Some of the top stagers in the metro Denver area are sharing their secrets with you. Check out these videos to learn how to differentiate your listings from similar properties.
A dull listing could prevent a sale. Here are some tips from other real estate professionals about how to make your listings shine.
Give Good Directions Not everyone relies on their G.P.S. to navigate through unfamiliar neighborhoods. Make sure you enter good directions to the property, and skip the shortcuts. Don't use "See MapQuest" or "Call Broker." You can now enter up to 1,000 characters in the Directions field. The Listing Detail will display the full set of characters, allowing you more space to provide better directions to the property.
Disclose Short Sales If your listing is a short sale, this must be selected under Approval Conditions to abide by the MLS Rules & Regulations.
Complete the Descriptions Those checkboxes under Description may not seem important, but it is imperative to select all that apply. Even if you don't think the "Dog Run" is a huge selling point, it may be to the homebuyer with a couple of canines.
Using Remarks Use the Remarks fields to the fullest extent to paint a picture of the property in the minds of the reader. The Public Remarks is a great place to talk about the features and benefits of the property, not to repeat the Description fields in sentence form. Just like the Directions field, you can now enter up to 1,000 characters in the Remarks field. The Listing Detail will display the full set of characters, allowing you more space to describe your property’s features.
Don't Say NOT If your listing is NOT a short sale, don't enter "NOT a Fix and Flip" in the Remarks field. Savvy real estate brokers may choose to exclude listings with "Fix and Flip" in the Remarks from their search results, which would also exclude your listing.
Enter Room Dimensions Take the extra time to measure the room dimensions for your listings. If homebuyers are thinking about room dimensions, they are likely already picturing their furniture and decorations in the property. That is a good thing.
Show Me the Photos Twelve percent of all listings in the Metrolist® database do not have a single property photo. Make sure your listings don't get passed over; upload up to 25 property photos when you enter your listings using the Media Management function.
Enable ShowingAssist Make it easy for your fellow brokers to schedule showing appointments without having to make extra phone calls. Use ShowingAssist to establish available showing times for the property.
Attach Disclosures to Your Listings A broker calling during your family dinner has a homebuyer ready to make an offer on your listing, just as soon as you can send the disclosures. You could have attached them to your listing using the Media/Documents page of the My Listings menu.
Add a Virtual Tour If a photo is worth a thousand words, and a good Virtual Tour is worth a thousand photos, shouldn't you include a Virtual Tour for your listing? Adding Virtual Tours to your marketing capabilities will boost your listing exposure to attract online buyers. You can easily provide a Virtual Tour by simply entering the URL for your listing's Virtual Tour or video using the Media Management function.
The
Metrolist Idea Manager provides an online community that encourages you to
submit feedback and share your ideas. It connects you with support, marketing,
and development staff at Metrolist as well as with your colleagues to help
determine what features to build/enhance, and the right priority for
development resources.
To access the Metrolist Idea Manager, click the feedback icon from PrimeAccess Portal.
Creating Your Idea Manager Account
The login
for this account is not tied to your PrimeAccess login.
Click Register to create your account.
Enter your email address and click Submit.
You will receive a confirmation
email. Click the link in the email. If you do not receive the confirmation
email, check your email’s junk folder.
Enter your name under Screen Name and choose a Password (must be at least 6 characters
and contain one number).
Agree to the Terms of Conditions and
click Register.
You are now
a part of the Metrolist network of ideas. You can view, comment, and vote on
ideas, or post an idea of your own.
If you need
additional assistance, click Help
(located just below your name in the top right corner).
Powered by Brightidea, the Metrolist Idea Manager provides a rich environment for capturing ideas. Real-time duplicate checking, rich text formatting, support for attachments and user-defined tags to ensure you the flexibility you need to accurately describe your ideas.
John Skrabec, Broker Owner of Live Urban Real Estate in Denver, discusses four critical strategies for building an online presence for your real estate business.
BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with John Skrabec, broker-owner of Live Urban Real Estate in Denver, Colorado. How are you?
