| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Union County Auditor Potential Inaccuracies The MLS department has been notified by the Union County Auditor’s Office that there is currently an issue with the data on the Union County Auditor’s website. There have been reports of failure to update changes to properties (ie Garage added or removed). There have been multiple reports of these property changes not correctly being updated on the auditor’s website.The auditor is already working to correct the situation and hopes to have a resolution very quickly. This immediately affects data being displayed on the property card on the auditor site. If it persists, it could affect Realist tax data autopopulationfor new listings added to the MLS. If you need to report data that has not correctly updated or have additional questions, please feel free to contact the Union County Auditor’s Real Estate Department at (937) 645-3003.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Showing Instructions in the MLS The #2 policy violation that we see in the MLS is for “Unallowable Data in Property Description/Additional Remarks.” The most common problem is for showing instructions in this field. Examples of showing instructions are:
Please remember to always place showing instructions in the agent to agent remarks field. In 2011 the MLS Committee with approval from the Board of Directors changed the name of this field from “Remarks” to “Property Description.” The intent is to encourage REALTORS® to enter only characteristics of the property. MLS policy reads: 1.01.06 – Unallowable Data in Property Description/Additional Remarks $ 25 Data Maintenance Fee Examples of data to be excluded but not limited to this list would be names, phone numbers, web sites, e-mail addresses, logos, slogans, showing instructions, self-promotional statements, etc. Names of model homes and builders are to be excluded on new construction listings but are permitted on resale property listings. REALTOR® will receive an immediate warning. There shall be only one warning per licensee during each six-month period (Jan. – Jun. and Jul. – Dec.) Additional offenses of the identical data field occurring within the same six-month period (Jan. – Jun. and Jul. – Dec.) will be assessed an immediate data maintenance fee. Please call Karen Thompson at 614-475-4000, ext. 270 or e-mail her at mlspolicy@columbusrealtors.com if you have any questions.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
MLS Update: CMA Wizard in Fusion…More Watch online: CMA Wizard Tutorial Video Several new features and enhancements have been added to Fusion as of October 17, 2012. Most notably, the CMA Wizard is now available in Fusion. A “save as PDF” option has also been added. Read the list of notable changes below. Please note: If you experience a blank, gray screen (no gadgets) when you login to Fusion, you may need to hit the refresh button at the top of the browser window. If that doesn’t work, you may need to empty your cache. Call CBR Tech Support if you need assistance emptying your cache. Recent Fusion Enhancements:
A video tutorial will be added to http://wdwpy.com in the coming days to help users understand and use the new Fusion CMA Wizard. The basic functions are very similar to the CMA Wizard in Tempo. Tempo users who have transitioned to Fusion will likely have very little difficulty learning the Fusion version of CMA Wizard. The primary difference is the ability to upload PDF documents for inclusion in the CMA.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
MLS Committee Participation Ever think about serving on the MLS Committee and wonder how that’s done? The process to serve on this committee is different than any other. First, it’s an elected committee with a limited number of seats determined by a weighted formula based on the MLS’s agents, listings, solds and offices. The number of seats available can change each year based on this formula or elected members whose term ends or sometimes as a result of members simply changing offices and then perhaps no longer representing the group from which they were elected. You can find more detailed information on this process here. Interested? First, obtain permission from your broker to have your name considered for the ballot. Next, submit a brief bio or resume complete with photo before November to the MLS at CBR and they will be certain it is presented to the MLS Nominating Committee that is created at the Annual Business Meeting that occurs each year in October. The five selected REALTORS® that serve on the Nominating Committee then meet in November to select the candidates to run on the ballot that is created for the December election process where only brokers vote. Members wanting to volunteer their time to serve and submit their names are very much in demand by the Nominating Committee and always appreciated. If you still have questions, please review the information linked to the main CBR site or call or E-mail Mike Gautier in MLS at 614.475.4000 and mgautier@columbusrealtors.com
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Fee Increase Being Considered for MLS In order to meet future cash needs of the MLS, which would otherwise include net operating losses over each of the next three years, the Board of Directors will vote in October on an increase of $10 in the annual member fee effective 2013. Read more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
HOA/COA: New RES Condo and Association Fields New fields have been added for disclosure of Homeowner Association or Condo Association (HOA/COA) fees and contact information. These fields have been added to the Search and Add/Edit screens in the MLS. They will be added to the A2A Remarks report in the coming days. These 5 new fields include:
All of the new fields are optional entry, not required. Condo and Association documents such as bylaws, financials, covenants and restrictions should be added to the listing as an attachment within 7 days of listing entry.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Attic Fan and Air Filter Removed from Amenities Attic Fan and Air Filter pick list items have been removed from the Interior Amenities field. These items will no longer be displayed on listing report for any listing that previously had them selected on Add/Edit. This change applies to Residential and Rental category listings. The MLS committee removed these items from Interior Amenities due to inaccuracy of the data selected. The Attic Fan item was often confused or misunderstood as a “whole house fan”. The Air Filter item was originally intended as a way to specify an “electronic air clearn/purifier”. The committee felt that neither of these items was a primary selling point. They also determined that inclusion of whole house fans and attic fans interchangeably created inaccurate searches. The Air Filter selection was frequently selected when only a basic fiber filter was present in the home. These determinations lead to the committee’s choice to remove these items completely from the Interior Amenties field.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
School District Labels Enhancement The conversion of the School District field in the MLS to the new, enhanced school district labels has begun. When completed, the school district field will contain all school districts in the state of Ohio in the format below. The new school district Short Code will include 2 parts:
The new school district Description will include 3 parts:
The decades-old School District field is being updated with more accurate and concise school district labels. The old school district names included only the name of the school and often incorrect spellings and cryptic abbreviations. Here is an example of the old and new school district labels:
This complete revision of all school districts will take place in phases over the coming weeks. The first phase has already completed. During the process, you will notice a mixture of the old Short Code and the new Description. These changes will roll in slowly over the coming weeks. The last phase will include the more complicated renaming and remapping of duplicated school districts with the same name in multiple counties. You do not need to make changes to your listings at this time. The renaming should only update the newly enhanced label for the school district already selected for your listing. If for some reason the incorrect school district was selected at time of listing, this change will NOT correct the school as entered by the listing agent. This is a good time to verify that your listings have the correct school district selected per the auditor record.
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tri Valley School District Fixed in Muskingum County Tri Valley Local School District in Muskingum county has been relabeled as part of the initial phase of School District label enhancement, All listings that were incorrectly labeled due to the broken “TR” code for school district have been fixed. All Tri Valley listings now correctly display the following description:
This is the new standard format that all MLS school districts will use going forward. Tri Valley LSD is a Muskingum county school district that is commonly used by many CBRMLS agents. Tri Valley LSD is in the market area of many Licking county members. A previous glitch has made it very difficult to distinguish Tri Valley LSD from Tri County North LSD in Preble county or Tri Village LSD in Darke county. These counties all had the same short code of TR. This update fixes the issue with all 3 of these school districts
| ||||||||||||||||||||
|
Accessibility Features Replaces Handicap Access Accessibility Features is a new field on Add/Edit for Residential and Res Rental listings. All new and existing listings now require that this field be set to Yes or No. If Yes is selected, you must fill out the new Accessibility Features form. The form can be downloaded in PDF format from the Worksheets, Forms, & Contracts page on the CBR website. The Accessbility Features form should be available if requested, but it is not mandatory that it be attached to the listing on the MLS. What is Accessibility Features: Please verify your listings. If the Residential or Rental property you have listed in the MLS has accessilibity features, please make sure that Yes is selected in the new Accessibility features.
|
