Congratulations to the Winners!

Thanks to those who participated in the 2011 RMLS™ Subscriber Satisfaction Survey!

This year’s Subscriber Satisfaction Survey was a great success. Thank you to everyone who took the time to participate! We had a total of 2,199  subscribers answer the survey, which is about 20.7% of all RMLS™ subscribers.

As incentive to participate, we gave away a free quarter of RMLS™ dues to TWO randomly selected subscribers who took the survey. Our lucky winners were Whitney Thill and John Goldhammer! We also gave away a Starbucks giftcard to the 2,011th survey respondent. The Starbucks card winner was Amy Asivido. Congratulations to our winners!

Our Next Steps:

Every comment will be read over by a small team of RMLS™ staff and sorted into categories. Then, comments that need a response will be answered via email or phone by the appropriate RMLS™ staff member. The survey responses will be graphed and shown to the RMLS™ Board of Directors, and the feedback will be used to help decide on projects for the upcoming year.

Thanks again! Your feedback is valued!



New Photo Manager Available on RMLSweb

You can now upload multiple photos at one time and add captions to photos! 

The new, transformed Photo Manager is now available in Listing Load on RMLSweb! Feedback from subscribers in the 2010 Subscriber Satisfaction Survey, as well as other channels, showed a need for RMLS™ to update our photo loading functions. Due to this interest, we have released a new Photo Manager, which enables users to upload multiple photos at one time, add captions to photos, and provides users with added functionality to make uploading and maintaining photos much more efficient.

Here are some exciting things you can do with the new Photo Manager:

Upload multiple photos at one time. When locating photos to upload, you can now select multiple photos and upload them all together. The new photo upload feature also displays thumbnail previews of the photos, as well as status and progress information, so you can track the uploading process. Note: To use this feature, you will need to install the free Microsoft Silverlight plugin on your computer, which can be downloaded here. For users who don’t want to download Silverlight, the previous functionality of uploading photos individually will still be available via a link on the Silverlight installation prompt screen.

Add captions to your photos. You can now add captions and sub-captions to your photos from a list of provided captions. If you don’t see a caption that fits your desired description, please email the desired caption to rules@rmls.com. The captions will only appear within RMLSweb and not in data feeds at this time. Note: you cannot assign a caption to the first photo.

Drag and drop your photos to reorder. The new Photo Manager allows you to drag and drop your photos to reorder them, making it easier than ever to manage all of your photos! To rearrange, simply click on the photo you would like to reorder, and drag that photo to the location you would like it to appear. Once the photos are in the desired order, you must click “Save the Order” before continuing for the changes to be saved. 

Auto resizing. No more stretched photos! One of the reasons the new Photo Manager will be more efficient than ever is that it now resizes photos for you! Silverlight allows you to select any sized photo and will resize it prior to upload. It will resize the photo to the size of 640 x 480. This makes uploading faster! For best results, we recommend using landscape photos. However, the Photo Manager now recognizes the orientation of the photo (whether landscape or portrait) and will now add padding (white space) to portrait photos to make them into a landscape-oriented photo. Therefore, portrait photos are now accepted and will be resized (with padding/white space) to prevent distortion and stretching.

Other highlights:

  • Bulk deletion – delete multiple photos at one time!
  • List & Preview/Grid View – two viewing options via a dropdown menu!
  • New arrow buttons – allows scrolling through photos using a “previous” and “next” method!
  • Pop-up Viewer – view and print larger photos!

For more details and information on the Photo Manager, take a look at Document #1726: How to Upload Photos Using Photo Manager. Or, watch our video tutorial: Adding Photos To Your Listing.

If you have any questions or need help with the Photo Manager, feel free to call Help Desk at 503-872-8002 or toll-free at 877-256-2169.



Adventures in Social Media

Stay current with the RMLS™ Twitter and Facebook accounts!

Sometime during the last decade, the term “social media” grew more fiercely than wildfire. Social networking sites such as Facebook, Foursquare and LinkedIn were created. To go even farther, we began to see social media in the form of blogging (WordPress, Blogspot), micro-blogging (Twitter), online reviewing (Yelp), photo-sharing (Flickr) and smart purchasing (Groupon).

It’s difficult trying to keep up with the constant flow of new social media applications, trends and products that come on the market each day. Due to the fact that social media has started to play a more key role in the real estate industy, RMLS™ is making an effort at “keeping up with the Joneses.”

Here’s how you can benefit from our efforts:

Did you know you can check up on our Twitter feed, Facebook page and RMLS™ Updates blog, without creating an account of your own? Say there is an RMLSweb outage (which is not something we like to think about, but it has happened before) and you want up-to-date information, here is what you can do: 

Twitter: Go to http://twitter.com/RMLSweb

This will take you to the RMLS™ Twitter account, where you can see all of our recent “tweets” and our Twitter profile (even if you don’t have a Twitter account of your own!). From here, you can choose to “follow” us if you have an account! We recommend you do so in order to stay current with our updates.

