News & Past Hot Tips

JULY 2009

-The MLS does not define what is a bedroom. Listing agents should use common sense when calling a room a bedroom. If you are counting a room as a bedroom that is not a typical bedroom (i.e. does not have a closet, is accessible only by going through another room, etc.), PLEASE indicate in the remarks what makes it atypical so that showing agents and potential buyers are informed before a showing.

Advertising Reminder: If you advertise a property for sale on a website such as Craig’s List, you must include your broker’s name as printed on the broker’s license, or disclose the trade name as filed with the Department of Regulation and Licensing, just like you do with print ads. It must be clear that the listing is being offered by a real estate professional and not a private party.

-When pulling up a map search, the map will center to your office address by default. If you would like to change this to another address, click on Preferences, User, Search Options. Check the second box to establish a new default address and click the link to type it in.

MAY 2009

-Important Reminder about Scheduling Showings Via Paragon: When you click on the Schedule a Showing icon within Paragon, a box will pop up with your personal information such as phone number and email. This information is not automatically tied to your member record within Paragon. This is by design so you have flexibility to enter the most appropriate return phone number or email for that particular showing request. The email or phone number as entered will stick until you change it. Because of this flexibility, if you transfer to a new office or change your email or phone number and report that to the MLS to have changed in Paragon, the showing pop up screen will not automatically change; you have to change it. Please glance at this box each time you set up a showing to be sure the email and phone number are as you want them to be. If you need to make a change, simply do so right on that screen.

-Photo Reminder: South Central WI MLS rules require agents to load a photo within 5 days of input for all listings except vacant land, commercial property, and new construction. At their last meeting, the Board of Directors extended this to 7 days. Effectively immediately, if a photo is not loaded within 7 days, the listing agent and his/her broker will be sent a notice giving them 5 additional days from the notice to load a photo. If a photo is still not loaded, the broker is billed $50 and the MLS sends a photographer out to take a photo.

APRIL 2009

Have you ever wanted to be able to fit more on the spreadsheet printout from Paragon? In many cases, the title of a field is larger than the data contained in that field, so when you include that field on a spreadsheet, the column is wider than it needs to be. When viewing the spreadsheet, if you click on Customize you can utilize the check box under the selected fields that says Use Short Label. For example, if you include the field for Fin Above Grd SqFt, and then put a check mark next to that field and then check the Use Short Label box, the header for that field will be condensed to AbvGrdSqFt. You can also take advantage of the option to print horizontally available within the Print window that comes up before a document is sent to your printer. Print boxes can be different from machine to machine, but look for a Preferences option.

March 2009

-Attention Appraisers: Do you need help finding the information you need for the new Fannie Mae Market Conditions Addendum? Click here to register for a free class that will cover how to easily find this information using Paragon.

ShowingAssist Enhancements:
-When clicking on Schedule a Showing, you can now set up showings beginning at 8:00 a.m.
-An option to decline a showing is now available within the standard email request.
-You can now double book yourself for a single timeslot by clicking on Request Showing in the drop down.
-You can opt out of the first acknowledgement email and/or the email stating your request has been viewed. Click on Preferences, User, ShowingAssist, Agent Tab, Advanced Setup.

February 2009

New Lot Size Requirement: At their last meeting, the MLS Board of Directors voted to mandate that listing agents include the number of acres in the Lot Size field for Single Family listings over 2 acres. If you have an active single family listing for which the lot is over 2 acres, please add the number of acres in the Lot Size field if it is blank. The Lot Size field is non-required for parcels under 2 acres, but it is recommended that you include either the number of acres or the dimensions of the lot.

WIREX IS LIVE: You should now see a new drop down box upon login. Choices in this drop down are South Central Wisconsin and WIREX. To use Paragon as you always have, press Enter to select the default of South Central Wisconsin. If you would like to search for listings outside the South Central Wisconsin market (Metro Milwaukee and Northeast Wisconsin) select WIREX. You can also switch between South Central and WIREX after logging in by clicking on the MLS Switcher at the top of the screen. Click here for a pdf flyer about WIREX.

January 2009

-New Cumulative Days on Market Field: A new days-on-market calculation has been added to Paragon that will allow users to see the cumulative time a listing has been on the market. When a new listing is entered, Paragon looks to see if a listing with the same address had expired or was withdrawn in the last 30 days. If a previous listing, meeting these criteria (same address, expired or withdrawn in the last 30 days) is found, Paragon will look at the days on market for that listing and begin counting from there. The Days on Market (DOM) calculation, showing the time on the market for just that MLS number, is also still available. Not all listings in Paragon will have a CDOM. The Cumulative Days on Market is available for listings added or changed since this new calculation became available on 1/1/09. It is unfortunately not possible to go back in time to trigger a CDOM for all listings in the database. In addition, we have opted to not turn CDOM on for vacant land listings, as often times the street address is not complete. You will find the Cumulative Days on Market on the bottom of the Agent full report along with the Days on Market, and on the Property History report.

