by RMLS™? Whether you want to tame your smartphone or research real estate statistics in a specific ZIP code, we’ve got you covered. Our training staff aims to adapt to meet the needs of subscribers—we’re even testing out a new training facility in Beaverton this fall, to help reach more REALTORS® on the west side of the Portland metro area!

New Classes

RMLS™ Training has greatly increased its class offerings this year. This month was the debut of the Mobile Apps for REALTORS® class, which focuses on 50 apps available for iPhone, Android, and Windows devices that can help REALTORS® get organized, stay productive, and feel safe and secure.

RMLS™ also rolled out introductory classes for iPhone and Android users this year. Android Essentials for REALTORS® and iPhone Essentials for REALTORS® focus on teaching users how to get the most out of a smartphone device.

Want to be the expert in your market area? In the RMLSweb CMA and Statistics class, our trainers will show you how to get the statistical data you need to do just that. We’ll use the RMLSweb statistical modules to examine MLS areas for trends that will help you become more knowledgeable about your market area.

Finally, the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Overview class will strengthen your knowledge of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations! These rules and regs help keep the data accurate and useful for all our subscribers.

How to Access RMLS™ Training Opportunities

Come to us or we will come to you!

Did you know you can have an RMLS™ trainer come to your office with our RMLS™ Updates Class? With the recent release of the new photo loader and the annual forms change, now might be a great time to take advantage of this service. We also offer the new classes listed above at your office location. Just email training@rmls.com or call us at (503) 236-7657 to set up an appointment.

Find schedules for regular classes in the RMLS™ training rooms on RMLSweb under the Toolkit menu—click on “Training Calendar” for a list of schedules. Scroll to the bottom of the list for access to the ongoing webinars offered on a regular basis, which can be accessed from the comfort of your own home or office. Register online for any of the classes by selecting “Training Registration” under that same Toolkit menu.

New Training Facility in Beaverton

Beaverton Training CalendarThis fall, RMLS™ is offering classes at a new training facility in Beaverton. The Round in Beaverton is located at 12725 SW Millikan Way, which is MAX-adjacent and offers free parking for class attendees.

We’re looking forward to offering classes at this location, but class attendance will be key to continuing to use this facility in 2016. If you like having a training facility in Beaverton, come to a class this fall to show your support!

If you have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

Ask Technical Terry: Customize Search Results, Uploading Listing Photos on Macs

AskTechnicalTerry

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 communications@rmls.com. 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!

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

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 higher-resolution imagery that will really dazzle clients.

PhotoLoaderWe’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.

ImageEditor

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.

Improved Mapping on RMLSweb Coming Thursday, December 3rd

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

Agent PassportAt 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

PC Financials croppedA 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.