RMLS™ is preparing to release phase 2 of its annual forms change on RMLSweb. In late January subscribers will notice revisions to the Oregon and Washington listing contracts.

Forms changes happen regularly on RMLSweb. Each change has been approved by the RMLS™ Forms Committee based on the feedback provided through hundreds of subscriber comments. Recommendations were then reviewed and approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors.

Implementation of these changes is quite a task, largely on the part of the RMLSweb development team. The first phase of this years annual forms change was released in an overnight outage that took place on the night of December 9th. Phase 1 of the forms change project included a new supplement (New Construction), a redesign of the input sheets and supplement forms, and other changes to enhance the information available about property listed in the MLS.

Here is an overview of the changes that will be made to the Oregon and Washington listing contracts later in January 2020:

Layout Change [Oregon and Washington]

To help with readability of the forms, blank rows have been added between paragraphs. Row numbers will not appear on blank rows. In addition, when a paragraph includes “…a)….b)….c)…”, each of these will be placed onto it’s own indented row.

Brokerage Fee [Oregon and Washington]
UPDATED (January 8, 2020): Redline below was updated to include “…of the selling price or option exercise price of the Property…”

The following sentence was added to the “Brokerage Fee” section:
“From the brokerage fee an amount equal to _____% of the selling price or option exercise price of the Property or $ _____ will be offered to Cooperating Firm (BAC).”

Right to Compensation [Oregon and Washington]

In the last paragraph of the “Right to Compensation” section, the first sentence is now bolded.

Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement [Oregon]

The first sentence was updated to better denote the Oregon Revised Statute: “As required by Oregon law, SELLER will complete the Seller’s Property Disclosure Statement accurately based upon SELLER’s personal knowledge and information as required under ORS 105.464.“

Signature Section [Oregon]

In the signature section of the Oregon listing agreement, the dedicated fields for Participant Broker signature have been removed. In it’s place, fields were added to denote the address of the Broker’s Firm.

General Housekeeping [Oregon and Washington]

In both the Oregon and Washington contracts, some general housekeeping edits were made. One example is changing “…FIRM’S…” to “…FIRM’s…” and “…SELLER’S…” to “…SELLER’s…” to match formatting through out both contracts.

Looking for More Detail?

Dig into this phase 2 forms change:

• Preview redline changes to the Oregon listing contract.
• Preview updated Oregon listing contract.
• Preview redline changes to the Washington listing contract.
• Preview updated Washington listing contract.

Are you ready for the annual RMLSweb forms change? This week, Beth and John review this year’s batch of forms changes—going live May 2nd along with the new Coming Soon-No Showing status and ShowingTime.

Listeners may now subscribe to Real Talk with RMLS™ on iTunes and Google Play!

Music: “Tropical Summer” by ArtIss (via MelodyLoops.com)

RMLS™ is gearing up for its annual forms change on RMLSweb. Later this spring subscribers will notice terminology changes, major revisions to the Oregon and Washington listing contracts, and other notable changes on RMLSweb.

Forms changes happen regularly on RMLSweb. Each change has been approved by the RMLS™ Forms Committee based on the feedback provided through hundreds of subscriber comments. Recommendations were then reviewed and approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors.

Implementation of these changes is quite a task, largely on the part of the RMLSweb development team. An overnight outage will take place in late April/early May to allow for this extra work.

Once the forms change is live, here are a few of the biggest pieces you’ll see.

Terminology Change

Have you ever had a conversation about the selling agent where one person was referring to the seller’s agent and the other person was referring to the buyer’s agent? We certainly have. To help reduce confusion, we will be changing how we refer to listing agent/office, co-listing agent/office, and selling agent/office. They will now be referred as seller’s agent/office, co-seller’s agent/office, and buyer’s agent/office.  

Townhouse/Planned Community Requirement Change

For residential listings where property type is attached, townhouse, or planned community AND HOA is no, the Townhouse/Planned Community Supplement will still be available but the required fields will now be unrequired. 

Listing Contract Addendum Changes

The Listing Contract Addendum (Long) will be split into two new addenda: a Withdrawal Addendum and a Cancellation/Termination Addendum. The Listing Contract Addendum (Short) will be renamed to Listing Contract Addendum. The comparable data section will be removed and headers will be added to better separate the three types of changes: expiration date change, list price change, and miscellaneous change.

Status Change to POP/PEN – Field Changes

The buyer’s agent/office will only be identified when a listing changes to SLD/SNL status. When a listing changes to PEN/POP status, the unrequired buyer’s agent/office fields will no longer be available.

