Bluetooth Lockboxes, Best Practices for REALTORS®: Ask Technical Terry

Bluetooth Lockboxes, Best Practices for REALTORS®: Ask Technical Terry

by | Mar 14, 2018

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,

I’m a recent transplant to the Pacific Northwest. I was also a REALTOR® back in Atlanta and our MLS often gave us good, common sense tips about being a REALTOR®. Does RMLS™ do anything like that? As I’ve been reading some local chatter online, it seems like there is a real need for something like this!

Ethical Earlene in Estacada

Dear Earlene-

Your timing couldn’t be better—RMLS™ just released a new document called Best Practices, Courteousness, and Great Tips for REALTORS®!

I hope you will find the new document helpful in your day-to-day activities as a REALTOR® in our market. While reading through the document you may find that some of the items are common sense or we’ve listed things you think every REALTOR® should already know. What I know from watching our industry for many years is that things that are logical to you or me may not be to others.

RMLS™ has always believed that education is the best way to create a predictable and ethical working environment for our subscribers, and we’re hopeful that the new document will assist in doing that.

Technical Terry

 

Dear TT:

One of my coworkers claims that RMLS™ is going to be converting to a SentriLock lockbox that uses Bluetooth. When I asked him when it would happen, he didn’t know. Can you tell me about this? And why would we be swapping out our SentriLock lockboxes already—didn’t we just get these?

Imin U. Gene

Dear IUG:

The reason your coworker cannot give you a date is this: there isn’t one to give! The RMLS™ Board of Directors has discussed the possibility of doing a conversion to SentriLock’s Bluetooth lockboxes but nothing firm has been decided yet. Your view that we “just” transitioned to SentriLock NXT lockboxes is only partly true—it has been 4.5 years since we did our most recent conversion!

In fact, here are a few fun facts about SentriLock at RMLS™:

  • Lockboxes currently in distribution at RMLS™: 56,450
  • RMLS™ lockboxes per active/pending listing: 3.64 per listing
  • Lockboxes per active RMLS™ subscriber: 4.04 per subscriber

That being said, the new SentriLock Bluetooth lockboxes really do offer a lot compared with the NXT lockbox. Two of the biggest benefits are that the lockbox can be opened via the SentriSmart™ app on your smartphone even when you’re out of cell range, as it uses Bluetooth instead of cellular; and many of the lockbox programming functions can be performed using SentriSmart™ instead of your SentriCard®. (If you haven’t started using SentriSmart™ yet, get it on the Apple App Store or Google Play!)

If you have a lockbox that has suffered battery failure, you can simply plug in a “battery jumper pack” into the side of the Bluetooth lockbox to provide the power for it to open. If you’ve ever needed to use the Power Paddle to get an NXT lockbox open after its batteries have died, you’ll realize what a benefit this is!

If this project moves forward, we’ll surely inform RMLS™ subscribers through the RMLSweb desktop page, the RMLS™ Weekly Report, and our blog on RMLScentral. Keep your eyes toward us!

Technical Terry

 

 

Bluetooth Lockboxes, Best Practices for REALTORS®: Ask Technical Terry

What’s Coming to RMLSweb: Details About the Annual Forms Change

by | Mar 8, 2018

RMLS™ is gearing up for its annual forms change on RMLSweb. Later this spring subscribers will notice terminology changes, major revisions to the Oregon and Washington listing contracts, and other notable changes on RMLSweb.

Forms changes happen regularly on RMLSweb. Each change has been approved by the RMLS™ Forms Committee based on the feedback provided through hundreds of subscriber comments. Recommendations were then reviewed and approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors.

Implementation of these changes is quite a task, largely on the part of the RMLSweb development team. An overnight outage will take place in late April/early May to allow for this extra work.

Once the forms change is live, here are a few of the biggest pieces you’ll see.

Terminology Change

Have you ever had a conversation about the selling agent where one person was referring to the seller’s agent and the other person was referring to the buyer’s agent? We certainly have. To help reduce confusion, we will be changing how we refer to listing agent/office, co-listing agent/office, and selling agent/office. They will now be referred as seller’s agent/office, co-seller’s agent/office, and buyer’s agent/office.  

Townhouse/Planned Community Requirement Change

For residential listings where property type is attached, townhouse, or planned community AND HOA is no, the Townhouse/Planned Community Supplement will still be available but the required fields will now be unrequired. 

Listing Contract Addendum Changes

The Listing Contract Addendum (Long) will be split into two new addenda: a Withdrawal Addendum and a Cancellation/Termination Addendum. The Listing Contract Addendum (Short) will be renamed to Listing Contract Addendum. The comparable data section will be removed and headers will be added to better separate the three types of changes: expiration date change, list price change, and miscellaneous change.

Status Change to POP/PEN – Field Changes

The buyer’s agent/office will only be identified when a listing changes to SLD/SNL status. When a listing changes to PEN/POP status, the unrequired buyer’s agent/office fields will no longer be available.

Oregon and Washington Listing Contact Changes

The Oregon and Washington Listing Contracts are undergoing major revisions this year. Sections have been rearranged into a more logical order to facilitate discussions between seller(s) and selling agents. Row numbers were added, the text size was increased, and more space was added to the signature section of each contract. In addition to these layout changes, many sections received language changes as noted in the summary document (see link below). Required Detectors is a section that has been added, and the “list price” portion of the Brokerage Fee section has been broken out into its own section as well. 

Changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations

Language will be added to Section 3.21 of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations to state that the seller’s broker may provide a code to a specific user with the owner’s permission. 

3.21 RMLS™ Lockbox System. RMLS™ shall provide a lockbox system to active Subscribers legally eligible for RMLS™ access for the purpose of legitimate real estate business subject to their execution of a user agreement. This agreement shall provide that lockbox access devices may not be used under any circumstances by anyone other than the lockbox system user. The only exception is where the Listing Broker provides a code to a specific user with owner permission. The lockbox system shall be provided by a recognized lockbox vendor and it shall comply with current NAR® security requirements.

Office Email Required for Real Estate Offices in Washington

Real estate offices in Washington will be required to provide an office email. This email address will appear in the office roster search and will be viewable on agent reports.

 

Looking for More Detail?

Dig into this spring’s forms changes with the following:
• View a complete summary of forms changes scheduled for this spring.
• Preview revised input, and supplement listing forms. (Green highlights indicate new items, blue indicate items that have moved location, and yellow highlights indicate items which have been changed.)
• Preview updated Oregon and Washington listing contracts.