by RMLS Communication Department | Sep 9, 2009
It’s a big day for Beatles fans. Their full catalogue was re-mastered and re-released, plus the long-awaited arrival of Beatles Rock Band.
It doesn’t sound like Beatles songs will be available on iTunes yet, but if you have an extensive Beatles collection, here’s my recommended Beatles mix for real estate agents (my reasoning in parenthesis).
- A Hard Day’s Night (You work hard, you come home)
- Crying Waiting Hoping (Originally by Buddy Holly. Could be renamed, “Ode to a Short Sale”. I hope there’s not a lot of crying, but I know from personal experience there can be a lot of waiting and hoping.)
- Getting Better (The real estate market has been getting better!)
- Help! (Exactly what a Realtor can provide!)
- In My Life (“There are places I remember”, and when those places are for sale, call your Realtor!)
- It Won’t Be Long (Your clients will be “coming on home”)
- Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da (Can’t leave this one off the list! “They have built a home-sweet-home”)
- Penny Lane (I wonder what the real estate market is like there)
- Searchin’ (Replace “her” with “a home”; good for when you’re searching the MLS)
- We Can Work It Out (Nice, optimistic song for agents during negotiations)
- When I Get Home (The title speaks for itself)
- Yellow Submarine (If the land of submarines really existed, I imagine it would be pretty pricey real estate)
Does anyone else have other suggestions for a Beatles/Real Estate mix? Leave a comment!
Image courtesy of Alejandro González G.
by RMLS Communication Department | Sep 8, 2009
Washington Unchanged, Oregon Down Slightly
In Washington, the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes was unchanged and in Oregon activity was down 1%. These stats reflect a comparison of the week of August 24-30 with the week of August 17-23.
Click the chart for a larger view (Washington, top; Oregon, bottom)
Archive
View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.
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by RMLS Communication Department | Sep 8, 2009
When to Expect the Latest Market Reports from RMLS™
This is a frequently asked question from subscribers here in my cubicle, so I thought I’d put the answer in writing.
My standard line is that Market Action is released around the 15th of each month. “Around” means it could be a day or two before, or a day or two after. It all depends on where the weekend falls.
We don’t generate any statistical reports for Market Action until the 10th day of each month. The reason we wait is to assure that almost all transactions are recorded in our database. If we were to run the reports on the 1st or 5th of each month, there’s a chance that many sales that occurred in the prior month might not be reported on RMLSweb yet. So, to assure what we report is an accurate reflection of what happened in the market that month, we wait until the 10th.
Editing time.
However, sometimes due to where the weekend falls, we can’t start working on the reports until the 11th, 12th, or sometimes even the 13th. Generating the reports, publishing, editing, posting and e-mailing then takes roughly 2.5 days of work.
So, for example, this month, I’ll start working on Thursday the 10th. But, I have to pause for the weekend, so the likely release date is Monday, September 14 or Tuesday, September 15.
Tip: If you’re eager to see the data, you can get a basic report on RMLSweb on the 11th of each month. The Home Sales Report (HSR) has a lot of the same data that we report in Market Action (number of sales, sale price, active listings).
The HSR can be accessed on RMLSweb by scrolling over Back Office and clicking on Home Sales Report. Then expand the folder for the year that you want, then the month, and then select the area you want to look at. If you want to look at the report for a broad area (such as the Portland Metro area), open the document that reads “combined report”. You can also look at reports for individual MLS areas or counties.
by RMLS Communication Department | Sep 2, 2009
eKEY for BlackBerry now available via RMLS™
Good news for all of you BlackBerry fans!
Your BlackBerry smartphone can now be even more versatile as Supra is offering an accessory that will allow you to use it as a lockbox key. You can now purchase Supra’s eKEY BlackBerry Fob at RMLS™ offices and sign-up for eKEY Basic or eKEY Professional Service from Supra.
Since the BlackBerry devices don’t have infrared (which is needed to open Supra iBoxes), Supra created a fob that converts signals from the BlackBerry into infrared signals.
This should be nice for any agents that love their BlackBerry and don’t want to carry an ActiveKEY as well. While the BlackBerry Fob is another piece of equipment that you have to keep handy, it requires little maintenance, as it doesn’t need to be charged.
The BlackBerry Fobs are in-stock at our Portland, Vancouver, Eugene, Salem and Roseburg offices. At all other RMLS™ offices, you can call or visit and we will place an order for you.
For more information on using your BlackBerry as an eKEY, what types of BlackBerry devices are compatible and more, visit Supra’s website.
Update: I heard some folks are wondering what the fob looks like, so here is a photo of it:
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by RMLS Communication Department | Aug 28, 2009
Supra is releasing a firmware update for RMLS™ ActiveKEY users on Tuesday night, September 1. If your ActiveKEY’s radio is turned on, the upgrade will happen automatically. To verify that your ActiveKEY’s radio is turned on:
- Press your ActiveKEY’s On/Off button. The display should show “Ready for Use”.
- If the display indicates that the radio is off, you can press “1” to turn the radio ON.
According to Supra, here’s what you can expect from the update:
The new firmware will improve your ActiveKEY’s performance in several ways.
The Showing Notification ON/OFF feature enables you to extend your ActiveKEY’s battery life (operating time between battery charges) by turning off Showing Notifications on your ActiveKEY. A Showing Notification is a text message that is displayed on the ActiveKEY when an agent opens an iBox. You may opt to turn off Showing Notifications on your ActiveKEY if you:
- prefer to receive their showing notifications via email,
- do not have active listings,
- or do not use the showing notifications that are sent to your ActiveKEY.
With the new Battery Conservation feature, the ActiveKEY will no longer search for Showing Notifications during the off-peak hours of 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., Daylight Time. Our analysis shows that less than 2% of showings take place during this time. If you live in an area with poor cellular coverage, you may find that this feature increases your ActiveKEY’s battery life.
Finally, with the new Quick Charge feature it will take less time for your ActiveKEY’s battery to charge.
For a complete list of new firmware features, read: ActiveKEY Firmware Update 1.14
P.S. – Supra has also added a new “Safe Mode” feature if your key gets too hot. However, they still advise that you do not leave your key in spaces with extreme temperatures.
