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 TT,
RMLS™ has done a great job finding products that provide great benefit to its REALTOR® subscribers, but at times it seems like there are just too many options! It seems like we have new tools to learn on a daily basis. Just recently I went to a training session for a new product called Remine, and now I understand there is another product coming soon called Homesnap. Can you tell me why I would choose one over the other? What are the differences?
Overloaded in Orenco
Dear OO,
Understood completely! It’s not just you—it’s even a challenge for our support and training staff to keep abreast of the rapid pace of innovation around RMLS™ these days.
Here’s a brief overview of the products you mention above.
Homesnap Pro
Homesnap Pro combines agent-only MLS data on a web portal with a mobile app for use in the field.
Provides real-time information to agents on the go, giving them the flexibility to research homes, interact with each other, and collaborate with clients from their mobile devices. Agents and consumers can use the same platform to seamlessly share real estate information and communicate directly.
Additional features of Homesnap Pro include real-time access to agent-only MLS information, information about any home, messaging with clients and agents, customized email marketing, CMA generation from a mobile device, and information about other agents.
Remine
Remine provides some of the same capabilities as Homesnap, but it really excels more for data mining. This means Remine provides users the ability to “watch” homes, neighborhoods, and people to best understand market motivation. Users can use this data to scientifically allocate marketing efforts toward specific properties or people that indicate potential motivation.
Remine has three main components on its app: Discover, Track, and Engage.
Discover: This is the map, where you can use layers to narrow down properties you want to target and set up farming areas to find opportunities.
Track: This is the list of properties and people you’re tracking. You can upload contacts to track data that will help you prioritize who you should reach out to, and when to reach out. You can use this page to export spreadsheets to use for mailers, call lists, or email campaigns.
Engage: This is your client dashboard, where you can keep track of your clients’ activities, invite new clients, and manage your leads.
Both Homesnap and Remine provide great benefits, but they have different strenghts. Homesnap provides great tools to engage clients, and Remine specializes in farming activities. Both products have amazing support portals available, containing plenty of how-tos in both written and video formats, there to help you decide which might work best for you.
The RMLS™ trainers are developing classes for both products, so keep your eyes on your local training calendar in the coming months!
TT
Hey Ask Technical Terry!
Homesnap seems like it’s going to be great for my workflow and working with my clients! My assistant told me that RMLS.com will be going away because of Homesnap—is this true?
Snappin’ for Homesnap
Hey Snappin’!
It is true: RMLS.com will redirect to Homesnap’s Broker Public Portal once RMLS™ rolls out the project on May 7th! We recently published a video about the change:
It’ll be a big change, but one that we think will better serve our REALTOR® subscribers and their clients. We can’t wait to hear what you think once Homesnap is live!
RMLS™ is pleased to debut RMLS™ Mobile, the app for RMLS™ subscribers now available for both iPhone and Android phones. This app is the portable solution for agents in the field who want to access up-to-the-minute listing information.
RMLS™ Mobile offers subscribers access to listings, photos, showing information, days on market information—all listing information available on RMLSweb! Using the app, REALTORS® may call or email the seller’s broker immediately and even text listings to clients.
Searching for nearby listings is a snap with RMLS™ Mobile—the app uses location data to target the neighborhood where the device is located. Listings may be shown in either list view (above) or map view (below).
Download RMLS™ Mobile today on the Apple App Store or Google Play! The app will be updated frequently to add new features, fix bugs, and improve performance, so you’ll want to update the app whenever a new version is released.
RMLS™ Mobile is exclusively for RMLS™ subscribers. It was built in response to feedback from subscribers, co-developed with Utah Real Estate as part of MLS Aligned.
RMLS™ is polishing up a round of improvements to RMLSweb set to make their debut on February 5th. Among these is a bold new look for Listing Load, more responsive design for search functions, and easier listing edits.
Tile View, a new look available to users in Listing Load, will feature large icons. Status, price, and other details may be easily edited by clicking on icons and/or text. Listing view counts can also be accessed through this interface. My Inventory has also been added as a tab in Tile View and List View, although access remains through the Back Office menu anywhere in RMLSweb.
In addition to Listing Load’s easier interface, RMLS™ has also reworked the search pages on RMLSweb to be responsive to a user’s browser. This means that users on a mobile device will find the search options easier to use.
