Old CMA Report Feature to be Discontinued December 31, 2010

Learn and experience our new, improved CMA

Since the release of the new CMA, the number of old CMA users has been steadily declining. Because of this, we will be discontinuing the old CMA report feature so that we can now focus on pursuing future projects and improvements. You may have noticed that we have recently extended the deadline for the discontinuation of the old CMA from October 4th to December 31st. As of December 31st, you will no longer have access to the old CMA.

We have also heard concerns from users regarding font size being too small on the new CMA. We appreciate your feedback and are currently working to improve this aspect of the new CMA.

In case you didn’t know that we recently released a new CMA, here is some information about our new, transformed CMA report feature. View our tutorials below:

Or, print out our Creating a New CMA in RMLSweb quick reference guide.

In addition, RMLS™ is offering a new training course called CMA & Statistics. To view the training calendar, go to Toolkit on the toolbar at the top of the screen and scroll down to Training Calendar. Or, you can contact the RMLS™ Training department at 503-236-7657 or call help desk toll-free at 1-877-256-2169 or via email at helpdesk@rmls.com



Supra Releases eKEY Software and Adapter for iPhone

By Shannon Henry, Customer Service Manager for RMLS™

One of the most common Supra-related questions we’ve received here at RMLS™ over the past few years has been, “When will I be able to use an iPhone as my lockbox key?” Well, we’re pleased to announce that as of today eKEY Basic service is available on the iPhone.

The eKEY software has been designed to update wirelessly, and allows you to not only use your phone as a key to open iBoxes, but also to manage your lockbox inventory right from your iPhone. Supra anticipates that the eKEY professional version, which will include the ability to view showing information and save listing data in the software, will also be available later this year.

A Supra iPhone adapter must also be purchased to add an IR (infrared) port to the iPhone, allowing it to communicate with iBoxes. The iPhone adapter is quite small, and connects via the docking port at the bottom of your phone when you want to open a lockbox. It runs off of your phone’s power, meaning nothing extra to keep charged, and comes with a cover that allows it to hang from a keychain when not in use.

Additional Devices

We ran a quick test in the office today and determined that both the eKEY software and adapter will work on an iPad, as well. However, we don’t recommend trying to use an iPod Touch – although the software will install and the adapter will work, without a data plan you would need to be certain that you’ll have a wireless connection available everywhere you may show a property, or commit to manually updating your key every day.

Check it out

Here are a couple of resources for further reading: eKEY for iPhone Product Page, Quick Start Guide, and User Manual. The eKEY software is available for free download through Apple’s App Store here, and comes complete with a demo mode so that you can try out the software without signing up for the eKEY service.

Ready to make the switch? The iPhone adapters sell for $55 at your local RMLS™ office, where we can also get you set up with an eKEY Basic account.

Other Supra Happenings

In other news, Supra has also recently made some improvements to SupraWEB, their key and lockbox management site. Along with a couple of security upgrades, they have also fixed an issue that caused boxes to sometimes disappear from an agent’s inventory when new boxes were added. And for those of you with Android-based phones who are interested in moving to the eKEY solution, they are currently planning to release eKEY for Android software in late September. We’ll keep you updated as we hear more, and you can also sign up for updates about Android directly from Supra here.



Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of August 2 – 8

Activity declines in early August

When comparing the week of August 2 – August 8 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox decreased 6% in Washington and 1.9% in Oregon.

Archive

View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.



Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of June 26 – August 1

Activity rises from previous week

When comparing the week of July 26 – August 1 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox increased 13.8% in Washington and 3.1% in Oregon.

Archive

View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.



Scam Alert

Attention all Realtors®

Numerous Realtors® have reported receiving emails and phone calls from a person out-of country who claims to need assistance with an all-cash real estate purchase. The caller may also insist on the need to retain a lawyer with a trust account, and requests a referral. The Realtor® or referred lawyer soon receives a substantial check (reports are from $150,000 to $500,000) to be deposited into broker trust account or lawyer trust account. Soon thereafter another call is received from a person purporting to be the attorney for the scammer in his home country. The foreign attorney says that the funds were sent out of country without appropriate government authority and must be immediately returned in order to avoid sanctions and penalties. Holder of the funds is pressed to wire the money without delay. Needless to say, the purchaser and the check are a fraud.

If you receive questionable requests for service or referrals, be cautious and inquire further.



August Real Estate Events & Education

This August, take advantage of FREE RMLSweb training

Here’s a quick rundown of upcoming real estate events & education for August in Oregon & Southern Washington. If you have an event that is not listed here, please let us know by commenting below. For future events, please send an e-mail to communications (at) rmls (dot) com.

Events around the Region:

–August 3-8: Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland hosts Green Week @ The Street.

