2020 Deployment Highlights: Ask Technical Terry

2020 Deployment Highlights: Ask Technical Terry

Ask Technical Terry Silhouette

Dear TT,

Some of my REALTOR® friends and I were chatting recently about RMLS™ and how many cool tools we now have available for us. We tried to think about all the new “stuff” that has been provided to us just this year and while I’m sure we remembered a lot of the things could you give me a quick recap on the highlights for 2020? And also, THANK YOU to all the RMLS™ staff for keeping RMLS™ products and services up and running without skipping a beat during COVID. Much appreciated!!

Ecstatic in Estacada

Hi EE,

First of all, thank YOU for the kind words. The RMLS™ staff really does pride itself in not only providing/integrating those cool tools you reference above, but also recognizing that our core responsibility is to make sure RMLSweb is up and available for you 24/7.

Now, for a list of the deployment highlights from 2020.

Q1:

  • Added Immoviewer to the list of approved 3rd party products. Immoviewer automatically sends you a link to a simple video tour upon saving your new listing in the RMLSweb database.
  • Added the ability to customize the subject line in manually sent client reports from RMLSweb
  • Added a red button indicator Back Office on the Menu bar to alert you of your expiring listings
  • Added the SentriLock Access Report to the Statistics menu in RMLSweb
  • Implemented various COVID-19 accommodations to RMLSweb

Q2:

  • Released Phase 1 of the new RMLSweb reports including Client Full and Medium report styles
  • Added INRIX Drive Time mapping toolset as well as a new “freehand” drawing tool to Map Search
  • Continued with Phase 1 of the RMLSweb reports project by releasing new Open House and Broker Tour reports

Q3:

  • Added Paragon as the first “System of Choice” in the MLS industry
  • Added RatePlug to the approved 3rd party products
  • Added Price Change Amount filter in Prospecting to confine searches to a price change threshold

Q4:

  • Added button to Advanced Search to allow the creation of a Prospect Profile directly from the search
  • Added a new Agent Limited One Page report option

Keep in mind that I pulled these improvements/enhancements from a 20-page single line report of all the various items accomplished in 2020 – really quite impressive given the challenges of a global pandemic!

TT

RMLS™ Rules Roundup for August 2020

RMLS™ Rules Roundup for August 2020

Gavel

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee has requested that periodic reports are given to subscribers about the number and types of formal rules violations, along with information about informal violations and courtesy notifications by type. Read “If a RMLS™ Rule is Broken, What Happens?” for a deeper explanation.

Have you ever spotted something wrong in a property listing on RMLSweb? The Data Accuracy team is responsible for sorting things out whenever a RMLS™ subscriber contacts us—whether that is via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, by email, or contacting us directly by phone.

We tracked 32 specific issues in Listing Data Checker (LDC), the software that helps us spot and correct issues proactively. Six of these are courtesy notifications, but the other 26 are informal violations of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. In addition to our focus on education, we also process formal violations throughout the year.

HOT TOPICS

Property Condition (previously known as Year Built Description) saw a spike in violations last month. As a reminder, the Property Condition needs to be changed to “New” on a new construction property before it is updated to sold (SLD) status. Making sure that the Property Condition is up to date throughout the construction and selling process will help to ensure that the listing data is accurate. Further, it will make the post close process as smooth as it can be.

TIP: Prior to scheduling a showing, it’s important to double check the listing for any special showing accommodation requests or notes from the seller(s) and/or Seller’s Agent. Be safe out there!

FORMAL VIOLATIONS

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee reviews all formal complaints which allege a violation of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. The committee has the power to impose sanctions.

The committee did not meet in August 2020 as there were no cases to review.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In August 2020, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 31,594 listings in addition to the 476 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,241 violation notices and 2,196 courtesy notices were sent out. In addition our team handled 419 phone calls.

