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This fourth quarter newsletter is packed with information, and I hope you will take the time to read it all the way through. 

Staffing – In 2022, MLS Now said farewell to some staff who either retired or moved on to other opportunities. Laura Graber and Joyce Johnston, both exemplary Account Executives, retired this year. We also bid farewell to Julie Kovach, our dear Finance & Membership Manager, and Csilla Smith, one of our esteemed quality Assurance Coordinators, as they both moved on to other opportunities. 

We welcomed with open arms Wendy Oberholtzer and Tom Bauch, our newest Account Executives, eager to serve this community. We also welcomed Michelle Hawley, our new Finance, Membership, and HR Manager, as well as Anne M. Petit, the new Vice President of the Quality Assurance department. MLS Now is excited to be back up to full strength and growing as we begin to round the corner into the new year. 

CoreLogic update – For a few years now, vendors, brokers, and Agents have been requesting smoother data integration and the next level of data standards from their MLS. While MLS Now has provided the Trestle web API feeds (an interim step), it is now time for us to move to the next level, which is the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) Data Dictionary Completion (DDC). This will require MLS Now, our vendors, brokers, and agents to comply with this standard and move away from RETS feeds. We have already begun work with our vendor, CoreLogic, on this project which will be completed in the first quarter of 2023. It is my hope that we will be adding another great product to Matrix in 2023, Restb.ai uses artificial intelligence (ai) or “machine learning” to speedup quality assurance, automatically add descriptive text for use in defining photos, and much more. This should help protect the MLS and members with ADA compliance issues related to our website feeds. Stay tuned for more on this. 

Some of you may have heard that Homesnap and the Broker Public Portal (BPP) have ended their agreement. We have until October 31, 2022, to make other arrangement with Homesnap if we want to keep the App in MLS Now. The Board of Directors is already reviewing our options and more information will be coming on this. 

Separate from Homesnap, MLS Now is negotiating to have available the first quarter of 2023 MLS – Touch, which is the most advanced Mobile MLS App for Agents. MLS-Touch gives you the tools you need to stay connected to critical listing data, tax data, and client activities while you’re on the go. Please check out the link here for a brief video of this remarkable agent tool: https://www.prospects.com/en/us/mls-touch/

Reminder - MLS Now Matrix search codes are going away by December 31, 2022. If you have any questions about this, please contact the MLS Now help desk. 

Enjoy the Autumn selling season.

Carl DeMusz, RCE, CMLX²

President & CEO

The territorial jurisdiction of MLS Now covers 27 counties in Ohio and five counties in West Virginia. (See MLS Now Territory Chart and Map). There are four property types that require entry into MLS Now:

1. Residential
2. Lot/Land zoned residential
3. Multi-Family up to four units
4. Farm/Agricultural properties

The Broker/Participant is responsible for all real estate licensees affiliated with that Broker, whether the licensee works in an office located within the MLS Now territorial jurisdiction or an office outside of the MLS Now jurisdiction. Each Real Estate licensee, whether inside or outside of MLS Now’s jurisdiction, who utilizes MLS Now, or lists/co-lists, or sells/co-sells within MLS Now’s jurisdiction shall be charged dues. The Broker/Participant is responsible for the payment of all dues and fees associated with his/her licensees. It is also the Broker/Participant’s responsibility to make certain that affiliated licensees outside the MLS Now territory are aware of, and abide by, the MLS Now rules when listing or selling a property located in MLS Now territory.

A waiver of dues is permitted if the real estate licensee is subscribed to a different Realtor owned MLS that is outside the territorial jurisdiction of MLS Now. However, in the event a waived licensee obtains a listing within the MLS Now territorial jurisdiction, that listing must be submitted to the Service and entered into the Service's computer system per the rules, and that licensee’s waiver will be null and void. Furthermore, that licensee will receive a bill from MLS Now for a pro-rated portion of the semi- annual dues period in which this situation occurs.

Broker/Participants have the option of a no-cost waiver of MLS fees, dues and charges for any licensee who can demonstrate subscription to a different MLS, as described above, where the principal broker participates. To qualify for the waiver, waiver recipients and the Broker/Participant shall sign a certification for nonuse of MLS Now services by the licensees and shall submit the certification for nonuse to the MLS Now Membership Department. Nonuse includes:

1. Waiver Applicant does not and will not, use the MLS services and content, including, but not limited to:
1. Accessing current listing data, comp and statistical information/reports, and MLS data feeds.
2. Using MLS Now products and services available only to authorized MLS Now Users affiliated with the MLS Participant.
2. Waiver Applicant is NOT a listing agent for any active listing filed with MLS Now

Any Broker/Participant and/or licensee who violates the terms of the waiver will incur a fine of $1,000, in addition, that licensee will receive a bill from MLS Now for a pro-rated portion of the semi-annual dues period in which this situation occurs. A second offense will result in a $2,500 fine and that licensee will receive a bill from MLS Now for a pro-rated portion of the semi-annual dues period in which this situation occurs. A third offense will result in a $5,000 fine and that licensee will receive a bill for a pro-rated portion of the semi-annual dues period in which this situation occurs. Repeat offenders of this rule will be reviewed by MLS Now leadership. That review may result in further sanctions up to and including service suspensions and/or incurring additional fines.

