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by RMLS Communication Department | Apr 18, 2011
Stay current with the RMLS™ Twitter and Facebook accounts!
Sometime during the last decade, the term “social media” grew more fiercely than wildfire. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Foursquare and LinkedIn were created. To go even farther, we began to see social media in the form of blogging (WordPress, Blogspot), micro-blogging (Twitter), online reviewing (Yelp), photo-sharing (Flickr) and smart purchasing (Groupon).
It’s difficult trying to keep up with the constant flow of new social media applications, trends and products that come on the market each day. Due to the fact that social media has started to play a more key role in the real estate industy, RMLS™ is making an effort at “keeping up with the Joneses.”
Here’s how you can benefit from our efforts:
Did you know you can check up on our Twitter feed, Facebook page and RMLS™ Updates blog, without creating an account of your own? Say there is an RMLSweb outage (which is not something we like to think about, but it has happened before) and you want up-to-date information, here is what you can do:
Twitter: Go to http://twitter.com/RMLSweb
This will take you to the RMLS™ Twitter account, where you can see all of our recent “tweets” and our Twitter profile (even if you don’t have a Twitter account of your own!). From here, you can choose to “follow” us if you have an account! We recommend you do so in order to stay current with our updates.
Facebook: Go to http://www.facebook.com/RMLSweb
Here, you will be directed to our Facebook page! A goal of ours for 2011 is to increase our fan base on our Facebook page. Since we’re on the hunt for new fans, make sure to “like” our page!
Blog: For those of you who may have stumbled upon a link to this blog, at any time you can access it by going to: http://rmlsweb.wordpress.com/
We plan on doing some cool contests and giveaways in the future for those following us on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to win some free stuff! Also, don’t forget to tune in for these weekly events:
- Tuesday Training Tip – Each Tuesday we post an interesting RMLSweb training tip to our Facebook and Twitter accounts regarding certain aspects of the RMLSweb system.
- Friday Fun Fact – Each Friday we post a humorous fact on Twitter and Facebook about a fact of the day and how it coincides with a statistic from RMLSweb!
Finally, if you are looking to become a more efficient social media user, check out tools such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck that allow you to view and post to your Twitter, Facebook and Blog feeds – all at once!
Happy social media adventures!
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by RMLS Communication Department | Mar 16, 2011
Written by Kelsey Brunson, Communications Specialist
As a member of the Communications Department here at RMLS™, I get asked a wide variety of questions from subscribers. I want to take some time in this blog post to answer two questions that subscribers ask on a regular basis. My thought is that more of you might also have these same questions and might benefit from the answers I can provide.
How Do I Search for Forms, Documents and Tutorials?
The Forms and Documents menu is home to all of our documents, including (but not limited to) training documents, informational documents, desktop news posts, Market Action reports, and tutorials. You can access the Forms and Documents menu through Toolkit at the top of the RMLSweb screen.
Once you are in our Forms and Documents menu, there are three ways to search for that particular document you are looking for. Below is an image showing you the locations of the three areas you can use for your document search:
1) Enter a keyword, phrase or document number into the search box.
2) Click on a tag and get all the documents in that particular category.
3) Search the Forms & Documents Folder Menu. For example, document folder 1500-1699 in this menu is the Market Action and Statistics Menu, where you can find all of the new (and archived!) Market Action reports.
How Does RMLS™ Calculate Appreciation?
Another commonly asked question that I receive from subscribers is how to calculate appreciation (or depreciation). Appreciation is a comparison of the average sales price of a specific area between two time periods. Here are some key points to remember about this calculation:
1) You must compare TWO time periods. Sometimes I get asked, “What is the appreciation of Portland for the last year?” A more accurate question to ask for this statistic would be, “How has Portland appreciated (or depreciated) from 2009 to 2010?” Or, you could compare one month to the next, such as January 2010 to February 2010. (Notice that we are comparing two time periods here).
2) You can use the appreciation formula to calculate both appreciation AND depreciation. Often, subscribers believe that the formula for appreciation is different than the formula for depreciation. In fact, the same formula is used for both of these calculations. Whether the result is a negative or positive number determines if the area’s average sales price has appreciated or depreciated between those two time periods.
3) Document #1745: How to Calculate Appreciation, gives a detailed example of how to use the appreciation formula. This is an easy formula involving plugging in the average sales price for your two time periods! Take a look at this document; I use it for guidance as well!
If you have any questions, feel free to email communications@rmls.com. Or, you can call our Help Desk at 503-872-8002 or toll-free at 877-256-2169. They will be able to answer your question or transfer you to the appropriate department. Thank you!
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by RMLS Communication Department | Dec 22, 2010
RMLS™ can help you show sellers the right price for their listing!
Selecting a price for a listing can be a tricky thing, especially when a client feels their home is worth more than you think it is. With all the sentimental value attached to the house for the client, it can be hard for a seller to stomach the idea of selling for less than the figure in his or her mind. To help your client gain a better understanding of the realities of the market, so he or she can see why the price you’ve suggested is more likely to succeed, here are some tips from within the RMLSweb system:
A Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) report is your most important tool. Our new CMA lets you compare the seller’s home to other similar homes that are or were for sale in the area. By researching active, pending, and closed listings, you can show the client an image of the past and present state of the local real estate market.