CategoryAugust
Missing Tax ID390
Incorrect or Missing Information159
Personal Promotion131
Missing School77
Missing Owner Name71
No Showings70
Property Condition66
Duplicate Listing44
Incorrect Status44
Incorrect First Photo44
Conditions to Compensation26
Is Property a Condo26
Incorrect Property Type24
Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area15
Duplicate Listing in Different Categories14
Inaccurate Lot Size12
Partial Bathrooms 5+9
Address Issues6
City Unknown5
Missing Condo Unit Number3
HUD3
Remarks Incorrectly Indicate Short Sale1
Missing SQFT by Level1

The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in August 2020:

CategoryAugust
Listing is Set to Expire983
Multiple Owner Names in First Field585
Listing Still Pending 496
New Listing Input Over 24 Hours 127
Listing Status Change over 24 Hours5

When we notice an uptick in a specific type of violation (perhaps a rule recently changed or market conditions lead to an increase in a certain type of issue), we may also put a notification up on RMLSweb, educating subscribers before one of their listings gets flagged and we need to contact them.

RMLS™ Data Accuracy can be reached via email or by phone at (503) 236-7657 if you have questions about the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations, if you wonder whether a specific listing has inaccurate data, or if you want to chat with us more about the above information.

RMLS™ Rules Roundup for August 2020

RMLS™ Rules Roundup for January 2020

Gavel

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee has requested that periodic reports are given to subscribers about the number and types of formal rules violations, along with information about informal violations and courtesy notifications by type. Read “If a RMLS™ Rule is Broken, What Happens?” for a deeper explanation.

Have you ever spotted something wrong in a property listing on RMLSweb? The Data Accuracy team is responsible for sorting things out whenever a RMLS™ subscriber contacts us—whether that is via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, by email, or contacting us directly by phone. In January 2020 our team handled 214 phone calls.

We track 32 specific issues in Listing Data Checker (LDC), the software that helps us spot and correct issues proactively. Six of these are courtesy notifications, but the other 24 are informal violations of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. In addition to our focus on education we also process formal violations throughout the year.

HOT TOPICS

A new year brings with it a new sequence for MLS numbers. Listings published in 2020 begin with ’20######’, where listings published in 2019 began with ’19######’. While it is not against the RMLS™ rules to refresh a listing, there are a few points to keep in mind. Refreshing a listing should be done at the request of the seller(s). If the seller(s) elects to refresh their listing in the MLS, the old listing should be changed to canceled (CAN) status not withdrawn (WTH). The Data Accuracy Department has received reports where the original listing was changed to withdrawn (WTH) status instead of canceled, and forgotten until the listing expires at some future date. This causes not only confusion for RMLS™ subscribers, it can be confusing to the property owner who may or may not have been the original seller(s) who receive inquiries on the status of their property.

FORMAL VIOLATIONS

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee reviews all formal complaints which allege a violation of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. The committee has the power to impose sanctions.

The committee did not review any formal violations in January 2020.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In January 2020, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 22,529 listings in addition to the 493 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,221 violation notices and 1,953 courtesy notices were sent out.

CategoryJanuary
Missing Tax ID471
Incorrect or Missing Information129
Duplicate Listing119
Missing Owner Name94
Personal Promotion85
Missing School58
Incorrect Status50
Year Built Description 46
Is Property a Condo 37
No Showings22
Missing or Incorrect 1st Photo 18
Duplicate Listing in Different Categories 17
Conditions to Compensation15
Duplicate Listing in Different Categories13
Incorrect Property Type15
Missing Condo Unit Number 8
Inaccurate Lot Size 8
Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area 7
Address Issues7
Partial Bathrooms 5+ 4
HUD2
City Unknown1
Is Listing a Short Sale1

Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in January 2020:

CategoryJanuary
Listing is Set to Expire1,015
Multiple Owner Names in First Field 405
Listing Still Pending 377
New Listing Input Over 24 Hours 156

When we notice an uptick in a specific type of violation (perhaps a rule recently changed or market conditions lead to an increase in a certain type of issue) we may also put a notification up on RMLSweb, educating subscribers before one of their listings gets flagged and we need to contact them.

RMLS™ Data Accuracy can be reached via email or by phone at (503) 236-7657 if you ever have questions about the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations, if you wonder whether a specific listing has inaccurate data, or if you want to chat with us more about the above information.