Wednesday, May 23, 2012 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM CDT This webinar will demonstrate how real estate agents can utilize electronic marketing to gain listings, impress buyers and sellers, saturate electronic avenues and create marketing and lead generation campaigns. The webinar will cover the entire Home Zone Marketing Program. After this one hour session, agents w […]
Mon, May 29, 2012 11:00 AM - 11:30 AM PDT Join REA as we take you step by step through the basics of using REA 9 for Leasing Agents. This demonstration is designed to be short and to the point. REA tracks deals, projects, properties, buyers, sellers, tenants, spaces, comps and link them together. Auto syncs to Outlook and phones. Schedule events, track histo […]
This article comes to us from the Showing Suite blog: In down real estate markets, many home sellers will do anything it takes to tempt prospective home buyers to make a purchase, especially by offering incentives to make the home seem a little more appealing. More common incentives include closing cost credits, HOA credits, or new home appliances. But will […]
Seems like many of our readers are interested in hearing more about the goings-on at NAR Midyear. So let's take a look at what the online chatter is today. (You can read my report from yesterday here.) On Twitter The #Midyear chatter certainly picked up on Twitter today! We can't cover all of it, but we've pulled together some of the highlight […]
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM PDT We will be going over the basics and the essentials of eBrokerHouse. This web-based solution caters to traditional, short sale, REO, or any combination of business an agent may have. Moving to a web-based system to manage listings, leads, files, tasks, offers, showings, contacts, and team members, will allow age […]
Wednesday, May 30, 2012 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM PDT You are welcome to join us for a basic orientation to your AnnounceMyListing marketing tool! Although online tutorials are available for you to access on your member dashboard, you may prefer the "personal touch" and to have someone walk you through it live. We will orient you on the basics of our sys […]
For those of you who can't make it to the National Association of REALTORS® Midyear conference this year, we're in the same boat! I always leave NAR conferences feeling educated and inspired, and was very disappointed that I would have to miss this week's event. So I decided to do the only thing I could to keep at least somewhat informed of wh […]
According to the National Association of REALTORS®, more than 4.25 million homes sold in 2011. That's a lot of real estate and such numbers raise the question: How are sellers doing it? "Because individual homes are unique, there isn't one single strategy that works equally well for every property," says Wendy Forsythe, the executive vice […]
Previsite brings us this webinar scheduled for Wednesday, May 23, 2012 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM EDT. Beginners Training CourseThis training session will lead you through the basic steps of the Previsite Solution. Highly recommended if you just purchased our product. Taking your pictures Creating your Tours Publish to your MLS Questions and Answers To register for t […]
Wednesday, June 6, 2012 1:00 PM EST Mobile technology is everywhere. Today's consumer use their Smartphone's not just to make phone calls and text but to find directions, buy and sell products, provide information and so much more. Linda will discuss the latest trends in applications for your iPhone and iPad and the best practices for those apps. Y […]
Date: May 3, 2012 IAR Legal Hotline attorney Betsy Urbance shared current legal issues and questions from attendees in this early morning "Legal Update" session at the IAR Spring Conference in Collinsville. Transition questions were covered first, among them a Managing Broker's responsibility to make sure all sponsored licensees have complete […]
Date: April 24, 2012 Intro: Work by IAR's governmental affairs team has resulted in changes to a proposed building code in Jerseyville. The rules had called for fire sprinklers in new construction, but some officials wanted to eliminate that portion of the code. read more […]
Date: April 19, 2012 Getting money from a foreign country to close a real estate transaction in the U.S. can be easy with advance planning, said Darren Connor, an account manager for Moneycorp Foreign Exchange. And since many foreign buyers use cash, setting up an exchange account is important. read more […]
Date: April 19, 2012 Business globalization is making the U.S. one of the top relocation destinations in the world, said Dianne Amos, CRP, GMS, vice president of client services with RELO Direct Inc. That means real estate professionals interested in working with clients relocating from another country should clearly signal on their websites that they off […]
Date: April 19, 2012 From a sales perpective, foreign real estate investors are an attractive and fast-growing part of the market. They tend to pay cash for property. And the typical sales price they pay is higher than the median price for property in the U.S., said Don Pasek, a REALTOR® and managing broker with Omniterra Real Properties. read more […]
Date: April 18, 2012 Intro: Illinois is well positioned to reap the benefits of interest in real estate from European and Russian investors, a representative of the National Association of REALTORS(r) told more than 100 real estate professionals. Bruno Crosby, NAR's manager for international market development, told those attending the Third Annual Mu […]
Date: April 19, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 2012 Contact:Jon Broadbooks217-529-2600 March home sales in Illinois best in four years;median prices show signs of stabilizing read more […]
We’ve been making progress toward a more mobile and accessible method of support at SIR-MLS, Inc. As many of you in the real estate business have already realized it’s hard to be mobile when your connected to a land line telephone. It’s a hard transition to move away from office based telephones but with Google Voice many of the problems have been eliminated. With one number support, voice messages to email, and call time setup we are able to provide support during working hours from any location. In the near future 618-343-3030 will carry a message reminding everyone of our new phone number.