-On the Showing Instructions tab within the add/maintain listing process, you will find a field for Showing Instructions. These instructions automatically load to the ShowingAssist program under the Schedule a Showing icon, and are included on the Showing Setup Report. The Showing Setup Report can be found under Multi-Up Views and is a nice report to work off when setting up showings. Click here for a sample.

December 2008

-A single family property can only be entered as a condo if it has condo documents, a shared wall, or a monthly maintenance fee associated with the property. A condo can only be entered under the single family class if it is a stand-alone or a half-duplex. At their last meeting, the MLS Board of Directors voted to also require that all condos entered in the single family class must include the condo fee within the first line of the public remarks. Please keep in mind that if your single family property qualifies for inclusion in condo, or if your condo property qualifies for inclusion in single family, it first must be entered in its primary class.

-PLEASE include seller concessions within the Points Paid/Seller Credits field when closing a listing in the MLS if seller concessions were given. Starting April 1, appraisers will have new requirements regarding the details of seller concessions.

-Additional choices under the Terms feature have been added within Paragon for Short Sale and Bank Owned. Please modify your listings if one of these situations applies. These features will be included on the spring profile sheet revision.

November 2008

-As recently clarified by the MLS Board of Directors, in order to create a new listing with a new MLS number in the MLS, you must draft and have your seller(s) sign a new listing contract. If you are relisting a currently active listing before its expiration date, you also need to secure an amendment to expire the original listing early. MLS requirements for a new listing are not met by an amendment requesting a new MLS number.

-Have you Tried the Slide Show in Paragon? If you click on a photo within Paragon, a slideshow of all the images for that property will display. If you have never done this, give it a try. It’s pretty cool. You even have the ability to maintain photos for your listings via this slide show, which is a nice time saving feature.

October 2008

-Are your listings being missed in a search? When filling out the MLS profile sheet, please check every item that applies as you never know when the perfect buyer is looking for something slightly unusual that your listing may have. Also, school names are often used in searches, so please do not select “Call School District” unless the school district cannot provide you with the school names.

-4th quarter MLS dues will be billed in October. Offices can check their agent roster for a list of active agents that will be billed. From the Paragon home page, click on Membership and either the Agent or Membership Roster. If there are agents or administrative staff listed as active that are no longer with your company, please email support@wisre.com.

September 2008

-School Reminder: Please double check to be sure the schools have not changed for your active properties. A few examples of new schools are Olson Elementary in Madison and Creekside Elementary in Sun Prairie.

August 2008

-New Feature Choices: Additional choices under the Terms feature have been added for Short Sale and Bank Owned. Additional choices under the Waterfront feature have been added for No Motor Lake, No Wake Lake, and Water Ski Lake. Please modify your current listings if appropriate.

-Blast Agent E-Mails from Paragon: By design, your Paragon system does not have the ability to blast email other agents. It has been determined that this feature would not be popular with most agents. If you would like to notice other agents of an upcoming open house or a broker open, please enter this information within the listing itself.

July 2008

-Photo Reminder – It is against MLS rules and copyright law to copy another agent’s property photos for use on your listing without permission. Those submitting photographs with the knowledge that they do not have the right to authorize the MLS to publish the photograph(s) shall be subject to a fine of $25 per photograph in addition to any legal or equitable remedies available to the owner of the photograph(s).

-Condos and Single Family:
Q: When can you list a condo under the single family class in Paragon? When can you list a single family dwelling as a condo?
A: A single-family residential property can only be entered as a condo if it has condo documents, a shared wall, or a monthly maintenance fee associated with the property. A condo can only be entered under the single family class if it is stand-alone or a half-duplex.

June 2008

-New Fields Added to Paragon: The following field/features have been added to Paragon. These new options will be included on the next revision of MLS Profile Sheets which is scheduled for the Fall.

-Showing Instructions: On the last tab during the add/maintain listing process, a new 512 character field has been added for Showing Instructions. These instructions are being automatically loaded to the ShowingAssist program and have been added to the Showing Set Up Report.

-Additional choices under the Waterfront feature have been added for No Motor Lake, No Wake Lake, and Water Ski Lake. Please modify your current waterfront listings as appropriate.

-Additional choices under the Terms feature have been added for Short Sale and Bank Owned. Please modify your current listings if appropriate.

May 2008

-Listing Reminder: Please remember to update information such as assessments, taxes, stage of completion for new construction, and age if your listing has been on the market awhile. Also, if you include time-specific information in the remarks (such as no showings until a certain date), please remove that information once the situation no longer applies.

-Updates to Paragon History Program & Report: The history program and report received a few upgrades/bug fixes last week. For a long time now we have been struggling with history entries that appear out of date order. This problem has been fixed. Another issue we have struggled with is not being able to run a history on a specific unit within a condo project. This functionality has been added. In addition, the map on the history report was upgraded to a Virtual Earth Map which allows you to right click to zoom in and out and switch to an aerial view, and the photo box was upgraded to include a slide show. Simply click the photo to open a slide show box.

