News & Past Hot Tips

Did you know the MLS has an associated document for marketing energy efficient features of a home? It’s a great way to highlight things like solar panels, green building certifications, and other energy-saving upgrades & appliances. Check it out here!

There are also several features in the MLS that can be used to draw attention to these improvements (here’s where to find them on the profile sheets). Why should you include this information on your listing? Not only can it attract a larger pool of buyers (and potentially increase property value), it is also useful to appraisers when researching comparable sales.

To resolve the issue with Collab Center email links not opening on mobile devices, users may need to clear their internet browser history & cache. If you are still experiencing the issue after taking the following steps, please contact support@wisre.com.

iPhone:

• go into Settings and tap Apps
• tap Safari
• scroll down and tap Clear History and Website Data
• choose All history
• tap Clear History

Android:

• in Chrome, click the 3 dots menu at the top left
• tap Delete browsing data
• change ‘Last 15 minutes’ to ‘All time’
• tap Delete data

It’s that time of year again! Daylight Saving Time began on Sunday, March 9, 2025.

Please remember that Supra BT LE lockboxes do not adjust for Daylight Saving Time. For agents that have programmed lockbox access hours, the effective access hours on those lockboxes will be one hour later during Daylight Saving Time than the pre-set access hours.

To ensure fairness & cooperation, please keep these important rules in mind:

• If a new listing is to be entered as Delayed, or as Active with a future show date, no one – including the listing agent/firm – can show the property during the period between the list date and entry into the MLS. The grace period for MLS entry allows time to gather information. It does not provide an opportunity to show the property if it will not be available for showings when it hits the MLS. 
• If a listing is Delayed or Active with a future show date, it cannot be shown to potential buyers or previewed by any agent – including the listing firm. Agents from the listing firm may be given access to the property on an individual basis only to assist the listing agent with marketing preparations (ex: staging, offering a price opinion). Any type of group tour by the listing firm is considered a violation.
• Showing a delayed listing under any circumstances will result in review & potential sanctions by the MLS Board of Directors.

As a reminder, Wisconsin Statute 452.136 and the Code of Ethics Standard of Practice 12-5 require that you include your firm name in all advertising, including social media. This ensures compliance with state regulations and helps maintain transparent business practices. For further guidance, please refer to this helpful article by the WRA on the Do’s and Don’ts of advertising.

There is currently a bug in the display of the Open House date and time info on MLS data sheets. Extra code characters are being displayed:

Until the bug is fixed, the workaround is to switch the output type in Print + from PDF to HTML:

Listings that are no longer available for showings due to an accepted offer must be moved to the status of Offer-No Show. It does not matter if all contingencies are removed; the deciding factor is if showings are allowed or not. A listing can go directly from Active to Offer-No Show status if a seller does not wish to continue showings once the offer is accepted. MLS rules require this change within 3 days of when the property is no longer available to show.

The MLS continues to receive reports of a scam in which an agent is contacted to list a property (often vacant land) by someone posing as the property owner. The scammer will typically handle all communication remotely and request the property be listed for less than its value in order to generate immediate interest. This helpful article from the WRA explains the scam and how to avoid it.​ NAR also has some tips and an informative video on the topic.

If the fraudulent lead came from Realtor.com or Homes.com, please forward the info to listings@wisre.com, as MLS staff can assist in getting the user blocked. Agents may also forward any suspected spam leads from Realtor.com directly to customercare@realtor.com

Another resource is PropertyFraudAlert.com. This free public service is monitored by the county land records offices and will alert a property owner of potential fraudulent recordings that affect their property. Although it does not prevent fraud from happening, it provides an early warning system so the property owner can take the appropriate action if fraudulent activity has occurred. It may be particularly helpful to share this with a property owner who has had someone pose as them and attempt to list their property. Sign up is quick & easy. Go to PropertyFraudAlert.com, select the state & county in which the property is located, and choose how you’d like to be notified.