John Skrabec: Good Dan, how are you?
BrokerIPTV: Good thanks. Today we are going to talk a little bit about things you need to do or how to succeed in Denver real estate and Im sure everybody says, "Well, what's that one thing?" I don't know if there is, I mean, ever one thing.
John Skrabec: Yeah, I don't think there is either.
BrokerIPTV: But what would be your top?
John Skrabec: For me, be different. I just think that there is, there are so many brokers in the Denver Metro market, most of them blend in with one another, frankly and I think that if you can be different and start crafting an image and a brand around a unique selling proposition, a unique personality, that's where you have to start.
BrokerIPTV: Like, go to all your showings on horseback and...
John Skrabec: Well if you want to take it that far, I suppose, but I think its more about telling a story, crafting a personality, an image that you can then translate into all your marketing efforts, whether thats online, whether its a print collateral, advertising, newspaper advertising, we even do some radio, all those kind of things, and you start kind of crafting that image. I think the biggest mistake brokers make is that they see brokers doing certain things and they copy and mimic that its the worst thing you could do, because you just get lost in the crowd.
BrokerIPTV: You know, I talk about that all the time, I say be true to yourself, don't try to put yourself in a box and do something that does not come naturally to you, for instance, me I'm an online guy, I spend all my time online, that's where I build my business, that's what I do. I am never going to be a door-knocker type of guy, but that doesn't mean that's not going to work for someone else.
John Skrabec: Absolutely. No, what works for you, be true to yourself and I think that's a great way to put it.
BrokerIPTV: Sphere of influence, I mean obviously this term has been around since the dawn of real estate.
John Skrabec: Sure.
BrokerIPTV: Who do you know? Who is in your group? Who is in your circle? How do you market to them best?
John Skrabec: Well I think it depends on who it is and how you are going to talk to them. Everybody has probably a market that social media is going to work for them. So you have your Facebook and your Twitter followers, and you're talking to them and engaging them on that level, maybe blogging, an e-mail or newsletters to a certain extent. But then you have kind of the non-techie people that maybe a printed newsletter works better, one-on-one, phone calls, meeting people one-on-one, having coffee, connecting with your sphere that way, I don't think you could put all your eggs in one basket in that sense, and it kind of comes down to integrated marketing, using a multitude of marketing tactics in many different ways to connect to different parts of your audience.
BrokerIPTV: Alright, lets say you've got your brand, lets say you've got your sphere of influence, how do you go about crafting that message?
John Skrabec: Well, I think really understanding who your target market is, and then starting to mimic their style and the kind of the words they use and the phrases they use, and understanding that, I think that's really being, being able to be changeable and nimble to be flexible and being a good listener frankly, to hear what they are saying, whats important to them and then starting to mimic that stuff back. And that's possible to do certainly one-on-one, you could also do it online using technology and you know quickly changing information on your website that's more relevant to your target market, because you're starting to understand what their needs are.
BrokerIPTV: John, thanks, great information, I appreciate you being here.
If you've never seen a QR Code, you're about to see them everywhere. A QR code is a matrix barcode that can be deciphered by most smartphones using the phone's camera and a QR decoder app.
QR codes, which are used to direct a smartphone to a specified URL, are gaining popularity as a marketing tool, especially in the real estate industry. For example, this QR code goes to the Metrolist Facebook page.
QR codes can be placed anywhere, and brokers are finding many creative ways to use QR codes, such as on yard signs, listing brochures, business cards, promotional items, etc. Pam Franz of PJ Promotions tells us that, "QR codes were the big thing at our promotional products tradeshow this year. They are really gaining momentum and are showing up in more and more places."
Effective QR Codes
To ensure that your QR codes are effective, it's important to link to valuable content that is formatted for viewing on a mobile device or smartphone. Don't send your QR decoders to a non-mobile-friendly site that provides little or no value. Some things that you might consider linking to are listing pages that are formatted for mobile viewing, YouTube (usually very smartphone friendly) video tours of your listings, or a mobile "tool kit" with contact information and a property search.
