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Greening the Arizona Regional MLS - again!

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Real Estate Agent with Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 SA5376460000

Greening the Arizona Regional MLS - again!

Volunteering for the U.S. Green Building Council has been very rewarding.  When the Residential Green Building Committee, sub committee of U S Green Building Council,  was formed 3 years ago, I jumped at the  opportunity.  Our committee is comprised of the Appraisal  Committee, Builder Committee and Realtor Committee.  In the past we’ve had an Advocacy Committee and Communications, but we’re still ramping those back in action. 
                                                                                                      Green Homes
- Energy/Green Features
- Green/Energy Certification

As a REALTOR® volunteer, my first priority 3 years ago was to green the MLS.  Luckily,  I had no trouble in finding others to work with me on this awesome project.  

So here we are 3 years later and ready to add more updates.  My goal this weekend is to review the  Green & Energy Efficient Addendum created by the Appraisal Institute 6/1/11, building certifications, and to break down what are the most widely recognized features among certifications for the public.  I’m sure others have worked on this for their MLS and I’d love to hear from you.

If you’ve worked on a committee or greened your MLS yourself, comment as to what features you’ve added.  

 

 

 

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Elite Home Sales Team
Elite Home Sales Team OC - Corona del Mar, CA
A Tenacious and Skilled Real Estate Team

I have not worked on this issue before and I will read the responses to get info.

May 18, 2012 01:44 AM
Adrian Willanger
206 909-7536 AdrianWillanger-broker.com - Seattle, WA
Profit from my two decades of experience

Hi Jan, first of all this sounds like a really great endeavor. Other addendum to the appraisal for green homes is one that was created by the Earth Institute, I'm sure you have this one on your radar. In Seattle we see the following green certifications: Built Green, LEED, Energy Star and a few Building America certs. Our mls has the following options for green building: Built Green, LEED, Energy Star, and third party certification. 

 

Hope this helps?

May 18, 2012 02:15 AM
Sharon Lord
Maracay Homes - Peoria, AZ
New Home Advisor

Jan - I'd love for the Dept of Real Estate to create a "Green Building/Reno" course for CE - it's information agents SHOULD have, and with the incentive of CE credits, I bet most would take it!

May 18, 2012 02:16 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Thanks for commenting!

Adrian - we have all of those items currently, as well as Solar Panels, Sustainable Flooring, Energy Audits, HERS Ratings, all Certifications, plus levels and year created.  We're working to get agents to upload certifications, but we aren't always successful.

Sharon - The Department of RE doesn't create courses.  There are realtors creating courses.  Contact Cheryl King, Hybrid Living, for information.  I just went to her course yesterday.  Also, Melisa Camp, teaches classes as well.  Classes aren't as well attended as we'd like, but the movement is there.  Plus, I just held a class regarding the Appraisal Addendum, 2/24.  Sponsored by APS, I had 75 attendees!

 

May 18, 2012 02:40 AM
David Popoff
DMK Real Estate - Darien, CT
Realtor®,SRS, Green ~ Fairfield County, Ct
That is wonderful, I keep recommending green to our 3 or 4 MLS services but nothing as of yet.
May 18, 2012 05:26 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

David - it usually takes a catalyst - someone to take charge.  We formed a task force.  For more information from NAR's Greening the MLS - visit http://greenthemls.org/

 

May 18, 2012 05:50 AM
Bret & Meredith Amon
LIV-Sotheby's International Realty - Breckenridge, CO
Breckenridge, Keystone, Silverthorne, Frisco,

Going green is going big everywhere!

May 18, 2012 06:13 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Yes Bret & Meredith.  Green busineses are growing as well!  Best of luck and have a great day!

May 18, 2012 06:52 AM
Juli Vosmik
Dominion Fine Properties - Scottsdale, AZ
Scottsdale/Cave Creek, AZ real estate 480-710-0739

Jan, keep up the great work.  And, I have a suggestion for the greening of MLS - while I'll send all of the listings to my clients which we are going to view, I will also print out the information and bring the sheets with me along with a clip board and a pen for the clients to be able to write down their impressions and thoughts and stuff after viewing the homes.  However, the print options are so silly - either the long form or the short form.  I think we should be able to choose two or three key fields to put on the forms we still print.  So, like subdivision, HOA fee, rooms, one photo maybe, price.  We have all the long forms in our mobile devices but some people still like to "hold" something.  I'd like to be able to print out three short form listings per page with the items I want to highlight.  Otherwise, there's just too much stuff on there and it's a waste of paper and ink.  

May 19, 2012 03:32 AM
Jan Green - Scottsdale, AZ
Value Added Service, 602-620-2699 - Scottsdale, AZ
HomeSmart Elite Group, REALTOR®, EcoBroker, GREEN

Thanks Juli!  Interesting that your thoughts turn to saving paper. Your idea would need to be a programming request.  It's been requested before and no one has ever been able to get them to process it this way, or get it done.  There are agents complaining that the input is so large that a home with tons of features can end up being 2 pages long!  I hear you on this one. 

The Arizona Regional MLS is one of the first in the country to add green features.  Tucson has a much more elaborate list and I'm currently reviewing other cities' MLS' and their SPDS as green features need to be disclosed as well as touted.  It's very time consuming!  I hope to have the new features to present to the board with one sentence definitions by late June.  We'll see!

May 19, 2012 03:53 AM