Hit a home run with RMLS™!

The RMLS™ Spring Education Summit and Trade Fair will be held on Thursday, April 11, 2013, from 8:30am-5:00pm at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland.

Classes are filling quickly—register online today to ensure enrollment! FREE CE hours are available for both Oregon and Washington REALTORS®!

Exhibitors will be on hand to offer the best in services, technology, and tools for your business needs. SentriLock will be in attendance for subscribers who would like to preview the lockbox equipment that RMLS™ will transition to later this year.

A special guest will also be on hand to keep the day memorable, and refreshments will be available for purchase. Don’t forget to bring business cards for door prize drawings!

Thanks to our generous sponsors!

DIAMOND

PLATINUM

SILVER

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of February 25-March 3, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Showings in Oregon increased slightly this week, but showings in Washington declined.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

Today’s post is courtesy of Gerry and Mike (left), who comprise the RMLS™ Training Department. If you’ve ever gone to any RMLSweb trainings in the Portland metro area, you’ve most likely met at least one of them. The department has some exciting news to share…

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The RMLS™ Training Department is excited to announce that we have extended our webinar library to include four new webinar classes in addition to the three already available!

Web-based seminars, or webinars, are online workshops that have been in use for many years, but did not really gain widespread popularity as a training tool until the late 1990s. RMLS™ has undertaken an extensive webinar project in an attempt to provide another educational opportunity for our subscribers.

All of our webinars are scheduled for a maximum of one hour. The classes focus on specific parts of RMLSweb and can be viewed in the comfort of your home or office.

The newest webinar classes are:

• Creating a Prospecting Profile
Ever wish you had a personal assistant that could take your buyer’s criteria, monitor the results, and email it to them? Welcome to the wonderful world of Prospecting Profiles! Learn how to customize an advanced search using specific criteria that matches your buyer’s needs and have those results automatically emailed.

• CMA Overview
A comparative market analysis (CMA) is one of the main tools that you will use to assist sellers in arriving at a suggested sale price. Our webinar includes an overview of setting up and producing a complete CMA report for your client.

• Searching with Map Range
Learn how to master the different ways to map an area using the rectangle, circle, and polygon functions to help narrow down a specific location.

• RMLSweb Statistical Tools
This webinar will direct you to the various statistical tools available to subscribers on RMLSweb.

…and don’t forget our existing webinars: Listing Load Overview, Navigating Search Results, and Customizing Search Results!

Signing up for one of our scheduled, live webinars is the same as signing up for any of our classes: simply log in to RMLSweb and select Toolkit/Training Registration from the blue navigation bar at the top of our home page. Once in the Training Calendar, click on the hyperlinked name of your desired webinar, read the class description, and click the button to register. You may also register by calling (503) 236-RMLS (7657) or (877) 256-2169 toll free. After receiving your request we will send you confirmation by email which will include class details and instructions on how to join the webinar.

Joining a session consists of a video and audio connection, in which the video uses a link to GoToMeeting, while the audio connects users to the RMLS™ conference call system, which has the advantage of allowing questions to be asked at any time during a presentation—much like a regular classroom.

RMLS webinars is another in our series of training tools for subscribers. Remember: at RMLS™, service is our last name.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of February 18-24, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. The numbers in Oregon increased this week, while Washington declined slightly.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

New features and enhancements to RMLSweb are implemented regularly, including during our monthly scheduled outages.

Here are some of the changes we implemented in February to improve the site for subscribers…

Map Checked Switched to Bing Maps

RMLS™ is continuing to switch its map systems over to Bing Maps, and this month we’ve integrated Bing with the map checked feature of RMLSweb.

This means that when plotting multiple listings on a map for a client tour, the map will match other mapping features on RMLSweb and their enhanced map performance.

This is the third of a series of five rollovers into Bing. Our final two changes will be to switch the Listing Load mapping module to Bing, followed by switching Map Search. Look for the complete transformation in coming months!