Oregon and Washington Listing Contact Changes

The Oregon and Washington Listing Contracts are undergoing major revisions this year. Sections have been rearranged into a more logical order to facilitate discussions between seller(s) and selling agents. Row numbers were added, the text size was increased, and more space was added to the signature section of each contract. In addition to these layout changes, many sections received language changes as noted in the summary document (see link below). Required Detectors is a section that has been added, and the “list price” portion of the Brokerage Fee section has been broken out into its own section as well. 

Changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations

Language will be added to Section 3.21 of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations to state that the seller’s broker may provide a code to a specific user with the owner’s permission. 

3.21 RMLS™ Lockbox System. RMLS™ shall provide a lockbox system to active Subscribers legally eligible for RMLS™ access for the purpose of legitimate real estate business subject to their execution of a user agreement. This agreement shall provide that lockbox access devices may not be used under any circumstances by anyone other than the lockbox system user. The only exception is where the Listing Broker provides a code to a specific user with owner permission. The lockbox system shall be provided by a recognized lockbox vendor and it shall comply with current NAR® security requirements.

Office Email Required for Real Estate Offices in Washington

Real estate offices in Washington will be required to provide an office email. This email address will appear in the office roster search and will be viewable on agent reports.

Looking for More Detail?

Dig into this spring’s forms changes with the following:
• View a complete summary of forms changes scheduled for this spring.
• Preview revised input, and supplement listing forms. (Green highlights indicate new items, blue indicate items that have moved location, and yellow highlights indicate items which have been changed.)
• Preview updated Oregon and Washington listing contracts.

RMLS™ is excited to announce that our development team has started work on several projects which will be released on RMLSweb this spring.

On the surface these projects look very different, but as they require some bigger back-end changes to the website, we’ll be rolling them into one project that should make a big splash with RMLS™ subscribers once it all goes live.

COMING SOON/NO SHOWING STATUS

UPDATE (April 5, 2018): Read more details about Coming Soon/No Showing

Creation of a new listing status, Coming Soon/No Showing, was approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors in September. This new status will mean changes to the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations as well as the Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum.

2017 FORMS CHANGE

UPDATE (April 5, 2018): Read more details about this year’s forms changes

RMLS™ will be rolling out the 2017 forms change, a regular improvement of the forms and fields on RMLSweb that are a direct result of input from RMLS™ subscribers.

Subscriber comments are given to the Forms Committee, then recommendations are approved by the RMLS™ board. This year’s changes were approved in November, and highlights include updated language to listing contracts, improved addendums, terminology changes, and some new features and small changes to other fields in RMLSweb.

SHOWING TIME

UPDATE (April 5, 2018): Read more details about ShowingTime

ShowingTime is coming to RMLSweb! ShowingTime makes the scheduling of showings easy for everyone. RMLS™ subscribers can edit and control the showing schedule on their own listings, reducing calls and the inevitable phone tag. Using ShowingTime will be optional, so subscribers who would rather schedule showings offline will still be able to do so.

Watch RMLScentral and the RMLSweb desktop page in the coming weeks, as we’ll be discussing each piece of this larger project in more detail. If you have a question about any of these, leave it for us below!

RMLS™ is gearing up for its annual forms change on RMLSweb! Following an overnight outage [SEE UPDATES], later this spring subscribers will notice new supplements, co-lister access to in-progress listings, contract changes, the absence of map coordinates fields, and a variety of smaller changes.

Forms changes happen regularly on RMLSweb. Each change has been approved by the RMLS™ Forms Committee based on the feedback provided through hundreds of subscriber comments. Recommendations were then reviewed and approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors.

Implementation of these changes is quite a task, largely on the part of the RMLSweb development team. An overnight outage will take place in late May or early June to allow for this extra work.

Once the forms change is live, here are a few of the biggest pieces you’ll see.

Three New Supplements

Floating homes will gain a supplement, as will townhouses/planned communities. If a listing is occupied by someone other than the homeowner, a non-owner occupant supplement will be available.

Removal of Map Coordinates

RMLS™ will remove all map coordinates fields (map column, map page, and map row) in this forms change. Map coordinates have not been required on RMLSweb listings since December 2013, and usage of these fields has dropped considerably since that time.

RMLS™ recognizes that some subscribers may still want to use map shapes in their work on the site, and many have saved searches that utilize these fields. RMLS™ trainers produced a brief (four minute) video that can help subscribers make the transition away from map coordinates easier.

