RMLS™ subscribers who read our post from earlier this month no doubt have questions about the new status that will debut on RMLSweb in the coming months: Coming Soon-No Showing, or CSN. We’re ready to outline some key details, answer some questions, and talk about what this new status will mean for RMLSweb, listing forms, and subscribers.
THE BASICS
The Coming Soon-No Showing (CSN) status is for short-term use. Subscribers may use CSN to prepare a listing for Active (ACT) status. The listing may be in CSN status for no longer than 21 days and must have a valid listing agreement as well as seller approval. CSN status will indicate the listing firm and seller(s) are preparing the property for sale and marketing before the listing becomes active on RMLSweb. As such, CSN will be considered an off-market status as the listing is not actively being marketed and is not ready to be shown. Affiliate subscribers will not be able to view listings that are in CSN status, nor will CSN listings be included in statistical searches and reports.
USING CSN ON RMLSWEB
A listing agent will have the choice to publish a property as CSN. All required fields will still be required for a CSN listing and must follow all other input business rules. The required first photo will bear a watermark saying “Coming Soon-No Showings.” The Oregon and Washington listing contracts will be updated to allow seller(s) to choose between publishing the listing as ACT or CSN in RMLSweb or to exclude the property from the MLS.
Listings can stay in CSN status for up to 21 days. Listing Load will not allow a date further than 21 days in the future from being entered as the list date. If a listing agent submits a list date of fewer than 21 days in the future, the agent may extend the list date up until that 21st day—something that may come in handy if more time is needed to prep a property than was originally estimated.
The status of a CSN listing may be manually changed to ACT or WTH at any time during the 21 day period. When the list date is reached or the listing has been in the system for 21 days RMLSweb will automatically change the status of the listing to ACT at midnight. Once a listing is out of CSN status it cannot be reverted back, nor can properties that were once in CSN status be re-entered as a new CSN listing (exceptions: the property has expired or has been withdrawn for over 90 days; the property has been relisted with a new brokerage; or the property has been sold).
Open houses and broker tour offerings cannot be set up in Listing Load for a listing in CSN status. Listing View Count reports will still be available showing viewing counts from within RMLSweb, but Days on Market (DOM)/Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) will not accrue while a listing is in CSN status.
RMLSWEB SEARCH AND CSN
CSN will not be included in the default status criteria when doing a new search—ACT and BMP will remain the two default statuses. CSN listings will be excluded from exported reports and consumer prospecting auto-emails. CSN can be searched with other statuses, included in a user’s watch list. CSN listings may be used to conduct a reverse prospect search or using Hotsheet. CSN listings are included in agent-only prospect notifications. CSN listing reports can be printed and emailed from RMLSweb, including client reports. The listings will state “no showings permitted” in showing instructions on agent reports, with the actual showing instructions hidden while in CSN status.
DATA FEEDS
CSN listings will be excluded from data feeds, including but not limited to RMLS.com, Realtor.com, HomeSpotter, IDX, VOW, and broker specific feeds.
AUTHORIZATION TO EXCLUDE
Listing agents will be able to submit the completed Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum directly into Listing Load on RMLSweb, eliminating the need to email or mail a copy to RMLS™. If a property is excluded, it will be for the full length of the listing contract, as the short-term option on the addendum will be eliminated. The listing firm may list the property as active again once 30 days from the form’s expiration date have passed.
RMLS™ is excited to announce that our development team has started work on several projects which will be released on RMLSweb this spring.
On the surface these projects look very different, but as they require some bigger back-end changes to the website, we’ll be rolling them into one project that should make a big splash with RMLS™ subscribers once it all goes live.
Creation of a new listing status, Coming Soon/No Showing, was approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors in September. This new status will mean changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations as well as the Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum.
Subscriber comments are given to the Forms Committee, then recommendations are approved by the RMLS™ board. This year’s changes were approved in November, and highlights include updated language to listing contracts, improved addendums, terminology changes, and some new features and small changes to other fields in RMLSweb.
ShowingTime is coming to RMLSweb! ShowingTime makes the scheduling of showings easy for everyone. RMLS™ subscribers can edit and control the showing schedule on their own listings, reducing calls and the inevitable phone tag. Using ShowingTime will be optional, so subscribers who would rather schedule showings offline will still be able to do so.
Watch RMLScentral and the RMLSweb desktop page in the coming weeks, as we’ll be discussing each piece of this larger project in more detail. If you have a question about any of these, leave it for us below!
Over the last few years the RMLS™ Board of Directors and staff have received numerous questions, concerns, and comments regarding property that is being marketed as “coming soon.” In light of so many inquiries the RMLS™ Board of Directors formed a task force earlier this year to evaluate the concerns and identify potential solutions. The result is a new status called CSN – Coming Soon-No Showing. This new status indicates that there is a valid listing agreement between the seller(s) and the listing agent/firm, but that the listing is not ready to be shown. This listing is in the MLS, but not on market. This status tells other subscribers when the property will become available for showings.
Highlights of the new Coming Soon-No Showing (CSN) status:
CSN listings are considered an off-market status, like Withdrawn (WTH).
CSN listings are only viewable within RMLSweb.com.
CSN listings are not included on RMLS.com, Realtor.com, IDX, or syndicated feeds.
CSN listings are not included in open house or broker tours.
A property may be in CSN status for up to 21 days. After 21 days is reached the system will automatically change the status to Active (ACT) unless the listing agent changes it sooner.
CSN listings cannot be shown—by anyone. If a showing is to occur, the rules will state that the status of the listing must first be changed to Active (ACT) to allow everyone an opportunity to show the property.
Days on Market (DOM)/Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) counts do not accrue while in CSN status
The first photograph will contain a “Coming Soon-No Showing” watermark. When the listing is no longer in CSN status, the system will automatically remove the watermark from the first photograph.
CSN listings can be searched and viewed within RMLSweb.
CSN listings will be excluded from client prospecting auto-email notifications.
CSN listings are excluded from statistical reports.
Agent reports within RMLSweb will only display “No Showings Permitted” in the showing notification section.
Here are a few examples of how you could benefit from the Coming Soon-No Showing listing status:
It allows time to prepare a listing so that it is fully marketable the moment it goes active. With this new status, you can prepare all marketing around the date the listing will move to Active status. Listings under the new status are submitted to the MLS and have an MLS number.
This new status allows agents to market their listings in the MLS to other subscribers while finishing touches (such as new paint, flooring, etc.) are being completed.
A listing will not needlessly accrue Days on Market/Cumulative Days on Market. DOM/CDOM accrual does not begin until it moves to Active status.
It provides subscribers with the date of when the listing is expected to be active. By providing this date, the most interested buyers can get prepared to see the property when the listing switches to Active status.
It helps keep other subscribers informed of upcoming inventory. By including CSN listings in RMLSweb, subscribers will not be caught off guard by “coming soon” yard signs when driving through a community with a buyer.
We will be adding the new status in early 2018. Changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations, listings contracts, and the Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum will be required as well as programming changes for RMLSweb. Watch the RMLSweb desktop for more information as we get closer to implementing this new status.