RMLS™ Inventory on Desktop

Perhaps you’ve already noticed this new feature on the left sidebar of the RMLSweb desktop: we’ve added a feature showcasing collective listing data. In a glance, subscribers can see just how many active listings are in RMLSweb, the number of sold listings for the last 12 months, the dollar value those listings represent, and the total number of listings in the system. The numbers are updated daily.

Shorter Session Times

Starting this week, subscribers logging in to RMLSweb will be automatically logged out after 90 minutes of inactivity. This is a shorter session time than the site had previously (four hours), but we’re making the change based on some of the initial findings of our unauthorized access project on RMLSweb.

We’ve also got some exciting developments coming soon in March…

Chat with RMLS™

We will be adding a new way to contact RMLS™—chat! Access RMLS™ staff online by clicking the chat button at the top of the right sidebar. A chat window will open, and staff will assist you shortly.

Representatives from Help Desk, Training, Accounting, and Front Desk/Membership will be available during normal RMLS™ business hours. During the times when no staff is available, the pop-up window will allow you to send an email, and a representative will be in touch as soon as possible.

RMLS.com Facelift

Our client-facing website, RMLS.com, will have a new look starting March 5th! We think you’ll like what you see. Besides the new look, consumers will now be able to search listings by either an address or MLS number.

As Gail Hare, Executive Vice President, posted last week, the RMLS™ Board of Directors recently made tablet and browser compatibility for RMLSweb the number one priority for our technical team this year. Look to the RMLS Blog and RMLSweb desktop for updates as that major project progresses.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, email Help Desk at helpdesk@rmls.com or call us at (503) 872-8002, or outside the Portland area at (877) 256-2169.

Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming real estate events and education for March in Oregon and Southwest Washington. If you have an event that’s not listed here, let us know in the comments!

March 7: Top Producers Discussion (1 CE)
The Oregon chapter of the Council of Residential Specialists presents a panel discussion with top producers from Eugene, Bend, and Salem. Galand Haas, Shelly Hummel, and Amy McLeod will discuss their techniques for success, and answer questions. Contact Jane Robertson at (503) 228-9560 or oregoncrs@oregoncrs.org for more information or to register.
Location: George Fox University, Tigard OR — $10 for non-members

March 7: Owner and Manager Forum (1.5 CE)
Portland Metropolitan Association of REALTORS® presents “Something New, Something Old, Something SOLD: Updates, Trends, and Red Flags in 2013.” Company owners and managers are welcome to attend this event with Phil Querin, Evan Swanson, and Alan Brickley, legal professionals in real estate.
Location: Multnomah Athletic Club, Portland OR — $15

March 14: HOA and Condos (2 CE)
Ryan D. Harris of Vial Fotheringham LLP leads a class featuring the legal concerns of home owner associations and planned communities. Contact Andrea Milbrett at (541) 902-2560 or cocbrmls@oregonfast.net for more information or to register.
Location: Florence Event Center, Florence OR — $20

FREE RMLSweb Training

If you are an RMLS™ subscriber, we have many free educational opportunities at a location near you. View the current calendar for your area by clicking the link.

-Brookings
-Coos County
-Eastern Oregon
-Eugene
-Florence
-Gresham
-Hood River
-Portland
-Roseburg
-Salem
-Vancouver

Don’t forget to check out our webinars for training outside these areas, and the Open House hours at the Portland office each Friday (10am-noon) when subscribers may consult with our training staff for individualized attention.

You can also find ongoing education and training classes through a number of different associations in the Portland metro area and beyond. To search for classes in March, classes check out the current event listings at the following associations:

Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors® (PMAR)
East Metro Association of Realtors® (EMAR)
Clark County Association of Realtors®(CCAR)

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of February 11-17, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. The numbers in Oregon decreased slightly this week, while Washington saw a modest increase in showings.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of February 4-10, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. This week, the numbers in both Oregon and Washington increased.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of January 28-February 3, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. The numbers in Oregon and Washington declined slightly this week.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of January 21-27, 2013, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. The numbers in Oregon and Washington rose slightly this week.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.