Facebook: Go to http://www.facebook.com/RMLSweb
Here, you will be directed to our Facebook page! A goal of ours for 2011 is to increase our fan base on our Facebook page. Since we’re on the hunt for new fans, make sure to “like” our page!

Blog: For those of you who may have stumbled upon a link to this blog, at any time you can access it by going to: http://rmlsweb.wordpress.com/ 

We plan on doing some cool contests and giveaways in the future for those following us on Twitter and Facebook. Don’t miss out on the opportunity to win some free stuff!  Also, don’t forget to tune in for these weekly events:

  • Tuesday Training Tip – Each Tuesday we post an interesting RMLSweb training tip to our Facebook and Twitter accounts regarding certain aspects of the RMLSweb system.
  • Friday Fun Fact – Each Friday we post a humorous fact on Twitter and Facebook about a fact of the day and how it coincides with a statistic from RMLSweb! 

Finally, if you are looking to become a more efficient social media user, check out tools such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck that allow you to view and post to your Twitter, Facebook and Blog feeds – all at once!

Happy social media adventures!



Listing Load Now Available in Firefox!

You can now use your Firefox browser to access Listing Load

One of the most common requests we have received in the past is to update Listing Load so that it is compatible with the Firefox browser. As a result, in early February the RMLS™ Board of Directors voted to make Listing Load enhancements and Firefox compatibility a top priority for projects to complete in 2011. Well, we are happy to announce the ability to use Listing Load with your Firefox browser is now available!

To clarify, this announcement is in regard to the compatibility of Firefox with Listing Load. While there are some features of RMLSweb that still are not functional in the Firefox browser, this release is a major step toward full compatibility. (For a list of the functions that are still not fully compatible outside of Internet Explorer, please see Document 1765.) We have tested and approved Listing Load with Firefox Version 3.6.16 and Version 4, and we have also tested it in the Firefox browser on both Windows and the Mac operating system!

Here are some items to keep in mind when using Listing Load in Firefox:

  • The look and feel of Listing Load will be slightly different in a new browser, so you may notice small changes in alignment, shape of fields, etc. Below is an example of different field shapes in Listing Load when using Firefox on a Mac. The fields that are more rectangular are the required fields, while the rounded (bubbled) fields are optional.

  • Spell Check does not work when accessing Listing Load through Firefox. However, the Firefox browser is equipped with its own Spell Check that you may use.
  • To print In-Progress listings from Firefox on a Mac, we recommend using Adobe Acrobat Reader instead of Macintosh’s preview viewer. Adobe Acrobat Reader has more configuration options than the default viewer, allowing users to adjust margins and page size as needed to ensure correct layout and formatting of the printed In-Progress input forms.

If you have any questions or run into any problems or issues, please feel free to call Help Desk at 503-872-8002 or toll-free at 877-256-2169 and mention that you are using Firefox.



2 Month Special: RMLS™ Initiation Fee Reduced by 90%!

RMLS™ posted its first listings in 1991! To honor our anniversary, we will be holding a special promotion of a reduced Office Initiation Fee during the upcoming months of April and May, 2011. In fact, all office initiation fees (branch, etc.) will be reduced to $50. This is a great opportunity for offices to join RMLS™ and experience the benefits of sharing with more than 10,000 Realtors® accessing your client’s listings.

Main Office Initiation Fee: Regularly $500, now just $50!

Branch Office Initiation Fee: Regularly $100, now just $50!

Affiliate Office Initiation Fee: Regularly $400, now just $50!

For basic membership information, visit www.rmlsbenefits.com. Questions? Feel free to email our Accounting department at accounting@rmls.com, or call them at 503-872-8003, or stop in to the nearest RMLS™ office.

Available in April and May, 2011 ONLY!



Use Statistical Summaries to See Market Trends

Now including new Affordability documents!

Did you know our Statistical Summaries have been updated with data from 2010? We’ve also added new documents in the Portland, SW Washington, and Lane County folders to show our affordability graphs, which previously only appeared in our Market Action reports the first month of every quarter. Subscribers requested that we make the affordability graphs more accessible, which is why we created these new documents. Now, you no longer have to search through old Market Action reports to find the Affordability Index!

The new Affordability documents are for Lane County, the Portland Metro area, and SW Washington, and can be found in the three areas’ respective Statistical Summary folders. Unfortunately, we do not have Affordability information available for any other areas due to limited median income information from HUD.

To find the new Affordability documents or see the updated Statistical Summary documents on RMLSweb, here is where they are located:

1. Go to Forms and Documents (via Toolkit).
2. On the left side of the screen in Forms and Documents, you will see the Folder Menu with yellow folder files.
3. Go to the folder called 1500-1699 Market Action and Statistics Menu.
4. If there is a “+” sign next to the folder, click it to open the Market Action and Statistics Menu folder. If there is a “-” sign, it is already open.
5. The Statistical Summaries are grouped by area, and can be found in the folders between 1520 and 1699.
6. The new Portland Metro Affordability document can be found in folder number 1520-1539.
7. The new SW Washington Affordability document can be found in folder number 1549-1559.
8. The new Lane County Affordability document can be found in folder number 1560-1579.



