Congratulations to Tim Sellers (Barb Sellers and Associates Realty—Fairview, Oregon), Tami Morin (Century21-The Neil Company Real Estate—Roseburg, Oregon), and Adam Sarancik (Meadows Group, Inc.—Tigard, Oregon) for winning a free quarter of RMLS™ subscriber dues! We offered a free quarter of RMLS™ subscriber dues to the 2000th respondent of our annual Subscriber Satisfaction Survey, and to two randomly selected participants.

We collected 2,101 responses this year, representing 20.3% of our membership.

Thanks to everybody who completed the survey! Results are shown to the RMLS™ Board of Directors and used to improve the products and services we provide to subscribers. Comments that need a response will be answered via phone or email. We will also be sharing some responses in the RMLS™ Weekly Report and on the blog in coming weeks—stay tuned!

We want to let you know about some changes we’ve made to make being a new RMLS™ subscriber even easier!

First, instead of receiving all of the paper on the right side of this photo, you’ll receve the brochure on the left–the Quick Start Guide to RMLS™. That’s right, we wanted to cut down not only on the amount of paper we used to deliver information but in today’s economy we wanted cut down on the cost as well!

The Quick Start Guide includes:

• Essential contact information
• Information about RMLS™ services
• Rules and Regulations tips
• Your public ID and member number

In addition, we’ve gone digital! Now all the information you need as a new subscriber can found in one place on our subscriber website–RMLSweb.com. On the left-hand side of the screen under “Links” you’ll see “Welcome New Subscribers!”.

That link will take you to a PDF with all the information you need to navigate the world of RMLS™. Plus the file has embedded links that will take you to current documents inside RMLSweb. This information will always be up-to-date for you.

At RMLS™ we are very excited by this change. We feel it offers the following benefits:

• More environmentally friendly
• Cost savings
• Information online will always be up-to-date and not need to be reprinted to update
• Subscribers have access to this information anytime they are on RMLSweb

Yes, it’s that time again. . . billing for quarterly fees will be sent out on July 1. Here are some insider tips to help you keep your account current.

#1 Credit Card Auto-pay
Make paying your quarterly subscriber fees easy by using our debit/credit card auto-pay service. Your fees will be paid on time, every time, automatically. You can specify if you want the funds transferred on the 1^st, 15^th, or 25^th of the month they are due. Use this form  to start auto-pay.

#2 eBilling
Email notification will be sent within two business days of your account being billed each quarter. The email will include the due date, total amount due and a link to log-on and pay your bill.  For more information read our eBilling Q & A document.

#3 Free Reminders
We know you’re busy and have a lot of information to track—let us help you. You can opt-in to our free reminder service. We will send you a reminder email two weeks before your quarterly fees are due and call you if your account becomes past due. Call our Accounting Department at 503-872-8003 to sign-up for this free service.

#4 Keep Your Contact Information Current
It’s important that RMLS™ be able to contact you if an issue arises around your billing activity. If your email, phone number or address changes please go to RMLSweb–>Toolkit–>User Preferences–>Edit RMLS Subscriber Account contact e-mail to update your contact information.

Reminder—Not paying your bill doesn’t cancel your account. If you need to cancel because you’re leaving your current office or turning in your license please fill out the Subscriber Change Form. If your license is still active but you qualify for a waiver (see our Rules and Regulations) please complete the Waiver Form. Both documents may be sent to the Accounting Department.

For more information or if you have any questions please email accounting@rmls.com.

Photo Credit

With the release of this year’s forms change just days away, we thought we’d take this opportunity to remind our subscribers about a couple of the RMLS™ supplement forms that are available and call out some of the upcoming changes.

Condo Supplement

The Condo Supplement gives listing agents the space to describe the condo building beyond just the unit for sale. There are fields for condo conversion yes/no, and the number of condo units in the complex.

Want to provide information about the condo association? The Condo Supplement makes this possible. There are fields for association name, contact information and web address.