Subscribers can use this increased responsivity to easily make changes in the field. Listings with an accepted offer, for example, may be changed instantly—well within the 24 hour time window required for changing a listing’s status in RMLSweb. Furthermore, users who have had difficulty navigating RMLSweb using a mobile device or a regular browser set at less than full screen should have an easier experience when using the site.
Because these search pages have been reworked, users will also notice some layout changes on searches. When switching to Map View on Advanced Search, for example, will push the search criteria over to a left sidebar so users may see the map and criteria all on one screen.
The majority of these changes are a direct result of subscriber feedback, including Listing Load focus groups held over the last several months by Beth Raimer, our new product manager. If you’re interested in participating in future focus groups, contact Beth Raimer directly. We especially encourage REALTORS® from outside the Portland metro area to participate!
Here we go again! RMLS™ celebrates another year working hard for thousands of subscribers across Oregon and Southwest Washington by presenting an annual collection of numbers. These numbers show just how much RMLS™ has supported real estate activity over the course of 2018. We hope you enjoyed journeying along with us.
RMLSweb Number of times subscribers logged in to RMLSweb: 1,662,042 Photos uploaded to listings: 1,981,602 Number of new prospect profiles created: 71,914 All residential properties listed for sale: 78,378 All residential properties sold: 57,902 Median sold price of homes listed: $350,000 Total dollar volume of homes sold: $22,455,096,000 Reports viewed: 8,286,339
RMLS™ Subscribers RMLS™ subscribers as of December 2018: 14,489 New RMLS™ subscribers (compared to December 2017): 516 Increase in subscribers, above: +3.69 Subscribers who attended training: 5,406 Number of calls to the RMLS™ Help Desk: 27,794 Number of Help Desk chats: 5,215 Number of incidents reported using the “Report Issue” button: 7,027 CE hours distributed by RMLS™ at no cost to subscribers: 1,565 Total attendance at RMLS™ training events: 5,747
RMLS.com Total customer visits to RMLS.com: 2,120,150 Unique visits: 791,455 Total listing views: 1,145,379
RMLS™ regularly compiles plenty of other numbers as well! In addition to publishing Market Action each month, we have statistical summaries available on RMLSweb with information dating back several years.
We love numbers here at RMLS™, and hope you find this data as fun and interesting as we do.
RMLS™ recently announced a handful of upcoming changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. These changes, effective December 17th, include changes to the time limits allowed for new listing input and status changes, and other changes that clarify online marketing issues for listings in Coming Soon-No Showing (CSN) status.
The RMLSweb CSN status has generated a high volume of questions and feedback from subscribers and we anticipate these rules adjustments to garner more questions. Following are some of the most common questions we anticipate receiving in light of the upcoming rules changes.
I am the seller’s agent for a CSN listing which is published in RMLSweb. I have placed a sign on the property that includes the words “Coming Soon.” I received a call from a prospective buyer who saw the sign and would like to know more information about the listing. Can I share information about this CSN listing with the prospective buyer?
Yes, you may share information about this listing with that prospective buyer.
I am the seller’s agent for a CSN listing which has been published on RMLSweb. Can I send an email to my fellow agents with information about this CSN listing?
Yes, you may send an email to fellow agents assuming they are all active RMLS™ subscribers.
Can CSN listings be published on home search sites outside of RMLSweb, such as Realtor.com and Zillow?
No, they cannot. While a listing is in CSN status, it can only be published on RMLSweb.
I have a private Facebook group that includes other RMLS™ subscribers and my clients. Can I share my CSN listing with members of that group?
You may share your CSN listing with your private Facebook group as long as only your clients, current customers, and active RMLS™ subscribers are members of this group. If any member of the group is not your client, customer, or is an inactive RMLS™ subscriber, you may not share the CSN listing.
I am the seller’s agent for a CSN listing. I have not yet published the CSN listing on RMLSweb. Before I do so, I want to publish it as a Coming Soon listing on a public internet site first. Is that okay?
No, that is not permitted. The CSN listing must be published on RMLSweb and cannot be published on any public internet site.
I am the seller’s agent for a CSN listing. Can I post a vague statement on social media—without the listing address—that I have a CSN listing coming soon in a certain neighborhood, and to contact me for more information?
No, that is not allowed. Once published on RMLSweb, CSN listings can only be shared privately with a broker’s clients, current customers, and active RMLS™ subscribers, and must be published on RMLSweb.