Issues Around National Data Are Not Applicable At The Neighborhood Level Says Long-Time MLS Executive
DENVER, CO--(March 8, 2011) - Amid a growing controversy over the accuracy of national housing data, Patricia Bybee, President CEO of Metrolist, Inc., is encouraging the industry to keep its focus on the reliability of local data.
At issue is the perceived accuracy of what's widely considered the most popular measure of existing home sales, the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) Existing Home Sales, specifically that the report has increasingly overstated home sales. The NAR has dismissed claims it could dramatically mis-report national sales numbers.
"We appreciate, of course, the conversation around the NAR’s data,” said Ms. Bybee, who’s been at the head of Metrolist since its founding in 1984, “The fact is, Realtors focus on local data. And we’re entirely confident of the accuracy of the data from the MLS, which is the one true source the industry can rely on."
Ms. Bybee’s firm, the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Colorado and one of the first regional multiple listing services in the nation, provides a broad database of real property listings for real estate brokers to serve buyers and sellers.
Metrolist's 'Monthly Indicator Report' highlights key metrics and provides a top line summary of the month's trends. Similar to other ready-made, localized reports produced around the nation, the firm's 'Local Market Update' gives a historical view of how prices have changed in that area and in comparison to the overall market.
"Realtors are the voice of real estate,” says Ms. Bybee. “The fact remains that local data is more relevant to homebuyers and sellers. National trends do not reflect local markets, but simply provide metrics across long time periods."
About Metrolist
Metrolist is the largest MLS in the state of Colorado, supporting the largest network of REALTORS® with the most comprehensive database of real property listings throughout the Front Range. REALTOR owned since 1984, Metrolist provides leading technology solutions to real estate agents and brokers to better serve buyers and sellers. More information about Metrolist is available at www.metrolist.com.
The Monthly Indicator Report and Local Market Update have been updated to make them even simpler, cleaner and more modern, giving you the tools needed to help tell the story of your real estate market. Here's a summary of the enhancements made to these two Market Intel reports:
Monthly Indicator Report
The first page offers a new Quick Facts dashboard, which highlights key metrics and complements the written analysis to give a top line summary of the month's trends. The Market Overview has been moved to the second page and enhanced with historical sparklines. Finally, the individual metric pages now include data tables going back 12 months, so you have a numerical reference in addition to charts.
Local Market Update
This ready-made, localized report, perfect for CMAs, open houses, and more, features more relevant information, still on one page. A Quick Facts dashboard has been added. The biggest change is the addition of a line chart for prices, which gives a historical view of how prices have changed in that area and in comparison to the overall market. The bar charts feature key metrics, including the number of homes that have sold in an area and market times. It's a great tool to help buyers, sellers and homeowners understand how active (i.e., competitive) an area has been.
Market Intel
Market Intel gives you the tools to become the market expert. In addition to the Monthly Indicator Report and the Local Market Update, use Market Intel to access other current and archived market activity reports. Market activity reports provide data for active, sold, and off market residential MLS listings. Keep up-to-date with your marketplace. Choose from weekly, monthly and year-to-date summaries as well as descriptive charts of residential data. From the navigation bar on the PrimeAccess Portal page, select Tools then click Market Intel.
To help you understand the new status fields and to answer related listing questions, Metrolist® will offer a new class and webinar in January.
Understanding New Statuses
Learn to correctly use the new Status Conditions and Approval Conditions fields to present a true picture of a listing. Get examples of accurate reporting for common listing scenarios.
You will learn:
How to accurately use Short Sale disclosure
When to use the Pending status
How a Refreshed listing work
How the Withdrawn status works
When to use the Kick Out condition
These 45 minute classes are scheduled to immediately follow the Skill Building: New MLS Features & Functionality classes. Two classes are scheduled for January:
Thursday, January 6th -- 11:00 am to 11:45 am
Wednesday, January 19th -- 3:30 pm to 4:15 pm
These free training classes are offered in our state-of-the-art training facility. No CE credits will be offered for this class.
