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:

There’s a listing I have in Hillsboro that hasn’t sold despite the low inventory and hot activity happening in the Portland metro area. I want this thing to sell! To that end, I’ve cancelled the listing on RMLSweb three times…and then created a new listing for the same property. This way, the days on market will stay low and I’ll get more eyeballs from area brokers. Why doesn’t RMLS™ teach people about this?

Hotsheet Harry

Dear Harry:

I’ve got some bad news for you—you’re doing a lot of extra work relisting your property for no reason!

On the back end of RMLSweb, changing a listing’s status to Pending, Sold, Withdrawn, Cancelled, or Expired will trigger an off-market date. If the property is relisted within 31 days of that off-market date, the listing will still show cumulative days on market (CDOM). Have a look at RMLS™ Document #1742, How CDOM is Calculated for more on this.

If the property has been off the market for more than 31 days and it’s relisted, that listing will just show regular days on market (DOM).

Here’s an idea. If your property isn’t selling (or even if it’s new on the market), try your hand at the Reverse Prospecting tool on RMLSweb. Reverse Prospecting searches for other brokers with a saved prospecting profile that matches the criteria for your listing. Check out RMLSweb Document #1772, Reverse Prospecting, and give it a try! This way, you can target your marketing efforts on those brokers with clients shopping for precisely what you’re selling.

TT:

Last week my eagle-eyed clients asked about the photo that appeared on a listing I sent them. The listing said the house was under construction, but the photo showed the exterior of the house, complete with landscaping! Was this a listing error I need to submit to RMLS™ staff or is Photoshopping really getting that good?

Betty in Battle Ground

BBG:

Isn’t it amazing how far we’ve come in these matters, when it’s possible to transport yourself to the sunny beaches of Hawaii with the magic of digital image manipulation? It can be difficult to discern whether Elvis is really alive and running for President or if Bigfoot really did lose 150 pounds.

Those are bad examples, but RMLS™ has noticed some confusion about listing photos and just released a watermark feature in order to address the issue.

If your listing photo has what we in the biz call “virtual staging” (meaning someone used computer technology to add furniture and other decorative items to a listing photo), you’ll need to add the “Virtually Staged” watermark to the photo.

Similarly, if your RMLSweb listing is marked as Proposed or Under Construction but features photographs of an actual built house, you’ll need to add the “Sample Image” watermark to the photo.

If your listing photo features both a model home and has been virtually staged, you’ll need to add both watermarks!

Read more and watch a short video about the new RMLSweb watermarks here. This RMLSweb feature has been folded into the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations, so you’ll want to check your current listings.

Dear Technical Terry:

My entire office staff consists of me, myself, and I. Instead of spending my day creating listing flyers in Microsoft Word, I’d rather be out in the world showing my clients some listings. Or snagging some new clients. Perhaps shopping for client gifts. In short, doing anything but wrangling with Microsoft Word! Do you have any suggestions on how I might be able to tackle listing flyers in a better way?

Sincerely,
Riddled in Riddle

Great question, Riddled. We recommend the flyer module available on Realtors Property Resource® (RPR). Look for a direct link on RMLSweb under the Toolkit menu, then enter a valid RMLSweb listing number to open the flyer module in a new tab.

Data from your listing will already be pre-loaded—confirm the property address at minimum, and personalize the flyer as you’d like. Once the flyer is ready to go, select the delivery method and click “Run Report.” Your flyer will be ready to go in a jiffy.