We would like to invite you to complete a survey about a new initiative being considered by the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) to help brokers differentiate the quality of their listing data versus other sources. CMLS is a premier forum and resource for MLSs and Associations. The survey has been designed to gather information that will help CMLS progress the effort to brand listings, thus indicating they were sourced from an MLS.
The survey should take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Thanks in advance for your participation. The results will be shared with all participants.
On May 2nd, at 8AM SIR-MLS and Dotloop will hold an introductory course to the new forms management program that will replace PCF. You may be wondering what to do with all the old forms you have saved in your PCF account. I have attached a file below that will help you export these files to .pdf documents that can be stored on your computer or uploaded to Dotloop at a later date. If your worried about saving these contracts for future reference just follow the link below.
Introduction Classes for DotLoop and Listingbook will be held during Spring Conference. You do not need to be registered for Spring Conference in order to attend these classes. You must click the link below to register for these classes, we cannot register you at the MLS office.
Register for DotLoop
Wednesday May 2rd, 8:00-9:00AM
Gateway Center, Cahokian Room
Most of our users don’t know about the ability to enter Agent Open Houses into the MLS. There are 2 types of open houses inside the MLS, Public and Agent. An agent open house is not distributed to websites for consumer display. It’s simply a way for you to share your agent open houses with each other. In the video below I show you how to enter an agent open house and how to search for them after they have been entered. I hope this helps save a tree and simplifies the process of marketing your agent open house to your peers.
I have linked the March Statistical Report for your review. It looks positive in our local market. On a whole we are up 8.2% for Units sold, 12.8% in volume sold, and 4.2% on average price. SIRMLS_Stats_2012_March
Spring Conference:
We also hope you will be joining us at Spring Conference this year. SIR-MLS, Inc. is planning on launching both DotLoop Now and Listingbook on or near the Spring Conference date. Both companies will have a representative at Spring Conference to provide more information. We will also have a the Cahokian Room on May 2nd from 8-9AM for our first DotLoop training class, and May 3rd from 8-9AM for our first Listingbook overview class. We only have room for 63 people per class.
Register for DotLoop
Wednesday May 2rd, 8:00-9:00AM
Gateway Center, Cahokian Room
We will also host a booth at Spring Conference; we’re bringing friends. Next to SIR-MLS, Inc. will be Best Buy with “Mobile Agent Technology”, Market Vision Statistics, Innovia Training Staff, Dotloop, and Listingbook.
DotLoop Update:
With the launch of DotLoop there is no need for PCF (or eSignature, document storage/management). We plan to keep PCF up and running until July 1st, 2012. There will be a document available at Spring Conference that details how to download your PCF forms for safe keeping. After July 1st, 2012 transactions, including all online contracts, will be delivered via DotLoop which is compatible with Windows & MAC platforms and operating systems as well as tablet devices (ie iPad). DotLoop is an end-to-end solution to the transaction process, which includes interactive forms, offered free to the MLS (saving us $10,000/year).
For brokers/agents it is an upgrade in technology, accessibility, and provides digital signature capabilities, doc sharing and more at no additional cost. For buyers/sellers it’s a better experience consistent with what they expect in a transaction. There will be upgrade options for Brokers that wish to have access to all transactions and contracts in their organization, and also to agents working on teams. Brokerages can also add their own broker specific forms at a small one time cost. For additional information on DotLoop, see this short video.
Listingbook Update:
Our current plan for Listingbook to replace Prospect Manager is still being finalized. We plan on activating Listingbook in early May. Once launched we will set a final expire date on the Prospect Manager Prospects of 10-31-12 (unless they are set to expire prior to that date). On July 1st you will no longer be able to enter prospects into Prospect Manager. All prospects in Prospect Manager will (at your choice) receive an invitation to set up a Listingbook account at any time after we go live. Historical data will not be saved into the new system. After 10-31-12 we will remove Prospect Manager from the system completely.
As its name – Advanced Intelligence – implies, Listingbook AI is the only real estate platform that gives your customers the ability to search like an agent and gives you a clear view into all of their online activity. Your buyers and sellers will have access to MLS data, all listed properties for sale/ rent, real-time price reductions and new listings, public records, community and school information, taxes, loan estimates, and even sold history.
Coming Soon: System Enhancement
Innovia is currently working to build a new field in the MLS called “Advertising Remarks”. This field will contain remarks that get delivered to 3rd party websites like Trulia, Realtor.com, and Zillow. Inside the MLS the Advertising Remarks will only be view-able in Listing Maintenance. These remarks are for advertising so once launched, feel free to use your name, email, phone number…AWESOME!
