News & Past Hot Tips

Before leaving for a showing, especially for a property in an area with spotty cell phone coverage, double check that your Supra eKEY has updated for the day. To check this, look for the Update icon on the bottom of the main eKEY screen. If there is a red X over the Update icon, click to do a manual update. If there is no red X, you are good to go. Once your eKEY is updated for the day, it does not need access to cell service or the internet to retrieve a key or open a keybox shackle.

It is against MLS rules and copyright law to use another agent’s photos without permission. If an agent submits photos with the knowledge that they do not have the right to use them, a fine of $25 per photo may be assessed in addition to any legal remedies available to the copyright owner of the photos.

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 the Email button.

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. You also have the option to add a custom message. Once the text is sent, it will be recorded in the contact’s Message History.

When marketing a listing, a good rule of thumb is to describe the property, not the people. Paragon automatically checks the public remarks for words that may, in a certain context, violate fair housing laws, and displays a warning message that includes the flagged word or phrase. If you are comfortable with the context in which the word is being used, simply check the box to accept, and re-save. For a full list of words that will trigger a warning, click here. In addition to the remarks, please keep these guidelines in mind when adding photos & documents as well.

Paragon Connect is the mobile-friendly version of Paragon. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, watch this video for an overview of features and functions.

The Type feature pick list contains three distinct stages for properties that are under construction or newly built:

• Building Plan with Lot = Proposed home is not yet started. Building plans are allowed on the MLS only if they include land with the sale, and only one building plan per lot may be entered. If there are additional floorplan or finish options, these can be noted in the remarks.
• Under Construction = Hole has been dug & construction is underway. The estimated date of completion (or stage of completion at the time of listing) is required in the first line of the public remarks.
• New/Never Occupied = New home is completed & move-in ready. A photo of the front exterior of the home is required at this stage.

It is important to update the feature as a home moves from plan, through construction, to finish. If you add upgrades or finish more square footage than the original listing states, please adjust the price and applicable fields/features in the MLS to reflect these changes. We often see the sale price several thousand dollars more than the list price due to additions/upgrades, which makes it difficult to use these sales for appraisals and CMAs.

Do you have contacts in Paragon for whom you would like to preview listing matches before sending?​

If you use Collab Center, you can set up the contact for Agent Preview. Open the contact, go to Contact Information, select Agent Preview from the Collab Center Search Options located in the top left, and click Save. When a listing notification is sent, it will come to you first to Approve or Disapprove in Paragon. This approval/disapproval can be done directly from the contact grid.

If you use Email Notification, you can edit the notification so it is only sent to you. Open the contact, click Buyer Activity, click the search name, then click Email Notification 1. Click the Edit Notification button at the top. Remove the contact’s email address, check the Bcc Me box, and click Save. Be sure you clearly identify the contact in the subject line so you know who to forward the email to when you receive it.

When entering a new Single Family, Condo, or Multi Family listing, please remember to include a front exterior/street view of the home, even for waterfront properties. It does not need to be the primary photo, and can appear anywhere in the order. Having a view from the street is useful not only to agents when showing the property, but also to appraisers. Click here for additional info on photos in the MLS.

Did you know you can track the number of times your listing is viewed by agents and consumers via Paragon? To access this information, pull up your listing via Listings -> Maintain, and click on Select an Action.  From the Select an Action box, choose View Activity Report.  Within the report there is a link that defines the statistics displayed.

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.

Did you know you can customize the Market Monitor on the Paragon Home page to limit the display of listings to certain counties, cities, school districts, or types of property? Click the gear to the right of the words Market Monitor to set your preferences:

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Clicking the My Info Tab on the Market Monitor gives you quick access to your current active listings as well as your current offer-no show listings, your current delayed listings, your listings due to expire for days specified, and your solds for the past 6 months. Listings under the Sold Within Six Months link include your co-broke sales, allowing easy monitoring to be sure you are given credit for co-broke sales.

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Photos and video taken via a drone, and loaded into the MLS, must be taken by a drone pilot who is certified to operate a drone for commercial purposes.  When hiring a drone operator, please ask for their Remote Pilot Certificate number as issued by the FAA.  If you are taking your own drone photos or videos for use within the MLS, which would be considered for commercial use, you must have your Remote Pilot’s Certificate from the FAA.  By loading a photo or video tour into the MLS system, members represent that they have the legal right to use and publish said photo or video for commercial use.  More information on the operation of drones can be found here.

The following additions/changes have been made to the listing data we collect within Paragon. Updated profile sheets can be found here.

