Please be aware that the Member Service Center in the Columbus REALTORS® offices, located at 2700 Airport Dr., will be closed Monday 5/15 through Wednesday 5/17. This closure is in conjunction with the ongoing renovation project at the Columbus REALTORS® offices. Please be aware that during this time period, the KeyBox Office will still be open. If you have any questions about what might be available please feel free to contact the Columbus REALTORS® office at 614-475-4000.

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05/12/2017

Read the full obituary here:

http://www.funeralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1959639

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05/03/2017

The Commercial Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Contract has been modified in the same manner as the Residential Listing Contract was in February. The following text has been added at the end of the Section 6: Seller acknowledges that photos and/or videos may be taken of the property. It is the intent of the MLS committee that this change serve as notification to sellers that photos and videos may be taken for multiple purposes including marketing and comparison. They may be taken by various parties such as agents, inspectors, appraiser, and even prospective buyers.

These changes are now included in the latest version of the Commercial Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Contract. The version of the form can be identified by the revision date printed at the bottom of the form. The latest revision that includes this change will be labeled “5/17” at the bottom.

Full text of section 6:
6. SELLER’S COOPERATION: Owner hereby authorizes Brokerage to place a marketing sign on said property and remove all other “For Sale” and/or “For Lease” signs. Further, Owner authorizes Brokerage and all salespersons and Brokerages authorized by listing Brokerage to have access to the property at all reasonable times for the purpose of showing it. Seller acknowledges that photos and/or videos may be taken of the property.

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05/02/2017

Tax Abatement and Abatement End Date: Two new fields will be added to the MLS on May 8, 2017.  

The new fields will appear on the add/edit screen and on reports for all property types except Res Rental and Business Opportunity.  The Tax Abatement field will be a required entry of Yes or No.  If “yes” is selected in the Tax Abatement field, then Abatement End Date will also be required.

For Existing Listings:

• All Residential listings with “Tax Abatement” currently selected in the “Tax” field will be automatically be marked YES in the new field “Tax Abatement” field. After these listings are updated, the “tax abatement” option will be removed from the Tax detail group in Residential.
• All Land/Farm listings with “Tax Abatement” currently selected in the “Miscellaneous” field will automatically be marked YES in the new field “Tax Abetement”.  After these listings are updated, the “Tax Abatement” option will be removed from the Miscellaneous detail group in Land/Farm.
• Listings in all other property types in all other property types will NOT be automatically mapped to the required Tax Abatement Y/N field. The field must be manually updated by the listing agent upon next edit.

PLEASE NOTE: All listings will require a selection be made by the listing agent in the Tax Abatement field (if not mapped automatically) and Abatement End Date fields the next time the listing is edited.

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05/01/2017

Deceptive buyers with a pattern of writing then terminating contracts without merit.

Velva Dunn, RE/MAX Top Producers, and Helen Conway, Keller Williams Consultants, wanted to make colleagues aware of fraudulent buyers Lizbeth and Geoffrey Turner who have contacted several different agents to view homes, present purchase contracts and then use excuses without merit to terminate the contract while firing the agents who represented them. To-date, they have terminated four contracts. The wife (Lizbeth) is very hostile and displays unpredictable behavior towards the agents, sellers, lenders and inspectors. In fact, Velva’s seller is now scared of her and fears this person as an unhealthy overly aggressive/hostile and unpredictable individual who might come back to her home unannounced and possibly harm her. These buyers who claim to reside in southern Delaware may attend open houses in Delaware and Lewis Center.

For this notice and more, click http://www.columbusrealtors.com/alerts/default.aspx

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Have you listed a mobile home in MLS?

You will need to change the Sub-Type for your mobile home listings to “Other Residential” as defined below if you haven’t already.  This change is required because there are new policies concerning how mobile homes are handled in the MLS.  Please read the new MLS requirements for mobile home listings below.

NOTE: If your mobile home listing has already closed, please email: mlscorrections@columbusrealtors.com  for assistance updating the Sub-Type for that listing.

For all listings of Mobile Homes entered into the MLS you must:
1) Select one of the two  “Other Residential” options in the Sub-Type field.
2) Mark “YES” in the Manufactured Housing Y/N field.