There is also a field for pending HOA litigation yes/no. Keep in mind that the condo association information and pending litigation fields are kept private and can only be viewed by subscribers, meaning that they are not included in client reports.

New Fields Coming Next Week

• Storage Unit Number/ID
• Parking Space Number/ID

These fields will give the listing agent an opportunity to highlight the parking and storage spaces that go with the property. View the new Condo Supplement.

 Amenities Supplement

• Is your client an avid public bus commuter?
• Does your client have a child who rides a school bus?
• Is your client a pet owner who wants to live close to a park?

The Amenities Supplement allows listing agents to describe the distance from the property to different public features, such as parks, bus stops and shopping areas.

It also provides a field for easement information and a Walk Score! Many consumers are familiar with the Walk Score website, which rates neighborhoods for distance to walkable amenities, like shops, restaurants, transportation, etc. Visit walkscore.com for more information. The Walk Score field in the Amenities Supplement allows for the actual number of the Walk Score to be entered.

New Fields Coming Next Week For Residential Listings

• Property Type=FLTHOME – you can now indicate if the sale of a float home includes a slip and if so, the type of ownership.
• Property Type=PARTOWN – this allows you to show the percent of ownership included in the sale of the property
• Home Energy Performance Rating – you can specify the type of rating, score, and date of certification. The types of rating include EPS (Energy Performance Score), HERS (Home Energy Rating System), HES (Home Energy Scoring) and REM/Rate.

View the new Amenities Supplement.

Remember, supplement forms provide a Public Remarks field for you to provide even more information about a listing. Questions? Contact the RMLS™ Help Desk at 503-872-8002 or toll-free at 877-256-2169.

Photo Credits: Condo and Peninsula Park

The boxes are unpacked, the pictures are on the wall, we are settling in. . .now all we need is YOU to come visit our new Portland location!

RMLS™ is having an open house on Tuesday, May 1 from 10 AM to 3 PM. Stop by and grab a pastry or cookie, have a cup of coffee and say hello to our staff.

We would love to meet you, so please come visit us!

Directions to our new location.

The Portland office closes at noon this Friday, March 23.

The Portland office move is just days away. Our office will close on Friday, March 23 at 12 noon. We will re-open at our new location, 8338 NE Alderwood Road, Suite 230, Portland OR 97220, at 9:00 a.m. Monday, March 26.

Additional office locations:
Vancouver Office
1514 Broadway Street, Suite 101
Vancouver, WA 98663
Phone: 360-696-0718

Salem Office
2110 Mission Street, SE Suite 305
Salem, OR 97302
Phone: 503-587-8810

Driving Directions to our new location:

From the North
Follow I-205 South
Take Exit 24 for Airport Way toward Portland Airport
Turn right onto Airport Way
Turn left onto NE 82nd Way
Take first left onto NE Alderwood Rd.
At the first stop light, turn right into the parking lot.

From the South
Follow I-205 North
Take Exit 24A toward Portland Airport
Merge onto NE Airport Way
Turn Left onto NE 82nd Way
Take first left onto NE Alderwood Rd.
At the first stop light, turn right into the parking lot.

From the West
Follow Highway 26 (Sunset Highway) East towards Portland
Merge onto I-405 South, and then merge onto I-5 North
Take exit 300 and merge onto I-84E toward Portland Airport/The Dalles
Merge onto I-205 North toward Seattle/Portland Airport
Take Exit 24A toward Portland Airport
Merge onto NE Airport Way
Turn Left onto NE 82nd Way
Take first left onto NE Alderwood Rd.
At the first stop light, turn right into the parking lot.

From the East
Follow NE 181st Ave onto Airport Way
Turn left onto NE 82nd Way
Turn left onto NE Alderwood Rd.
At first stop light turn right into parking lot.

All RMLS™ offices will be closed Dec. 26 and Jan. 2