This post is part of MLS Insight, a series about how things work at RMLS™.
RMLS™ is renewing its agreement with Oregon Real Estate Forms to pay for MLS-Connect® for zipForms on behalf of the RMLS™ subscribers who use the OREF Forms. The Board of Directors approved payment of this annual fee of $3.00/OREF Forms subscriber at its meeting in October. MLS-Connect® allows for auto-population from the listing data. We recently audited the available fields, and are sending all the data that is compatible to OREF for use in this functionality.
RMLS™ and OREF are two separate entities with a history of cooperation in serving Oregon REALTORS®. From 2004 through 2010, RMLS™ provided the on-line forms software solution for OREF. The program was based on Microsoft technology, and after six years of operation, some key components were no longer available to support the software that RMLS™ had built for OREF. The REALTOR®-owned zipLogix platform was chosen by the OREF Board of Managers and was launched January 1, 2011. RMLS™ has participated in the MLS-Connect® feature from the beginning to add value for our subscribers.
Thanks to everyone who commented on the last post – Thinking About an MLS Without Area Numbers! As I stated, this is not in the works at this time, but discussion about how things might work in the future is healthy. Technology moves at a great rate, and we don’t always know where it is headed. Even just thinking about doing things in a different way keeps us mentally agile and a little more ready for whatever changes comes our way. Thanks again for participating.
I took a detour this month to tell you about OREF. Next month we will get back to talking about the various departments at RMLS™ and their plans for the upcoming year. If you have any questions you would like to have answered about how things work at RMLS™, I encourage you to post a comment to this blog.
Monthly is too infrequent for these columns. They are universally interestig and helpful, but today’s world moves faster than one a month
Thank you! I am so glad you find the information valuable. I can’t promise to increase the frequency of this column, but we are working on more content on RMLScentral that will help our subscribers.
We have never rec’d a response from numerous requests to make changes to OREF forms which have so many built-in problems. Now the new version has two pop up screens once I have already used my user name and password on the RMLS program, and then again when I open OREF forms I use another user name and password, only to be told I may not have permission to print documents from the site. Then there is the “active X” pop up. Who is in charge of developing these forms. It is as though we live in the stone age. There is simply not enough space to write a Seller’s Counter Offer, without adding addendum after addendum. Simple changes can be made to allow additional lines to be placed in the original document.
What is happening?? Why no response to requests. No changes….only for the worse. Get in touch with the people who use these forms. Thank you.
Ann – RMLS™ has a limited relationship with OREF. We provide a link to their forms site on RMLSweb for the convenience of our subscribers, but it is only a link and doesn’t have their password built-in. RMLS™ pays for and delivers data to make the MLS Connect feature work. However, we have no input on their transaction forms or site design. I will copy your comment and email it to Lance Clark, the Executive Officer at OREF, so that he is aware of your concerns.
I’m with Anna on the forms. There are typos, grammatical mistakes, and spacing mistakes. The lack of space in the counter offer comes up frequently. Also, why in God’s green earth is the earnest money an orphan on the bottom of a page and not with the rest of the earnest money information? Why do we waste a paragraph on the private well, fireplace insert, and lead-based paint when each of those topics has a perfectly labeled addendum of their own? Why do we waste about 1/2 a page in the Sale Agreement on inspections when this could be handled in a one-page addendum (oh, yeah, that two-page version is wasteful)?
My biggest pet peeve is that the listing contract says that changes to the contract (including commission) can only be made in writing and signed by both parties. The listing contract addenda (long and short forms) have a signature line for the seller(s), but only an initial line for the broker and principal broker. That’s not really “signing,” now is it?
Another fail is the Sale Agreement, where Section 41, line 433 refers to buyer’s acceptance when seller’s response is after the deadline. That line refers to Section 45 below. Newsflash: Section 45 is where the broker information located. Section 44 is the place where a buyer cures the late response.
I think it’s time to think about redrafting the forms and we, the users, should have some input on this.
Sorry for my typo, Ann.
Jack – I have commented below as the formatting gets very skinny with so many replies. Thanks for your input!
I just love MLS-Connect! I sure wouldn’t want to loose its function in ZipForms. I sure wish more agents would use this feature as it really helps to make documents more complete and it cuts down on inaccuracies in the forms, not to mention allowing an agent to write a contract faster. Thank you RMLS!
Gail – thanks for this update. Natasha nailed it on the head with MLS Connect cutting down on inaccuracies. I received multiple offers from three different brokers this summer and each had spelled my name differently with two of them misspelling the seller’s name. I review paperwork at my firm and recommend that people use the Cover Sheet to fill in their information and pull what they can from MLS Connect. The only glitch there is that MLS Connect doesn’t pull the principal broker’s name. To address that, I’d like to see an “L” button, similar to the M for Map, T for Tax, H for History. You could put it next to the listing broker’s name. The L button would give all the information about the listing broker at one click of a button. The present system makes you back out of the listing page which is a bit of a pain.
Thank you for those illuminating examples of how MLS Connect can help. Your suggestion for an L button is intriguing, and we will contact you soon for more details on your idea.
Natasha – Thanks for your comment. It is good to know that this feature is so helpful.
“Even just thinking about doing things in a different way keeps us mentally agile and a little more ready for whatever changes comes our way.”
This sentence makes me very happy and I’m pleased that this is the viewpoint of leadership. And the MLSConnect is so great I can’t believe it’s not mandatory in RMLS orientation for new agents and that all Principal Brokers know about it.
Thank you for your comment. It was absurdly gratifying as a writer to hear that I had made someone happy with a sentence I had written! Your suggestion about including MLS Connect in the orientation class is very timely, as a process is just beginning to redesign that class. I have passed on your suggestion to the staff involved. Thanks again!
Jack – Thank you for your comments. I have forwarded those that pertain to the transaction forms to the OREF Executive Officer, so that he can address them. RMLS™ can take care of your pet peeve, however, because the Listing Forms come from RMLS™. I don’t know why our Long and Short Addendums ask for initials and not signatures. This will be remedied asap. These two forms will be corrected on RMLSweb shortly. It takes a little longer to get those changes made on the ZipLogix website.