Previously, mobile homes could be entered as “single family freestanding” in Sub-Type.  This policy was changed as of February 2017. Selection of “YES” in the Manufactured Housing Y/N field will also cause six additional Manufactured Housing-specific fields to appear such as Make, Model, and Year.  There is help text on the Add/Edit screen that specifically states that all mobile homes must choose one of the “Other Residential” selections in the Sub-Type field.

Residential and Res Rental property types have two “Sub-Types” called “Other Residential”.  These Sub-Types must be used for any residential property deemed not “Single Family” or “Condo” by the MLS.

The 2 options for “Other Residential” in the Sub-Type field are:
1) Other Residential with Deeded Land
2) Other Residential without Deeded Land

In order for a listing to be entered as “Other Residential” the following criteria must be met:
a) The unit may not have been converted to real property.
b) The unit must be available as a full-time dwelling.
c) The unit must be located where human habitation is permitted year-round.
d) The unit may not be self-propelled nor titled as a vehicle.

NOTE: Units that do not meet these criteria (or criteria for another property type) cannot be listed
on the MLS.

Questions? Please feel free to contact the MLS department at (614) 475-4000 or email: mlspolicy@columbusrealtors.com

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04/21/2017

On Sunday, April 23nd, Realist will be conducting an annual network fail over/redundancy test.  The activity will start at 2:00 am and will take approximately 6 hours to complete. Realist may be intermittently unavailable during this maintenance period.

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04/20/2017

As many may have heard over the last few months, Microsoft has ended support for PC systems running Windows Vista on April 11, 2017. As such, Windows Vista will no longer receive software updates including security updates that protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, which can steal your personal information.

Not surprising, all major web browsers are no longer supporting Windows Vista either.

As our MLS Software vendor, FBS, can only support Flexmls on up-to-date browsers, this means you won’t be able to get technical support from MLS Tech staff or FBS if you’re running on Microsoft Vista.

If you are running Windows Vista, your computer (including MLS) will work the same as it did before for a while. But, as the major software providers for your system dropped support for their products, your continued usage of the computer system will be at your own risk.

As MLS access is likely an essential part of your daily business practice, it is strongly suggested you begin the process of looking to upgrade your computer system or to look at purchasing another system. If you have any questions about upgrades or new computer systems, the MLS Technical Support can give general advice. We are available Mon-Fri 8:30a-5:00p by phone at 614-475-4000 or by email at techsupport@columbusrealtors.com

For Flex Desktop access:

• Supported Versions of Windows: 7, 8.1, 10
• Mac OS versions supported, 10.10, 10.11, 10.12
• iPads running iOS 9 or higher (10 preferred) through Safari

For Flex Mobile:

• iPhones running iOS 9 or higher (10 preferred)
• Android Devices running Android OS 4.4 or higher

Resources:
Why did Microsoft discontinue support for Vista?
How to find out which operating system you’re using.

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04/17/2017

Flexmls Full Class Training Videos are Available Online

The Flexmls 1 and Flexmls 2 Class videos contain the same material covered in the full 6 hours of hands-on MLS classes.  It will closely mirror the class instruction offered in house.  All videos labeled “Specific to Columbus” are recorded on the Columbus MLS.  They will use the same fields and screens you will see when logged into the MLS, not fields and screens from Tulsa, Fargo, or Florida.

You can watch these MLS training videos from the comfort of your home.  Single videos on multiple Add/Edit features, Hotsheet Basics, Saved Searches, CMAs, Contact Management are also available.  Whether you want to get up to speed on everything Flexmls has to offer, or just want a refresher on one topic, we have you covered.

Please note: While the full class videos cover the same material in the Flexmls 1 & 2 classes, the video classes DO NOT QUALIFY for CE credit.  They are informational only.

Here’s how to find the Training Videos:

1.    Log in to MLS

2.    Click on ‘Training Videos’ as shown here:

3.    Flexmls 1 and Flexmls 2 full class videos as well as many other videos can be viewed from this page as seen in the image below.

___________________________

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04/12/2017

Read the full obituary here:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=judith-k-tackett&pid=185039853

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04/10/2017