April 2008

-Adding Virtual Tours: Included in one of the recent Paragon upgrades was the ability for agents to add virtual tours to their listings. Although most agents do not have the security level needed to add and maintain listings, they do have the ability to add photos, associated documents, and virtual tours to their listings, as well as change the map location for their listings. These functions are located under Listings and Maintain from the Paragon Main Menu. Now that agents have the ability to add their own tours, starting May 1, the MLS will no longer be accepting tours directly from providers on behalf of agents. Please direct your tour provider to send your virtual tour to you for inclusion on the MLS instead of directly to the MLS. As virtual tours are becoming more popular, we are finding that without hiring additional MLS staff, we no longer have the time needed on a daily basis to load tours for agents. This does not mean we are not available to help you load your tours if you need help. We are always happy to help you with Paragon. Please keep in mind that the MLS does not allow tours that are branded with the agent name or agent/company information. The name of the company is allowed. Often times tour providers send both branded and unbranded tours. Please make sure the unbranded tour is the one that is added to listings on MLS.

-Customizing the Paragon Spreadsheet – Adding # of Acres: The spreadsheet that displays after doing a search in Paragon is customizable for each agent. To add a field such as Lot Size/Acres to your spreadsheet, click on Customize on the tool bar directly above the spreadsheet. A box will pop up showing two lists of fields. The list on the right contains fields already on your spreadsheet, and the list on the left contains fields that can be added. Please note that the list on the left is alphabetical. Find the field you want to add, click on it, and then click the Add button between the two boxes. The new field will be added to the bottom of the list on the right. You may need to scroll down to see it. You can also remove fields by moving them from the right box to the left box. There are also move up and move down buttons in between the two boxes that will allow you to set the order of display. Click the Save & Close button at the bottom when you are done. This new format will be your default. If you want to switch back or if you make a mistake, there is a Revert to Default button next to the Save & Close.

March 2008

-Recent Changes: The MLS database has been modified as follows: Farm listings have been merged with Residential, a new feature group has been added for Environmentally Friendly Features, a new School District field has been added, and the class Residential has been renamed Single Family & Residential Income has been renamed Multi Family. Click here for detailed information.

February 2008

-The MLS also offers customized office training. If you have at least 8 people in your offices who would like instruction on a common feature or features within Paragon, please call Dave at the MLS or email support@wisre.com to schedule a training session for your office. There is no charge for this customized Paragon office training.

-New Report Added — We have recently created a new report that is a cross between the Agent Full and the Customer Full. This report does not include the confidential broker-to-broker fields, but does include the listing agent information. We foresee this report will be used when a listing agent wants to print his/her own listings for use in brochure boxes or for other public distribution. This report can be found under Available Reports and Details. It is called Customer w/ Agent.

-If the electricity has been turned off for a property you have listed, PLEASE indicate this in the broker-to-broker remarks so showing agents know to make appointments earlier in the day.

-It is against MLS rules and copyright law to copy another agent’s property photos for use on your listing without permission. Those submitting photographs with the knowledge that they do not have the right to authorize the MLS to publish the photograph(s) shall be subject to a fine of $25 per photograph in addition to any legal or equitable remedies available to the owner of the photograph(s).

-Certain data fields in the MLS, such as expiration date, are considered confidential, and therefore available only in broker-to-broker reports. Reports containing these fields may not be distributed to the public. As the agent full report in Paragon contains these fields, this report should be used internally by Members of the MLS only, and not given to the public. We have had recent reports of the Agent Full report being left in brochure boxes. This is against MLS rules. Please remove Agent Full reports and replace them with Customer Full reports if you have been including them in brochure boxes. Thank you for your cooperation.

-When searching in Paragon, you can enter multiple entries for most fields. If there is no pick list to choose from, you simply include a comma between entries. Examples of a couple non-pick list fields are Lake/River Name and Subdivision. If you want to search both Lake Mendota and Lake Monona for example, you would type Mendota, Monona.

December 2007

– If you have a listing for which circumstances exist that cause the sale price to be less than market value, please use the MLS remarks to explain those circumstances.

-When entering a property that is under construction, you may include a sketch or a photo of a similar model. If you use a photo of a similar model, please make sure the photo has the words “similar model” included as part of the photo.

-Concern from the appraiser community: We recently received this email and agree this is an area our members could do better at:
“When sales concessions are involved in a transaction, it is most helpful if they are included on the MLS data sheet. There is a special area just for this called Points Paid/Seller Credits that is not being used. As appraisers we have to track down the Realtors® involved in the sale to get the concession amount which is both a bother for the Realtors® and a time burner for the appraiser. In a market where all details truly matter and where efficiency is critical, I ask that Realtors® kindly take the extra minute to specify the concession amount. Thank you.”

If the seller made concessions, such as paying closing costs or points on behalf of the buyer, please indicate that amount in the Points Paid/Seller Credits field when closing out the listing in Paragon.