Co-lister Access to In-progress Listings

Have you ever co-listed a property with another agent and been unable to work on the listing as a team until the listing was published on RMLSweb? A co-lister may be chosen when creating a listing in Listing Load, and that chosen co-lister will be able to edit or publish those listings along with the agent who initiated the work.

Listing Load Unabbreviated by Default  [SEE UPDATES]

RMLS™ does its best to use listing abbreviations that make sense, but SPRNKLR is much easier to decipher than PLB-ICE. Once this forms change project is live, Listing Load on RMLSweb will be unabbreviated by default, so you won’t need to have Document #1210, Listing Abbreviations, open in another browser tab to do your work. If you prefer the brevity of an abbreviated Listing Load (or like to challenge your knowledge of RMLSweb abbreviations), a button will be available allowing you to toggle between the two options.

Searchable DOM

Looking for homes that have been on the market for a while? Days on Market (DOM) will be searchable in Advanced Search for listings in active status.

State of Oregon Residency

Listings in Oregon will sport a new field to indicate whether or not the seller is a permanent resident of the state. This information is now required on OREF forms.

Contract Changes

Listing contracts will carry a space to list the license number of the REALTOR® and office, some small changes to language, and a few new selections in various fields. (See update below.)

Looking for More Detail?

Dig into this spring’s forms changes with the following:
• View a complete summary of forms changes scheduled for this spring.
• Preview revised input, and supplement listing forms. (Green highlights indicate new items, blue indicate items that have moved location, and yellow highlights indicate items which have been changed.)
• Preview related changes to Oregon and Washington listing contracts.

UPDATE (May 3, 2017):

Contract changes will include some general housekeeping and the following:
• Listing contracts will include the license number of the REALTOR® and office in the signature section.
• Listing contracts will nclude the seller’s email in the signature section.
• The language regarding procuring cause in Section 3 will be removed, as the language was found to be redundant: “or (c) is the procuring cause of an agreement to sell the Property or lease the Property with an option to purchase.”

UPDATE (May 24, 2017):

The overnight outage to deploy the forms change project has been scheduled for Tuesday, June 6th at 10pm until Wednesday, June 7th at 6am.

During this time the maintenance mode version of RMLSweb will be available to search for listings and agent contact information. Data on the site will be read-only and users will not be able to save searches, create profiles, or enter listings.

UPDATE (June 6, 2017):

The enhancement to Listing Load, showing feature values in their unabbreviated form by default, will be released in late June.

UPDATE (October 27, 2017):

On October 31st, RMLS™ will release a few more edits to this year’s forms change, the result of subscriber feedback received after the initial release.

• The Seller Perm. Oregon Resident Y/N field will change from being required to being unrequired. (Oregon only)
• Pending HOA Litigation Y/N: The field will be changed from unrequired on the Condo Supplement to required. In addition, the field will change from Yes/No to Yes/No/Unknown.

RMLS™ is ready to start rolling out the results of this year’s forms change project! On Wednesday, July 29th, subscribers will see a brand new Green/Energy Supplement form, additional options for Showing Instructions, and much more.

These regular changes are the result of hundreds of subscriber suggestions and the hard work of the RMLS™ Forms Committee and RMLSweb development team.

What’s Changing?

A few highlights:
• Green/Energy Supplement Form: The use of sustainable building technology continues to grow, and this year RMLS™ is moving a scattered number of green features into the Green/Energy Supplement form, available for any residential listing. On this form, agents can note details about a home’s green certification and its use of solar energy. Agents also have an opportunity to provide additional remarks about aspects of green building and energy features on a property.
• Text to Show: Prefer to be texted when a buyer’s agent wants to show a property? Showing Instructions will now include options to text the listing agent, tenant, or owner. Not everyone prefers texting though, and another new option will exist to email the listing agent.
• Multiple Tax IDs in One Listing: Subscribers listing large parcels of land that stretch across multiple tax lots now have the option of including up to three total Tax IDs per listing. (If you’ve got more than three Tax IDs, you’ll still need to note those in the legal description or private remarks field.)
• Dual Living: RMLS™ currently lists a separate on-site dwelling unit in multiple places, including Accessibility Features and Additional Structures Supplement. A new field in Advanced Search, Dual Living Y/N, will identify residential listings where any of these dual living setups have been indicated.

Looking for more detail? View a complete summary of forms changes scheduled for July 29, 2015 or preview the contract, input, and supplement listing forms. Fields highlighted in green are new, orange fields have been modified, and blue highlights mean the field has moved.