My clients said they were ready for their listing to go live, then two days later they had an emergency and wanted the listing to go back to CSN. I logged in to RMLSweb but I’m not seeing CSN as an option anymore. What gives?
Your question is addressed by our prior set of CSN questions from August. What we’ve answered above only reflects those parts of the CSN rules that will be changing effective December 17th. Everything else about CSN listings—the 21 day limit for a listing to be in CSN status, the inability to change a listing back to CSN status once it’s active—were all addressed when the CSN status was introduced earlier this year.
That said, RMLS™ is happy to guide you through a specific situation or answer questions you may have about CSN listings or anything else. Contact the RMLS™ Rules staff at (503) 236-7657, they’re happy to educate subscribers who reach out!
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 TT:
I’m curious why RMLS™ is changing its lockboxes. I have had great success with the current lockbox and can’t imagine the newer version has enough new features that it’s worth the hassle of a conversion. Can you convince me it’s worth all the trouble?
Frustrated in Fairview
Dear FF:
I totally understand the short-term disruption presented by changing out your lockboxes. While the lockbox companies are quite skilled in organizing their events to minimize disruption it is still a hassle for you, and for that I apologize.
The RMLS™ Board of Directors thought long and hard when the opportunity to upgrade became an option with the release of the SentriLock Bluetooth lockboxes. The decision is difficult in general terms because most of the board members actively sell real estate—just like you. They fully realize the disruption conversion events create. That taken into account, they agreed that the benefits of the Bluetooth lockbox were significant enough to embark on the conversion.
Here are just a few of the benefits the new Bluetooth lockbox provides to subscribers:
SentriSmart™ will have more capabilities! Here are the benefits RMLS™ is excited to bring subscribers:
Open the key compartment directly from the app. Currently, users must enter a mobile access code AND have cellular coverage—no cell coverage is required with the new Bluetooth lockbox!
Release the lockbox shackle using the app.
Take ownership of a lockbox through SentriSmart™.
Dual-licensed REALTORS® can change their lockbox region for use in Oregon or Washington right from within SentriSmart™!
Virtually all lockbox settings that currently require a time-consuming process of updating your SentriCard® and using it to transfer changes to the lockbox will be able to be taken care of through the SentriSmart™ app.
SentriConnect is a new app available with the RMLS™ upgrade to Bluetooth lockboxes. SentriConnect controls lockbox access by non-SentriLock users at a much higher level than previously:
Listing agents may temporarily grant lockbox access for contractors, appraisers, out-of-area REALTORS®, or locked-out homeowners.
Greater flexibility to define the time window for this access.
Immediate notifications of access code use—since the access is provided via an app the notifications are much faster.
That’s just a fraction of the benefits the RMLS™ Board of Directors saw when they determined the upgrade to Bluetooth was worth the short-term disruption. If the above improvements aren’t enough to convince you, consider that you’ll be swapping out an older piece of technology with a brand new lockbox…for free.
One more thing—have you ever had to check out the “power paddle” from your local RMLS™ office, in an attempt to restore power to a dead lockbox? This process was not super easy and didn’t always work. SentriLock Bluetooth lockboxes feature a port on the outside of the lockbox that can receive a jump from a battery jumper pack (available for $15 at any RMLS™ office). The jump will open the lockbox, then the batteries inside can be used to switch out with the dead ones inside! Then just replace the batteries in the jumper pack and you’ll be ready to go whenever you have a dead lockbox again.
TT
Hello Technical Terry:
It certainly came as a surprise when I navigated to RMLSweb in August and found the login screen and desktop page with a completely different look. At a recent office meeting I heard that RMLS™ is working on giving Listing Load a treatment next. What can you tell me about that?
Curious in Clatskanie
Hello Curious:
It’s true! RMLS™ does have a refreshed version of Listing Load in the works. Don’t get too antsy though—RMLS™ is taking the time to get plenty of input from different stakeholders and users to make sure details can be worked out before it goes live. We did a similar process in advance of the login screen/desktop page refresh, but we’ve got an additional resource this time around.
What additional resource is that? It’s our new RMLS™ Product Manager Beth Raimer! Beth has been studying subscriber comments, talking with RMLS™ subscribers, and holding focus groups around the RMLS™ region. If you’d like to participate in one of Beth’s focus groups in the upcoming weeks, contact her via email. Multiple listing services are all about cooperation between participating REALTORS®, so your input will be most welcome as we seek to make the RMLSweb of the future the best it can be for our very diverse subscribership.
