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

December 5-6: Earth Advantage Broker Certification Course
Earth Advantage Institute offers this one-time certification course, designed to provide a comprehensive overview of green building techniques, third-party certification programs, techniques for communicating features of a green home, and effectively marketing and selling green homes.
9:00am-4:00pm, 13 CE for Oregon and Washington
Location: Portland – $365.

December 7: Cloud CMA Demonstration
RMLSweb is now integrated with Cloud CMA, a program that leverages multiple data sources and internet information to create custom MLS reports for clients from your computer, iPad, or smartphone. This class will cover ways to help get more business, working with buyers, and more.
10:00am-11:00am
Location: RMLS™ Portland office – Free

December 12-13: Earth Advantage Broker Certification Course
Earth Advantage Institute offers this one-time certification course, designed to provide a comprehensive overview of green building techniques, third-party certification programs, techniques for communicating features of a green home, and effectively marketing and selling green homes.
8:00am-4:00pm, 13 CE for Oregon and Washington
Location: Salem- $365.

December 19: Green Home Trends and Appraisal Methodologies
Taught by Fiona Douglas-Hamilton and William Norman, this class will explore appraisal aspects of green building, a growing trend in new construction.
8:30am-4:30pm, 7 CE hours for Oregon
Location: EWEB Headquarters in Eugene – $70.

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
-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 Help Desk 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 December, 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 November 12-18, 2012, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Compared to last week, the numbers decreased in both Oregon and Washington.

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

Starting December 6th, listing agents will be required to upload at least one photo in Listing Load before a new listing can be published on RMLSweb.

Agents working with sellers who wish to omit photographs from their listings will need to indicate that preference on Listing Load. In an in-progress listing, click “Edit” in the Photo field. The Photo Manager will open, then click on “Seller Requires Photo Omission.”

Agents who publish a listing using the “Seller Requires Photo Omission” option will be required to then provide a Photograph Omission Form or equivalent to RMLS™ within 72 hours after the listing is published. If the RMLS™ Rules Department does not receive the form, they will follow up with the listing agent via email. Listings where the seller has omitted a photo will show a “Photo Omitted by Seller” image.

If a listing is published with a photo omission but the seller changes their mind, an agent can still upload photo(s). Navigate to Photo Manager, then click “Cancel Photo Omitted by Seller and Replace Image with First Photo,” as shown below.

As part of this change, RMLS™ will also be phasing out its service of uploading photos emailed to photos@rmls.com.

Photography is crucial in selling properties, and RMLS™ recognizes the need for this data in the publishing process. RMLSweb listings appear on many other websites (including RMLS.com, REALTOR.com, and IDX sites). This change ensures both the photo(s) and data will be available for websites when new listings are published.

View the amended sections of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations for more information. If you have any questions regarding these changes, contact Help Desk at helpdesk@rmls.com or by phone at (503) 872-8002, or toll free at (877) 256-2169.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of November 5-11, 2012, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Compared to last week, the numbers increased in Washington and decreased in Oregon.

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

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of October 29-November 4, 2012, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Compared to last week, the numbers decreased in Washington, but increased modestly in Oregon.

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

This week, RMLS™ continues featuring feedback gleaned from our Subscriber Satisfaction Survey. (If you’ve not read the first post on the subject, check out How Are We Doing? Subscriber Satisfaction Survey Results.)

Staff members find survey feedback invaluable. At a meeting earlier this week, one of our VPs noted how this survey directly impacts which projects get prioritized as RMLS™ plans for the coming year. We like to share results with subscribers as well, so here are some questions pertaining to how our subscribers access RMLS™ services.

Where do you normally get RMLS™ information?

Almost all (91.6%) of RMLS™ users obtain information through the RMLSweb desktop page. Besides the desktop page, the next largest source of information was the RMLS™ Weekly Report, which is sent via email each Monday. However, only about half of survey respondents (48.1%) claimed to get information this way. The RMLS Help Desk rounds out the top three at 24.9%.

While RMLS™ maintains a presence on Facebook and Twitter, a very small number of people get RMLS™ information that way—likely because that presence is fairly minimal. In the next year, RMLS™ plans to examine that presence in order to improve

Subscriber comments included:
• “I know I can always call and count in you for help!”
• “I think agents…do what is easy—we don’t spend time educating ourselves on new stuff until we have to…but RMLS™ is really trying and that makes me want to try too!”
• “I would like to attend a RMLS training class.” [Ed. note: Check out the RMLS™ Training Calendars, or email training@rmls.com to arrange for our trainers to come to you!]
• “When I am in RMLS, I am in there to work and don’t have a lot of time to read updates.”
• “All agents regardless of title need to read the information that you provide to us.”