-August 5: W & R Studios presents Cloud CMA Workshops at the RMLS™ Portland office. Register for the morning or afternoon class.

-August 12: Eugene Association of Realtors® offers the “Know Your Sidings!” course.

-August 19: Vancouver Fine Homes Group presents the Vancouver Fine Homes Group August Tour.

-August 20: Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors® is holding auditions for its talent show, PMAR’s Got Talent. Live auditions are at the Portland RMLS™ office on August 20.

-August 27: This month’s Portland Real Estate Industry Social will be held at Atwater Penthouse on Friday, August 27.

In addition to these events, RMLS™ is offering a new training course called CMA & Statistics. Here is a brief description about the class:

Want to be the expert in your market area? Want to better explain pricing to your clients? In this class we’ll show you how to get the statistical and comparable data you need to do just that. We’ll use the RMLSweb Statistical module to examine MLS Areas for trends and the CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) module to search for comps to create a customized report that stands apart from the rest.

Also, if you’re an RMLS™ subscriber, we have lots of FREE opportunities for continuing education credit at a location near you; click the link for your area to view the August Training Calendar:

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



Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of July 19 – 25

Activity dips for both Washington and Oregon

When comparing the week of July 19 – July 25 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox decreased 10.5% in Washington and 5.2% in Oregon.


Archive

View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.



PMAR’s Got Talent – Talent Show October 4th

Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors® is hosting auditions for the First Annual PMAR’s Got Talent

Wow your collegues and members of the real estate industry with your hidden (or not-so-hidden) talent at PMAR’s Got Talent, all while supporting the Realtor® PAC – the only political action committee that supports your business.

The event itself will be held on Monday, October 4th from 6 pm to 9 pm at The Tiffany Center.

Audition forms and an electronic version of your act are due by Thursday, August 19th. If you are unable to submit your performance in an electronic version, live auditions will be held on Friday, August 20th in the RMLS™ Conference Room.

For more information, take a look at this flyer or visit pmar.org/GotTalent.



Supra Lockbox Activity – Updated Through Week of July 12-18

Both states see activity gains from previous week

When comparing the week of July 12 – July 18 with the week prior, the number of times an RMLS™ subscriber opened a Supra lockbox increased 7.1% in Washington and 12.2% in Oregon.


Archive

View an archive of the Supra lockbox statistical reports on Flickr.



How Well are Short Sales and Bank Owned Properties Selling?

Terms like “short sales” and “bank-owned” are on many people’s tongues and minds in the real estate industry. The recent addition of the Short Sale and Bank Owned fields on RMLSweb now allow us to look at data for these listings individually.

Before there was a short sale field on RMLSweb, there was only a “3rd Party to Transaction” field. As you may know, “3rd Party to Transaction” listings are not always short sales. They may also be estate sales or relocations. In order for you to identify short sales more efficiently, the RMLS™ Board voted to add these new fields, a change that occurred July 29, 2009. This also helps the other types of properties that require 3rd Party approval to get fair attention. RMLS™ has added the following fields regarding short sales:

Short Sale Yes/No – will be required when entering a listing and 3rd Party to Transaction will be automatically checked when Yes is selected.

Short Sale Offer (Seller Accepted; Submitted for Approval) Yes/No– The rules will be revised to require updating this field when an offer is made.

In a blog post last year, we compared 3rd Party to Transaction sales to the total active listings on the market. Now, with the recent addition of these new fields, we can look at short sale data and bank owned data more specifically and also compare them to the market as a whole. The graph below shows you the total number of active listings in RMLSweb as of today July 23, 2010, compared to the number of active listings that are checked Short Sale Yes, and also compared to those that are marked Bank Owned. The number of active short sales in comparison to the total number of active listings is approximately 11.7%, while the number of active bank owned properties in comparison to the total number of active listings is about 5.4%.

As you can see from the above graph, the number of active short sales and bank owned properties is a small fraction of the number of total active listings. There were 31,762 total active listings, 3,731 total active short sales and 1,715 total active bank owned listings.

Now that we’ve looked at active listings, let’s compare total pending sales in the market with pending short sales and pending bank owned properties. The graph below depicts this comparison using data from RMLSweb on July 23rd, 2010:

There were 5,094 total pending listings, 877 pending short sales and 913 pending bank owned properties.

Last, let’s take a look at sold listings. The graph below shows that there were 17,751 total sold listings from the period of January 1, 2010 to June 30th, 2010. The number of sold short sales was 1,620, just 9.1% of total sold listings. Bank owned listings sold at a higher rate with 3,422 sales, which is approximately 19.3% of total sold listings.

Visit the National Association of Realtors® website for more information on short sales and bank owned properties.

Also, stay tuned for future blog posts that will compare prices and the number of days on market for short sales and bank owned properties, to the market as a whole.