Use statuses to provide a complete story. By comparing the listing to not only comparable active listings, but also pending, expired, and closed listings, you can better understand and show an entire story of sales prices. Active listings will show you the current prices of comparable homes on the market, so your client knows the competition. Pending listing prices will show which prices attracted buyers, while closed listing prices show the price at which comparable homes actually sold. Expired listings are also useful to search for, as they can show prices that did not attract any buyers (although price isn’t the sole cause for expired listings).
Use the “Recommended Price” tab in the CMA. The “Recommended Price” tab in the new CMA allows you to see statistics related to your comparable properties, including average and median sold prices. It also gives you the ability to enter your own recommended range, in an easy-to-read graph that shows the price range most likely to succeed in the given market.
By using the new CMA module to its fullest, you can create a more vivid picture of the local market in which the client’s house will be listed. With a better understanding of the history of comparable property sales, you’ll be able to help your client find a listing price that is palatable to them, as well as attractive to buyers!
To brush up on your knowledge of the new CMA module, check out these handy online tutorials:
CMA Overview
Accessing the CMA
How to use Radius Search
User Preferences
Adding Comparables and Making Adjustments
Creating a CMA Profile
Customizing Your CMA Report
Entering Subject Property Information
Or you can look at or print our Creating a new CMA in RMLSweb quick reference guide.
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by RMLS Communication Department | Dec 9, 2010
Use this guide to save your old CMA reports before January 6!
With the old CMA module departing from RMLSweb on January 6, 2011, it is important for all subscribers to go into the system and save any old CMA reports they would not like to disappear along with the module. Luckily, this only requires a small amount of your time, and should be quick and easy if you follow these simple steps:
1. Run a category specific search (such as Residential).
2. Check off at least one listing from the search results.
3. In the “Select a Report” drop-down list, select “CMA Report (old)” and click “GO.”
4. In the “Subject Profiles” drop-down list, select the profile you would like to save.
5. Click “Continue to Pricing.”
6. On the pricing page, select either “Email” or “Print Preview.”
7. If you select “Email,” then email it to your own email address. Then in the email you receive, you can click the link and either print the report or save it to your local drive.
8. If you select “Print Preview,” you can print the report to paper. Or, if you have Cute PDF, you can save it as a PDF.
By following these steps for all your old CMA reports you would like to hold onto, you can ensure that nothing you need is removed from our servers when the old CMA disappears on January 6! And if you need any help with the new CMA, here are some tutorials to answer some of your questions:
CMA Overview
Accessing the CMA
How to use Radius Search
User Preferences
Adding Comparables and Making Adjustments
Creating a CMA Profile
Customizing your CMA Report
Entering Subject Property Information
Or you can check out our Creating a new CMA in RMLSweb quick reference guide.
As always, if you have any further questions or concerns we are here to help. You can call your local RMLS™ office or the RMLS™ Help Desk at (503) 872-8002 in the Portland Metro Area or toll-free at (877) 256-2169.
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by RMLS Communication Department | Oct 20, 2010
When loading a new listing, a REALTOR® has a multitude of factors to consider. While worrying about complex issues such as pricing and competition, it can be easy to forget a regulation or two. However, a basic understanding of our rules and regulations will help make the listing process easier and more efficient for both REALTOR® and client.
The following are some of the most frequently forgotten rules and regulations that a REALTOR® should keep in mind to ensure his or her listings are correct, fair, and – most importantly – effective!
- When adding a “Virtual Tour” or “Video Tour” for a listing, please double-check that the tour is free of branding (such as personal contact information or advertising).
- Similarly, links or contact information (including notes such as, “Call listing agent,” or, “Call for appointment”) are not allowed in the “Public Remarks” section of a listing.
- There are still many listings that do not have the correct photograph in the number 1 space. The first photograph should always be of the exterior building view. (If the property is land, the first photograph should be of the bare land.) Remember, RMLS™ offers up to 15 additional photo spaces for any other shots of the listing you might want to add!
If you would like to get reacquainted with all of our up-to-date rules and regulations, please check out Document 1450 at RMLSweb. You might also like to take our most recent Rules and Regulations Quizzes (Quizzes 14 and 15), to test yourself!
by RMLS Communication Department | Mar 30, 2010
RMLS™ will no longer be printing contracts or input forms
At RMLS™, we take your feedback very seriously. Every year the Realtors on our Forms Committee review your suggestions regarding changes to the listing contracts and input forms and make recommendations to the Board of Directors. This year they have identified several changes to the forms that will be in effect April 28, including several new feature options and a new field for Energy Efficiency.
In addition, the committee and the Board of Directors carefully reviewed the declining usage of the printed input forms and decided that in order to be more responsive to the real estate market in the future, we will only be publishing the input forms electronically from now on. Printed input forms will no longer be for sale starting on April 15. The electronic forms are available in several formats on RMLSweb:
- Printable blank PDFs that you can fill in by hand. (If you use this method, you may want to purchase NCR paper from your local office supply store or EMAR so you don’t have to fill them out twice.)
- e-Forms that can be filled in on your computer and printed out.
- Print listing agreements from Listing Load.
If you prefer to have them professionally printed yourself, please email frontdesk@rmls.com for a copyright permission letter.
There will be no changes to the contracts or addendum forms at this time. However, we will not be reprinting them in the future. Starting April 15, you may purchase the printed contract pages and addendum forms at a special 2-for-1 rate while supplies last.
More information about the specific field and feature changes will be available shortly. Stay tuned!