Which RMLS™ office are you most likely to contact for assistance?

Our corporate office in Portland is used by 68.3% of our survey respondents, with the Vancouver, WA, office coming in next at 11.8%. Eugene rounded out the top three at 7.3%. The data suggests our Brookings and Florence offices offer the most personalized experience, as they both serve about 1% of our respondents.

How satisfied are you with the service at your primary RMLS office in the past year?

Exactly a 4.0, RMLS™ our subscribers are precisely halfway between “satisfied” and “delighted.”

Subscriber comments:
• “The staff is well versed in all areas, and answers your emails and returns calls promptly.”
• “Need a west side office. It is unreasonable for us Hillsboro people to be required to go to the airport. How would the east side people feel if you moved to Hillsboro?”
• “I can get everything I need from the Roseburg office.”
• “It would be beneifical to have a Mac on hand for your techs.”
• “Great staff, I love coming into your office.”

Next time, we’ll talk about how subscribers use RMLS™ training services.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of October 22-28, 2012, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Washington and Oregon. Compared to last week, the numbers increased modestly in Washington, but declined in Oregon.

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

RMLS™ subscribers were recently invited to reflect on our services through this year’s Subscriber Satisfaction Survey. Staff members have been reading through every comment submitted since the survey closed. We’d like to share the results with subscribers as well, so over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting some questions from the survey.

Asking a diverse set of REALTORS® who use our site regularly was bound to yield a flood of feedback. While there were generally favorable comments on some topics and some negative feedback about others, it was also interesting to see directly opposing comments on the same specific topic!

Overall, how easy do you find RMLSweb to use?

RMLSweb scored a cumulative 3.8 on this one, almost square in the middle of “Pretty Easy” and “Very Easy.”

Subscriber comments included:
• “Some of the recent changes have made it more user-friendly, so it’s not as cumbersome as before.”
• “I am not techy, and RMLSweb is one of the easist websites that I have used. If I have questions, tech support is there for me. If I want help, there are classes. If I want personal help, there is the Friday morning one-on-one opportunity.”
• “Abbreviations are very difficult, perhaps a pop-up definition per term?” 
• “It is amazing how much RMLS™ has improved in the past 32 years!” [Ed. Note: RMLS™ began offering service in 1991, 21 years ago.]

How did the following RMLS™ projects (released since our last survey) affect your business?

Enabling photo upload for in-progress listings was the winner, but not by much. Adding a “Short Sale Pending” status to RMLSweb listings was nearly as helpful to respondents. Rounding out the top three, the implementation of Bing Maps on the site was favorably received by most subscribers.

Subscriber comments included:
• “I think any time you can have tools to be able to show your clients to help them understand the market is a huge tool in our business.”
• “Photos for in-progress listings was the best of all!”
• “Bing Maps are a big improvement.”
• “Bing Maps are worse than previous, generally.”
• “Listing Load could be a lot simpler.”
• “The share button, and listing load with click stats are the best changes I’ve seen in a while. Keep up the great work.”

Next time, we’ll reveal how subscribers generally interface with RMLS™.

The Pacific Northwest gets a lot of rain, and stormwater runoff can be challenging to manage. Many cities in the region are starting to build green street facilities in residential areas to reduce the risk of flooding and provide other benefits.

The City of Portland recently released a guide for REALTORS® and homeowners called “Buying or Selling a House with a Green Street Facility.” The guide outlines basic information about these facilities, including how to report a need for maintenance.

Additionally, the caretakers of these facilities remind REALTORS® and homeowners of the following:

• Place “for sale” signs in yards rather than green street facilties or between curbs and sidewalks.
• Inform clients that green streets are publicly owned stormwater management facilities.
• If a green street facility near a property on the market needs maintenance, contact the City of Portland.

Facilities like these exist outside of Portland as well—REALTORS® in other areas may equally benefit from reviewing these materials.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of October 15-21, 2012, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened Supra lockboxes in Washington and Oregon. Compared to last week, the numbers declined in Washington, while Oregon saw a marginal increase.

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