• The Street Name and Street Type (ex: Ave, St, Dr) have historically been included in one field.  This has been split into two fields.  The Street Type field is a pick list that contains non-abbreviated values (ex: Avenue, Street, Drive).  This will help to maintain more uniformity with addresses both in our system and when the address flows to other databases. Click here for guidelines on address input.
• Fields for Items Included and Items Excluded have been added to the Lots & Acreage property class.
• High-speed internet options of 5G Installed and StarLink Installed have been added to the Interior Features pick list.
• Smart home features of Smart Doorbell, Smart Thermostat, Smart Garage Door Opener, and Smart Security Cameras have been added to the Interior Features pick list.
• Under the Condo property class, a feature for Project Adjacent to Park/Public Land has been added under Common Amenities, and a feature for Unit Adjacent to Park/Public Land has been added under Exterior Features.
• Under the Lots & Acreage class, a new feature for Condo-Separate Amenity has been added under the Type feature pick list.  If you have a condo unit with no living space (ex: storage unit, garage/parking stall, pier) that is being sold separately, and is available to purchase by the general public, you can enter it under the Lots & Acreage property class and select this new Condo-Separate Amenity feature.  It is required that you describe, in the first line of the public remarks, what is being sold so it is clear a unit of some type is for sale versus vacant land.
• A new waterfront feature for Direct Access – Frontage Not Owned has been added.  This new feature should be used to identify properties that are contiguous to, and have authorized use of, shoreline owned by another entity, such as the Wisconsin River Power Company.  These types of properties may no longer be identified by the Has Actual Waterfrontage feature.  This change has been made at the request of the Wisconsin River Power Company.

Here are a few tips to ensure your listing is being matched with the maximum number of buyer searches in Paragon:

• Select all features that apply – If your listing has a 2 car attached garage with an electric car charger, you would select the features “2 car”, “attached”, and “electric car charger” in the Garage feature category. Many buyer searches are set up based on specific features, so if your listing has a particular feature, but that feature is not selected, your listing will not come up as a match.
• Check the mapping – This can be verified & adjusted under Listing Maintain – Select an Action – Change GeoCode (click here for detailed instructions). This should be done for all new listings, but is particularly important for properties that do not have an established mailing address (ex: new construction or vacant land).
• Utilize the price analysis tool – 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 if the price were changed. This functionality is available for partial listings, as well as live listings. Click here to watch a short video demonstrating this cool feature.
• Note special property features in the remarks – The remarks section of a listing is searchable, so if your listing has unique features that are not covered elsewhere in the listing data (ex: large garden space, apple orchard), be sure to mention these features in the remarks.

Create a quick CMA report with just a few clicks with the new Easy CMA feature in Paragon. You’ll find this option under the CMA icon.

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Just add your subject property, and Easy CMA will find 10 comparables for you. You can also add others manually. Then click Generate CMA for a report you can print out or create a link to send.

If you are not currently using Tax Autofill when adding a listing, you may want to check it out. It allows you to automatically pull information such as address, parcel number, municipality, owner, school district, acres, assessments, and taxes from the tax record into the listing input screen in Paragon, saving you keystrokes.

To do this, click the Tax Autofill button at the top of the Add Listing screen. On the Tax Search page that displays, select the county along with the parcel number, address, or owner name, and then click Search. Check the box next to the appropriate tax record, and then click the Autofill button in the toolbar above the results to load the information into the listing input screen. To adjust any of the information that auto-filled, simply overwrite it.

It is against MLS rules to advertise a property that is listed by another firm without permission from that agent/broker. The only exception is advertising done via an approved IDX website 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 such. Social media sites such as Facebook & Instagram do not qualify as approved IDX platforms, so please remember to obtain permission from the listing agent/broker before advertising a listing on one of these sites. This would include posting photos and/or videos of a listing that is not yours.

Per Wisconsin State Statute 452.136(3), an agent cannot advertise a property unless their firm is the listing firm or has permission from the listing firm. The firm does not become the listing firm until a listing contract has been executed and the term of the contract has begun. This date is also referred to as the effective or list date:

Because state law is not well-defined in regard to what is considered advertising, the MLS Board of Directors created the following rule to stop violations internally & reduce the risk of our members being sanctioned by the DSPS:

If any detail of a specific property, sufficient to activate the interest of a potential buyer, is publicly marketed* before the effective date of the listing contract for said property, the listing agent shall be fined $200 per day, from the time of advertisement until the effective date of the contract. This fine will not exceed $5,000. 

*Public marketing includes, but is not limited to: flyers displayed in windows, yard signs, digital marketing on public facing websites, brokerage website displays (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (email blasts), multi-brokerage listing sharing networks (ex: Realtor® Facebook groups), communication which introduces the property to agents outside the listing firm, and applications available to the general public.

If you are unsure if something is allowed, please call 608-240-2800 & ask for Heather or Patty.  We would much rather talk to you ahead of time than have to issue a fine.