At Spring Conference this year SIR-MLS, Inc. will launch DotLoop Now in order to provide you a better way to manage form delivery and tracking. Don’t worry, we won’t be turning off our old forms delivery system when DotLoop Goes Live. This new software will enhance your business…oh, it also provides a digital signature platform.
It’s also nice to say that SIRMLS was able to reduce the amount it spends on a forms program by providing you the advanced technology of DotLoop Now. I call that a win-win!
Make sure you visit the SIRMLS booth area at Spring Conference. We will have a trainer from Innovia, DotLoop Now, ListingBook, and Best Buy all waiting to provide you the information you need to become more mobile and productive!
The all new wireless MLS is available. The wireless website remains the same (wireless.sirmlsinc.com). Once there the MLS will auto-detect the type of device you are using to access the system. On all mobile devices you will see the new wireless MLS app.
We are only the second MLS in the country to receive the new wireless application so you may find a few small bugs in the system that need worked out. Innovia has worked hard to eliminate all issues with the system but historically all new releases of technology have problems. Please report any problems to tim.dain@sirmlsinc.com.
We would also like to hear from you about the New Market vision statistics that are available on this website (mlsiren.com) on the page bar above this post. How have you been using it? Do you find the statistics helpful? What changes or enhancements would you like to see in the future?
Thanks for providing the feedback, and enjoy the new updates to service.
SIR-MLS, Inc. is proud to present Market Vision Statistics from Infinity Analytics. On the menu bar above you will see a new item titled “Market Vision Statistics. This software was developed by one of our users and we know you will find it extremely useful in examining and explaining market conditions to your clients. Below are a couple of screen shots.
There are also market reports that can be used on listing appointments which can be drilled down to the city level. These reports contain a large amount of data in an easy to understand format. Click here for an example report. Please note that this is a very new system, we are currently generating historic reports so if you select old dates the report might be blank for the next 24 hours.
Clarus MarketMetrics®
The free Market Vision Statistics by Infinity Analytics can be enhanced when paired with, Clarus MarketMetrics® from Terradatum which uses your industry experience along with the most current, local market data available to give you an edge in the marketplace when setting a home price. The reduced cost makes this a low cost market statistics option at just $9.95/month. Get Started – Visit Website – Sample Report
RE Technology is giving it away FREE – Enter to Win the Giveaways. You can choose any 5 items below to be entered to WIN! They have hand selected some of the Real Estate Industry’s top technology companies and partnered with them to offer their members some incredible products and services! You could WIN!
RealSatisfied – RealSatisfied is giving away a one year office subscription one physical address
Flaretag – Flaretag is offering 3 6-month FREE Enterprise plan including 1-on-1 step-by-step setup and a 30 minute session on tips to get started with local marketing
RISMedia – RISMedia offers a 1-month free trial of REsource’s Publisher package: 20 articles/6 videos
PicketReport.com – Picket Report will be giving away a one year subscription of our lifestyle widget!
Happy Grasshopper – Happy Grasshopper offers 1 year FREE for you and a friend!
IXACT Contact – FREE IXACT Contact’s real estate CRM for ONE YEAR
The Tech Byte – FREE Tech Byte Elite Program
TrendGraphix – is offering 3 months free access to its new product, Broker Edge
RealLead.com – FREE Mobile Marketing plus FREE LEADS for all of your listings from RealLead.com through the end of this year!
ePropertySites.com – ePropertySites.com offers a full year membership!
Emphasys Software – Emphasys Software – FREE 30 Day Trial of Real Estate’s most popular CRM software: AgentOffice
Clikbrix – Clikbrix is giving away 2, 1 year memberships to Clikbrix each including a designer Profile QR Code
Property Panorama – Property Panorama’s Elite Suite Absolutely FREE!
Status 5 Studio – Status 5 Studio offers 1 month of FREE Social Media Management Consulting!
eBrokerHouse – eBrokerHouse offers a FREE 6 month membership to brokers for our Office Solution
VirtualTourCafe – Agent Giveaway – One Year Unlimited VirtualTourCafe Subscription!
Rofo – Feature Your Team’s Listings and Sales on Linkedin For a Year up to 10 agents
by Mike Bowler: Social Bios was acquired by Move Inc. who owns Realtor.com last week. This will play an important role for Realtors on Realtor.com by having your profile setup for consumers to learn more about you. . With Social Bios there will be more interactions and more connections between consumers and local REALTORS by integrating a social hub for REALTORS. Networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Foursquare are included. SocialBios was named Inman NYC’s “Best Tech Startup” of 2011. I’ve added additional comments below these simple instructions that are important resources.
We’ve been making progress toward a more mobile and accessible method of support at SIR-MLS, Inc. As many of you in the real estate business have already realized it’s hard to be mobile when your connected to a land line telephone. It’s a hard transition to move away from office based telephones but with Google Voice many of the problems have been eliminated. With one number support, voice messages to email, and call time setup we are able to provide support during working hours from any location. In the near future 618-343-3030 will carry a message reminding everyone of our new phone number.