Webinar
Metrolist will also offer free webinars, providing you with the same information presented in the classroom. Learn from the comfort of your office in one of these 30-minute online training sessions.
Friday, January 7th - 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Thursday, January 20th - 11:30 am to 12:00 pm
Training Schedule
Register for training classes, view a complete training schedule, and find additional training resources by clicking Training & Education from www.metrolist.com.
Determining the true availability and status of a listing has been a frustration of Colorado real estate professionals. New status-related fields, accompanied by changes to the MLS Rules & Regulations effective January 1, 2011, help establish a better way to create a true picture of the status and availability of a listing.
All of the current Status options (Active, Under Contract, Pending, Withdrawn, Expired and Sold) remain as the primary listing status options. Two new required fields will be added, Status Conditions and Approval Conditions. Also, the Seller Type field will be required at the time the listing is entered, rather than at the time of sale.
The Short Sale (SS) and the SS Pend Lender (SL) fields will be removed from Terms and included in Status Conditions or Approval Conditions. The Lender Owned (LE) field will be removed from Description and will be available in Seller Type as Bank/GSE.
Status Conditions
The new Status Conditions field helps to clearly communicate approval disclosures of the listing when it comes to showings and offers. The Status Conditions field contains the following options:
Accepting Offer - The property is still available for showings and offers are still being accepted.
Kick Out/First Right - There is a mutually executed contract with a contingency listed in Additional Provision of, or in an Addendum to, the Colorado Real Estate Commission form.
Not Accepting Showings - The property is not available for showings and offers are not being accepted.
Offers Submitted to 3rd Party for Approval - An offer has been submitted to a 3rd party for approval. See Approval Conditions for more info.
Approval Conditions
The new Approval Conditions field provides information about offers that require disclosure. The Approval Conditions field contains the following options:
Short Sale - Disclosure of a short sale.
Court - For offers that are awaiting approval from the Courts.
Equitable Interest - Disclosure of an equitable interest in the property.
None of the Above - For offers that do not require approval.
What Does This Mean to You?
All brokers with Short Sale listings or Lender Owned properties are immediately affected by these changes. Metrolist® will automatically convert short sale and lender owned listings on December 22, with the introduction of the new MLS fields mentioned above. Listing brokers will be contacted about these changes and will also be notified about specific changes that will be made to their listings.
For additional questions about how to correctly use these new fields, or for general questions about the MLS Rules & Regulations, contact the Metrolist Compliance Team at (303) 850-9576 or compliance@metrolist.com.
Updated MLS Rules & Regulations are now available online at www.metrolist.com.
You can now enter up to 1,000 characters in the Public Remarks, Broker Remarks, and Directions fields. PrimeAccess® Listing Details will display the full set of characters, allowing you more space to describe your property's features and provide better directions to the property.
A response to frequent customer requests, expanded remarks are just the latest PrimeAccess improvement to increase the marketability of your properties. Take advantage of this enhancement by more adequately describing the unique features of your properties.
Report Character Count
In order to maintain one-page layouts, select reports will display a truncated version of this field and will be identified by ellipses (...), which indicate there is more information available.
Listing Syndication
Metrolist provides all 1,000 characters when syndicating your listings. It is up to the listing syndication website to implement the expanded characters. REcolorado.com displays all 1,000 characters. Some listing websites and/or IDX vendors may not include all 1,000 characters when displaying listings.
Dedicated to providing information and pertinent updates to Colorado Realtors®. Metrolist is Colorado's MLS of Choice.
Metrolist distributes listings to over 4,000 broker (IDX) websites and hosts the state's leading public website for real estate, REcolorado.com. Delivering professional-grade service and tools to 18,000 real estate practitioners, we are dedicated to accurate and timely property listing information.
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Give Good Directions
Using Remarks
Enter Room Dimensions
Ms. Bybee’s firm, the largest Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Colorado and one of the first regional multiple listing services in the nation, provides a broad database of real property listings for real estate brokers to serve buyers and sellers. 
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