A Longer Outage Needed for Forms Change

Improvements take time. July’s RMLSweb maintenance outage will take longer than usual to allow for this extra work. Plan now, as RMLSweb will be in maintenance mode (search only) from 10pm Tuesday, July 28th until 6am Wednesday, July 29th.

And Coming Soon…

Expect even more this fall. Other improvements to be released later this year as part of the forms change project include a brand new photo uploader and a new listing status, Pending Lease Option (POP).

RMLSweb continually improves when subscribers talk back to us about the system. We hope subscribers appreciate this work and will continue to share comments and questions! If you have questions about these new features, contact the RMLS™ Help Desk at (503) 872-8002 or (877) 256-2169.

As noted in last week’s preview of the forms changes coming this year to RMLSweb, the RMLS™ Forms Committee meets each year to review subscriber suggestions and recommend changes to RMLSweb listing input forms. After changes are approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors, our staff works diligently to execute the changes as soon as possible.

We’re just about ready to unveil the results of this annual project! Here are a few of the biggest differences you’ll notice after the changes go live:

• Public Remarks Increased: the Public Remarks field will increase in size from 380 to 440 characters.
• Farm Y/N?: a new Farm Y/N field will be available for residential listings. Removing FARM from the property type field will allow the Property Type of Detached or Residential-Manufactured to be selected. Choosing Y will provide the Farms Supplement form, which can be used by the listing agent to fully describe the property.
• Offer/Negotiation: the Offer/Negotiation field will now be required. This field indicates instructions for presenting offers and negotiations, such as Call Listing Agent, Listing Agent Only, Seller Directly, or See Documents.
• Map Coordinates: the Map Page, Map Column, and Map Row fields (which make up Map Coordinates) will remain required for listings in the following counties: Clackamas, Columbia, Curry, Lane, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill. In all other areas, it will be optional.
• Export Reports: Export Reports will have additional fields added to the end of reports.

We’ve prepared more documentation for those who wish to read more detail. View a brief summary document of the annual forms change, and a color-coded PDF showing changes to the Data Input Forms and Listing Contracts.

We’ll be updating two other small projects as well. First, we’ll be tweaking the Hotsheet Search to include an option to search for a specific price change amount. Agents will soon be be able to run a Hotsheet Search (left) to find listings that have increased or decreased in price.

Finally, we’ll also be restoring four hour session times! Our Unauthorized Access project reduced session times in February, meaning accounts were logged out after 90 minutes of inactivity. Subscriber feedback prompted RMLS™ to reconsider, and we’re restoring the previous four hour sessions.

Changing so many pieces of RMLSweb requires a longer outage than our regular monthly maintenance. We expect these changes to require a lengthy outage—possibly as long as 12 hours. As with our regular maintenance outages, a Maintenance Mode version of RMLSweb will be available, available to subscribers only for search purposes.

RMLS™ puts much thought and care into developing the best system for regional REALTORS®. We hope our subscribers appreciate this work and will continue to share comments and questions!

Each year the RMLS™ Forms Committee convenes in order to improve RMLSweb for users. After carefully reviewing suggestions submitted throughout the year by other subscribers, the Forms Committee recommends changes to the listing input forms, which are then reviewed and voted on by the RMLS™ Board of Directors.

After that vote, it’s time for RMLS™ staff to get to work! New code is written and tested behind-the-scenes—and once all the pieces are in place, a 12-hour outage is required to make the improvements for the year.

We anticipate the annual forms change to take place in early June. This will require a 12 hour outage of RMLSweb. We want to make sure subscribers have plenty of notice so they can plan ahead and avoid difficulties when the system is in maintenance mode.

Here are some highlights to expect from the forms change project this year:

• Green Options: we’ve increased the variety and types of green options in RMLSweb. This includes indicating a home’s location near bikeways and multi-use paths, and additional energy efficiency features like photovoltaic panels.
• Public Remarks Increased: the Public Remarks field will increase in size from 380 to 440 characters!
• Schools: an option to select up to two elementary and/or high schools will now be available. In some areas, homes are on a boundary between school districts and may choose where their child attends—REALTORS® will be able to reflect this circumstance in their listings.
• Homeowner Associations (HOA): the HOA field will now be required for all residential and land listings as a yes/no. This is an attempt to alleviate surprises on buyers, who may not find out about HOA fees until after purchasing a property.

We’ll be rolling out more details in the next few weeks as the project nears completion—including the exact date and time of the outage. Check in with the RMLS™ blog regularly for the latest!