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, 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.

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™.

RMLS™ will be rolling out several improvements to RMLSweb over the next week! Our developers have been working hard to improve the site for our subscribers—here are our latest tweaks.

Listing View Counts

As of next week, subscribers will be able to send their sellers a copy of their listing view count directly from RMLSweb. Currently, the system offers options to print the results or view them in PDF format. When clicking on “View Counts Report,” look for the new email option at the top right of the screen.

Another change: view counts for each listing will soon be available for the previous 60 days. The current view count range is 30 days.

Phone Number Modification

Starting later next week, RMLSweb will allow agents to set a primary phone number directly into RMLSweb, saving time and eliminating several steps for users. This phone number field will auto-populate into listings as the agent’s phone number.

To use this new feature, navigate to your user preferences (“Toolkit” in the menu bar, then “User Preferences” in the drop-down menu). A field now appears to enter the phone number that will appear in the agent roster online. Previously, users were required to navigate to our Internet Member Services (IMS) online payment system to change this information.

Green Certification and Home Energy Performance Rating Listings

As of this week, properties listed with a green certification or home energy performance rating will be required to upload a copy of the appropriate scoring documentation into Listing Load.

If green certification information is entered in the “Residence” tab or an energy score is entered into the “Amenities” supplement, the listing agent will be required to upload PDF documentation supporting the numbers, along with the date the property was evaluated.

If the property is listed without the required documentation, the listing agent will receive an email reminding them of the requirement. If the document(s) are still missing several days later, the agent will receive a second email and the RMLS™ Rules Department will follow up.

Green certification and home energy performance documentation will be retained with the listing indefinitely, unlike other PDFs which are deleted several months after the property is off the market.

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.

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!

Listing Load Enhancements are just a few days away. We think you’ll find these improvements very helpful. Still, we understand that changes to your work flow can sometimes be stressful or confusing at first.

As always, RMLS™ is here to help make your job easier by providing outstanding support and customer service. Here are some places to get help with the Listing Load enhancements this week:

• Visit our previous blog posts that outlines the changes to Listing Load and provides answers to frequently asked questions
• Watch the new online tutorial our training department has produced
• Updated guide to using Listing Load
• Schedule an in-office training and one of our trainers will come to you, email us at training@rmls.com
• Sign-up for a training class at one of our offices
• Call Help Desk at 503.872.8002 or helpdesk@rmls.com  if you have any questions

Image by Chris Baker

We’ve put together a list of the questions that our subscribers may have about the Listing Load enhancements that will be out in mid-September.  This article is updated as we receive additional questions and comments from our subscribers.

**New Question**

 Is there a character counter in this release? Will there be an increase to the character count in Public Remarks?

There is a character counter for the remarks sections included with the new release. A request for additional characters in Public Remarks will be submitted to our Forms Committee, brokers who gather each year to assess the data we collect on our listing forms. Don’t forget that there is additional room for remarks on the Supplement Forms, if any of those are appropriate for your listing.

**New Question**

Will Listing Load now work in the Chrome browser?

Listing load will still not work with Chrome at this time. We are maintaining the IE and Firefox whitelisting currently in place. Our goal is to include Chrome in that group, but testing with that browser is not complete.

How will the changes to Listing Load affect me?

Although some of the pages may look different, the basic work flow has not changed dramatically. The enhancements we’ve added should make your ultimate experience more streamlined and productive.

If I have problems using the new Listing Load, what can I do?

RMLS™ trainers and Help Desk are here to answer any questions you have. You can reach us by phone at 877-256-2169 or email helpdesk@rmls.com. In case you need to get started when our offices and Help Desk are closed, we have also prepared an on-line tutorial available 24/7.

Why are you changing Listing Load? I know how to use it and it works.

We compiled many subscriber comments and requests about listing load over the last few years, and the upcoming changes reflect those requests. The result is a new detail view of the listing load search results with quick access to listing reports (agent full, tax full, history, photos and map) directly from the listing load screen. However, if you prefer, there is still a list view that looks very much like the old results screen. You can choose your experience.

What feature am I going to love the most?

We don’t really know, but it could be the Auto-save function, if you have ever lost work.

Where can I go to get information about the changes?

We’ve put together a summary about the changes that you can read here. You can also plan ahead and sign-up for a class in late September or find out how to set-up a training in your own office for Listing Load Enhancements by contacting training@rmls.com or 503-236-7657.

In mid-September RMLS™ will be rolling out a streamlined Listing Load workflow for our subscribers. Changes include many compiled suggestions of our subscribers. Here is an overview of some of the enhancements that will be included with this version of Listing Load.

Listing Load Screen

• To provide more viewing area the sidebar is no longer shown on listing load pages.
• The listing load Search Criteria can now be collapsed or un-collapsed by clicking on the section label.
• The “New Listing” and “Unlisted Sold” buttons have been moved from beside the search criteria to below.

Search Results

• Search results can now be displayed as a list view or detail view.
• A thumbnail image of the first listing photo and map point have been added to both views.
• The columns have been re-ordered in the list view.
• The detail view tab will show search results on left-hand side of the page, with listing specific information on the right which displays the summary, photo, map, agent full, tax full and history reports.

Add/Modify Listings

• When adding a new listing, the tax ID search is now built into the “New Listing” edit page.
• When adding or modifying a listing, the one long page has been broken up into section heading tabs, located on the left-side of the screen.
• You can now add and modify photos and captions from within the listing edit session.
• Date fields now display a calendar pop up to facilitate date selection. Dates can still be typed directly into the field.
• To make the links to the help text on the page more obvious, the help text is now highlighted as a hyperlink. The field labels are blue with dotted underlines, indicating they are help links, and the mouse pointer will change to show a small question mark on rollover.
• Listing edit screen now includes a Forms Alert tab to show the list of alerts related to listing completion rules such as missing required fields, date range violations or data type violations.
• When working on an in-progress listing auto-save runs every ten minutes. You can also save manually.
• At the top of the in-progress edit page now indicates a percent of all fields (excluding supplement fields) that have been filled on the main listing page.

Preregistration is required to participate in RMLS™ webinars. In your return confirmation e-mail you will be instructed on how to join the session you have registered for. We are very pleased to begin offering this convenient, quick and easy way to stay up to date on all that RMLSweb has to offer. Click to view all our scheduled webinars in September.

We sometimes get reports of homes being entered into RMLSweb as detached homes, when they are in fact, attached (or vice versa). We realize this can be confusing at times, so let’s briefly review the attached vs. detached question.

Both attached and detached are property types that are available for listings in the Residential Property Category of Listing Load.

Here’s how RMLS™ defines each one:

Attached (ATTACHD): An element of the residence’s construction (such as a wall, ceiling, or floor) is shared with another property. Condominiums excluded.

Detached (DETACHD): A stand-alone residence, excluding manufactured homes, for which the sale includes the land on which the residence is located.

Also, here the definitions for Condos and manufactured homes:

Condominiums (CONDO) have their own property category and are defined as: An attached or stand-alone residence for which the owner has title to the space inside the unit and shares common spaces with other unit owners in accordance with specified legal guidelines.

Manufactured homes (RES-MFG) are defined as: A manufactured home for which the sale includes the land on which the residence is located.

Another type of manufactured home sale is (In-Park) which does not include the land.

If you aren’t sure which residential property type to use just take a moment and refer to these definitions or call our Help Desk. We’re here to help you succeed.

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