Within Paragon, there is an easy way to see the number of potential buyers (Paragon contacts with saved searches) at the current list price, and how many there would be if the price were changed.  This functionality is available for partial listings and subject properties, as well as live listings.  When maintaining a listing click the Price Analysis button at the top:

The popup will show the current number of buyers that currently match your property. Enter the new price you are considering and click Recalculate Buyers to see the difference that would make. Click the Use New Price button to use the new price on the listing, then click Save Listing.

Check out this short video demonstrating this cool feature:

UPDATE 1/28 – The issue has been resolved.

UPDATE 1/23 – The fix for this problem will be applied during the next downtime maintenance period, Tuesday morning 1/28 from midnight until 6:00am.

If you sold a property in one of these counties that was listed by a member of another MLS, the listing should already be in the SCWMLS.  If you were not properly credited on the buyer side, simply forward the closing statement & “drafted by” page of the offer to listings@wisre.com.  We will credit you with the sale so it appears in your SCWMLS inventory & production statistics.

The start of a new year is a good time to pull statistics – not only to help set goals for the coming year, but also to make sure you were properly credited with prior year sales (if any are missing, please forward the closing statement & “drafted by” page of the accepted offer to listings@wisre.com).

Here’s how to pull the report in Paragon:

Under the Resources menu, choose Paragon Statistical Reporting:

In the menu on the left side of the screen, click the arrow next to Sales Detail (under Broker) to expand that section, and then choose Agent:

In the criteria screen that appears, change the Date Range dropdown to Year, enter 2024 in the Begin and End date fields, and then click Generate. This will display a report of all the properties you listed and/or sold in 2024, as well as your units & volume for the year.

To set up a buyer on Collab Center with auto notifications about new properties you need two things: a contact, and a saved search. The quickest way to set this up:

1. ​​ Create a contact – Click the Contacts icon and choose Create Contact. Enter a first name, last name, and email address, then click the Save button at the top left.

2.  Build the search – On the left panel click Buyer Activity, then click the green plus sign Add Search. Then to the right, click the green plus sign Add New Saved Search.

Put in your criteria, then hover over the Save Search button and choose Save Search. It will suggest a search name for you which you can change if you like. Click Save.

​3.  Send the Welcome Message – Click the blue Send Welcome Message button to send them the link to access their Collab center site.

​​That’s it! The search is now running and will send them new matches and price changes.

Have you ever wondered about the various status options in the MLS and when to use each one? If so, our newest video is for you! (a two & a half minute watch):

In your TrustFunds profile you can set whether the convenience fee will be paid by you or the buyer. In Paragon, click the Resources icon within the top menu bar and select TrustFunds: Agent Access.

On the TrustFunds page, click your name on the top right and choose Profile. At the bottom, click Convenience Fee to open up the section and choose your option.

Did you know the assessor data for many municipalities is available online, for free? This provides an easy way to look up things like the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, finished square footage, year built, and more for a given property.

​To locate this information, click Tax in the main Paragon menu and choose Public Records Websites from the dropdown. Select your county on the map, choose the appropriate municipality, and then search by address or parcel #. If you don’t see your municipality listed, you can check AssessorData.org (for free) or purchase the complete property record for a small fee on AssessorData.com.

When changing the status or price of a listing in Paragon, the following popup will appear, which allows you to optionally enter any comments you would like to display on the Hotsheet Report. As the message states, please click “Save” within the popup to ensure your listing changes are saved in a timely manner. As a double check, it may also be helpful to refresh the listing after saving to confirm the changes are reflected.

If a comment is entered, this is how it will display on the Hotsheet Report:

To improve clarity & transparency for buyers searching on public websites, the SCWMLS Board of Directors recently passed a new requirement for the word “Auction” to prominently display on the main photo of all auction listings. We are finding that consumers do not always read the MLS remarks, and are often confused about the price that displays.

Below is an example of an acceptable disclosure. Photo labels in Paragon do not display on public websites, so please add the disclosure to the photo itself. If an auction listing is entered into the MLS without “Auction” prominently noted on the main photo, it will automatically be added for you.

Additional information and requirements for auction properties can be found here. As always, if you have any questions regarding this new policy, please contact MLS staff at listings@wisre.com.