News & Past Hot Tips

Beginning Tuesday, June 2, for new listings going forward, the ShowingTime default for showings has been reset to allow overlap showings. As we ease into post-COVID times, the default has been set to allow two (2) showings at a time. This default can be changed for all listings within an office, for all listings for an agent, or listing by listing via the Office, Agent, or Listing setup options within ShowingTime. Options exist for no overlap, or for overlaps of 2-10 showings at a time. If more than one showing is allowed, the showing agent will see a pop-up letting them know another party may be present.

The Supra eKEY annual renewal is June 1 of each year. The annual fee of $175 per keyholder will be included on your office’s billing statement scheduled to arrive this week. If you are not using your eKEY, and would like to cancel your lease, please email keys@wisre.com by June 30 for a credit.

The security of clients’ properties is a top priority for all of us. Please note that you and your broker may be assessed a fine of $500 each if you access a keybox without a confirmed appointment. These fines double, and Supra eKEY access may be suspended for a second offense. These penalties are guidelines, and depending on the circumstances have been more severe. In addition, a seller can bring trespass charges against any agent without a confirmed appointment. Double check the address before you access a property. Claiming you accidentally opened the keybox for the wrong property has not been a successful defense.

If you need access to multiple tax records for a list of properties from Paragon, pull up the list of properties in Paragon via a search or lookup and select the listings. Once selected, click on the Actions drop down and select View in CRS Data. The selected listings will be imported into CRS, and all CRS functions, such as reviewing the assessment/tax info, viewing on the CRS map, and creating mailing labels will be available for this group of listings.

When changing a listing to an offer status, you are asked if there were competing offers. Answer YES only if more than one written offer was considered at the time an offer was accepted.

Within Paragon, each agent is assigned a User Code and a User ID. If you are asked by a vendor (i.e. website provider) to provide your MLS ID, they could be referring to either of these codes, depending on which field they have incorporated for their product. You can find both of these numbers within the Paragon Agent Roster. Click Membership from the top menu bar, and then Agent Roster. Enter your last name within either the Agent Name or Agent ID field. The results will display both your User Code and your User ID. You can either clarify as to which field they are looking for, or just send them both codes.

Listings no longer available for showings due to an accepted offer must be moved to the status of Offer-No Show (PND). It does not matter if all contingencies are removed; the deciding factor is if showings are allowed or not. Please make this change as soon as possible. MLS rules mandate this change must be done within 3 days of when the property is no longer available for showings.

In this crazy market, we are seeing sale concessions being offered by the buyer. If the buyer has paid a sale concession (i.e. seller’s closing costs), please use the Seller Concessions field to report, but indicate Buyer Concession after the concession amount. The Concessions field is an alpha/numeric field. Appraisers find it helpful to not only have the amount of sale concessions, but a description as well.

According to MLS guidelines, for square footage to be considered finished, the space must be heated, have finished walls (painted concrete does not count), have a finished ceiling (no exposed floor joists), and have a finished floor (painted concrete does not count). If one of these four components is missing, the space can still be considered finished, but disclosure of the missing component must be included in the MLS remarks. Only finished rooms may be included in the room dimensions section. An exception is made for the “Other Room” selections of Three-Season Room, Screened Porch, and Garage, as the name discloses the space as unfinished.

When entering a comp sale (listing sold outside MLS), instead of just entering “sold comp” in the remarks, please include features of the property that are not addressed in our pick lists, especially if there is something unique. Accurate and complete data makes our MLS database more useful for everyone using it. Thank you!

New listings must be entered into the MLS within one (1) business day of being publicly marketed. If marketing has not yet begun, listings must be entered no later than four (4) calendar days from the effective date (first day of the term) of the listing contract. Entering verbiage in the listing contract to keep the listing off the MLS until a later date is not allowed.

If a new listing is not ready to be shown, it can be input as either Delayed or Active. If entered as Active, the date showings will be allowed must be entered in the first line of the public remarks. If a listing is not ready to be shown, it cannot be shown by anyone, not even the listing office.

MLS rules begin on the effective date of the contract. If a listing is to be entered into the MLS as Delayed, or as Active with a notation that no showings are allowed, nobody, including the listing office, can show the property between the effective date and when it is entered in the MLS. The grace period for MLS entry gives you time to gather information, it does not provide a period of time to show a property if that property will not be available for showings when it hits the MLS.

Did you know you can text listings from Paragon. The text option can be found within the Share link when viewing a listing. The Share link is located within the blue menu bar, to the right of E-mail. Listings can be sent via text to any contact you have saved within Paragon. There is an option to set up a contact on the fly after selecting to text. If you receive an alert stating your mobile number is not configured, simply click on the option given to Configure Settings, and enter your mobile phone number. You need to configure your mobile number just once.

After entering a new listing, you do not have to wait until that listing is received by ShowingTime to enter showing instructions. From the Select an Action drop down, click on ShowingTime to immediately enter full showing instructions. Once the listing is received by ShowingTime the photo and property information from MLS will be added.

The default duration for a showing has been reduced from one hour to 30 minutes. If you feel the home you are showing will require more than 30 minutes, you can select a longer window. Listing agents, however, can set a maximum showing duration per listing, so you will not be able to extend beyond what the listing agent has set.

In response to a mandate from the National Association of REALTORS, we will be incorporating a warning during listing input to check for words within the public remarks that may, in a certain context, violate fair housing laws. The warning will appear when saving a listing. If you are comfortable with the context the word is being used in, simply click to Accept and resave. A good rule of thumb is to avoid words that describe the buyer or neighborhood, and stick to words to describe the property. Click here for a full list of words that will trigger a warning. This new warning will be put in place on Wednesday, February 10.

ShowingTime allows you to set the maximum showing duration for your listings. If you feel, for instance, that your listing can easily be shown in 30 minutes, you could set the maximum showing duration to 30 minutes to allow for more showings. You can find this setting from within Paragon. Click on Preferences -> ShowingAssist -> Listings. Select the listing and scroll down to Appointment Restrictions. Look for the Maximum Appointment Length drop down.

If you list a single wide manufactured home, you are now required to include the words single wide in the public remarks. In addition to the associated document, this requirement will ensure agents and buyers know up front the home is a single wide, as financing may be more difficult.

For agents working with a buyer looking for a manufactured home, who does not want to consider a single wide, you can eliminate single wides by doing a “Does Not Contain” remarks search. You will find the Remarks search prompt under the Advanced Criteria section of the search parameters. Simply type in the words single wide, and select Does not Contain from the drop down to the right of the Remarks search field. This criteria can be stored just as any other for automatic searches.

It is against MLS rules to advertise a property listed by another agent/broker without first obtaining permission from that agent/broker. The only exception to this rule is advertising done via an approved IDX site that has been registered with the MLS. IDX sites are only approved if they are controlled by the registered MLS agent/broker, and are clearly identified as being provided by the registered MLS agent/broker. Sites such as Facebook do not qualify as approved IDX platforms. A generic link on Facebook directing viewers to listings on an approved IDX site is allowed. The link should contain no information about, or photos of specific listings. A generic statement such as “Click to see homes in Waunakee” would be allowed.

All Paragon users have been flagged for a forced password change. If you need help saving your new password in your internet browser, here is a resource that will help. If you need further assistance, please call 608-240-2800 (press 2 for Paragon support).