The Results Are In!

Results of the 2010 Subscriber Satisfaction Survey are now available

In November 2010, we sent out the second RMLS™ satisfaction survey to subscribers. The goal was to gather feedback from our subscribers regarding their impressions of our services. This would ultimately let us know how to hone our strengths and also improve our weaknesses.

During the course of the survey, we received 2,479 responses, which represented about 22% of RMLS™ subscribers. In addition, we received thousands of comments.

Post Survey. After the survey ended, a group of RMLS™ employees teamed up to review the results. We read over each and every comment provided to us. We also categorized the responses and sent them to the appropriate RMLS™ departments for review.

To take our results even further, we also compiled a 2010 Subscriber Satisfaction Survey Report, which breaks down the responses for each question and provides a summary and notable comments from subscribers.

RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. One thing we noticed while reviewing the results of the survey was that many subscribers had questions or confusion surrounding our Rules and Regulations process. Therefore, last week we published a guest blog post written by Vallerie Bush, the RMLS™ Rules Compliance Administrator, to clear up some of these questions.

2011 Projects. The results of the survey also help us decide which projects should be considered as a priority for the upcoming year. Take a look at question 4 in the survey. Subscribers were asked to rank their interest in some of the projects to be considered for 2011. Results of this question were included for decision making input for the RMLS™ Board of Directors at their annual Leadership Retreat in early February. As you can see from the results in the report, the Photo Loading project received the highest score from subscribers. This project is now in the works and will be available for subscribers sometime later this quarter or early next quarter.

We want to thank those subscribers who took the time to answer our survey. We value each and every response. If you have any questions, feel free to email communications@rmls.com.



Bar or Line Graph? You Choose!

Listing View Counts has a new graph feature

We’ve had a lot of positive feedback regarding our new Listing View Counts feature on RMLSweb. As you know, Listing View Counts allows listing agents to see how often the public and other subscribers are viewing their listings. To make Listing View Counts even better, we’ve added a new graph feature that allows you to see a graph of listing views for the last 30 days!

You have the choice between inserting a bar graph, a line graph, or no graph at all into your report. We have also combined the RMLSweb Mobile Detail counts with the RMLSweb Detail counts.

Here is an example of the bar graph:

(Click on the graphs to view larger images)

 

Here is an example of the line graph:

 

If you’d like more information on Listing View Counts or the new graph feature, view the How to Use Listing View Counts document or the Accessing Listing View Counts online tutorial.

For additional information, please contact RMLS™ Training at 503-236-7657 or for immediate assistance you can contact the RMLS™ Help Desk at 503-872-8002 (toll free 877-256-2169 or via e-mail at helpdesk@rmls.com).



Advertising on RMLS.com

RMLS.com will soon display ads

Soon, visitors to the public site RMLS.com will see advertising. We are working with a company that will help us create non-dues revenue by incorporating ads into our public website. Note: This does not affect RMLSweb!

The ads that appear on RMLS.com will not be ads of competing real estate companies. Rather, they will be businesses that are complimentary to real estate and not direct competition. For example, ads are provided by businesses such as Home Depot, Ikea, Crate and Barrel and Dell. Check out the images below to see examples:

An ad displayed at the top of the search page:


An ad displayed at the bottom of the search page:



How to Create a Combined Report

Printing multiple reports is more convenient than ever!

We’ve received input from subscribers about their desire to print multiple reports, such as History and Tax full, along with Agent and Client Full reports. It’s now possible! The Combined Reports feature that is now available on RMLSweb allows agents to print multiple reports for a maximum of 25 listings at one time. Agents can gather information related to a particular property or set of properties with fewer clicks of the mouse!

To create a Combined Report, select up to 25 listings on the Search Results screen and then choose “Combined Reports” from the “Select Report” drop down list. Due to the size of the report, Combined Reports are limited to 25 listings. You can drag and drop reports to arrange in the sequence you choose and also print or PDF a Combined Report.

A new report called Client Map is also available in Combined Reports. This report shows information similar to the Buyer Tour Map report and also has a large map image. Client Map is available on its own or can be included in Combined Reports.

If you’d like help getting to know Combined Reports, view this tutorial for more information:
Creating a Combined Report

For additional information or to attend a class on the RMLSweb system, please contact RMLS™ Training at 503-236-7657 or access the RMLS™ Training calendar under the Toolkit option. For immediate assistance you can contact the RMLS™ Help Desk at 503-872-8002 (toll free 877-256-2169 or via e-mail at helpdesk@rmls.com).