Please contact the Quality Assurance or Membership Departments to address additional questions and to get more specific details regarding the rules and requirements governing the use of Dues Waivers.

Carl DeMusz, CEO of MLS Now, has announced that Anne M. Petit, retired Superintendent of the Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing, has joined the multiple listing service as Vice President of Quality Assurance. 

“As Vice President, Anne will utilize her extensive administrative experience, particularly in the real estate space, in leading the growth of our mission,” DeMusz said. “Like our Directors and staff, she is committed to common sense compliance, ensuring the quality of our data and listing information, expertise, and protecting Ohio’s consumers in their financial transactions.” 

MLS Now Board of Directors Chairman Jim Fox said, “We couldn’t have found a better person to head quality assurance, and to add to the talent pool at MLS Now.” 

MLS Now provides listing services to real estate brokers and their agents currently in 32 counties, including several in West Virginia. The service also provides a means for the accumulation and dissemination of information for use by appraisal participants in the valuation of real property. 

Petit served as the Division’s Superintendent from 2002 to 2005 and again from January 2011 to her retirement from state service in June 2022. During her time leading the Division, she was instrumental in the modernization of real estate license law, the creation and implementation of a grant program for Ohio’s non-profit cemeteries, the creation and implementation of Ohio’s home inspector’s education and licensing program, and its governing board. 

In prior positions, she also served as Vice President of Hondros College as Director of their Regulatory and Compliance programs. Additionally, Petit served as Director of Constituent Inquiries for Governor Bob Taft and was Administrator for the Secretary of State’s campaign finance division. She also was a Manager/Real Estate Lender with the former Diamond Savings & Loan in Findlay, as well as Compliance Administrator of Mid-American National Bank in Toledo.  

Michelle Hawley has joined MLS Now as their new full time Finance, HR, & Membership Manager. She has resided in Macedonia, Ohio for the past 8 years; and prior to that, she was a resident of Broadview Heights, Ohio. She has an extensive accounting background with over 25+ years of experience. She adores her daughter that is a Senior at Bowling Green University and will be going on to Graduate School for her Doctorate in Psychology. Michelle enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She enjoys the career path that she has chosen and is honored to play a vital role and being a pillar of the MLS Now team.

Tom Bauch (pronounced BOTCH) joined the MLS Now Education Department on September 1st. He started as a real estate agent in 2002 after working 20+ years in Mold and Manufacturing. He worked for several different real estate brokerages with a focus on REO properties. He most recently was overseeing mentors in the Ohio offices of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Stouffer Realty and mentoring newly licensed agents. He enjoys helping agents & brokers and is excited to be on the Account Executive team answering Help Desk calls, emails, and teaching classes. His territory will be Stark, Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Harrison, Jefferson, and Tuscarawas. Please welcome him as he stops by your offices or contact him to schedule a class and learn the latest on Matrix updates like Map Searches by Layers/Boundaries and much more. Tom lives in Cuyahoga Falls with his wife Lori. They are part of the Cuyahoga Falls Camping Club and enjoy weekends at different campgrounds in their pop-up camper. They have seven children and six grandchildren.

Rental Beast recently released several new updates, many of which were directly requested by MLS Now subscribers, so we hope you’ll be excited to try these out and are eager to hear your feedback.

New Summary Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) tool
Subscribers now have the ability to produce a CMA summary report by selecting two or more properties from the Rental Search screen and clicking the CMA button. The report includes useful min/max/average/median comparisons between the selected properties and provides an easy way to compare rental properties at a glance.

New Tabbed Interface: an easier way to find what you’re looking for!
MLS Now subscribers now have the ability to filter their rental search results directly from the main interface. The MLS tab shows only rental listings input by MLS Now subscribers, while Rental Beast’s additional owner-sourced inventory is available separately on the Rental Beast tab. For combined results, the All tab includes both MLS and Rental Beast results.

Address Visibility of Rental Beast listings
Before this latest update, addresses associated with Rental Beast’s additional owner-sourced inventory were only visible to Rental Beast Pro subscribers, but are now visible to all MLS Now subscribers.

We hope you find these new features useful and encourage you to reach out for assistance if you need any help whatsoever. You can contact Rental Beast directly at support@rentalbeast.com.

“We will be sending out a lot of emails and adding information to the News widget regarding the Areas field going away. The reason we are eliminating the MLS Search Areas is not because of offenders, repeat or otherwise. The MLS Search Areas were created many years ago, in many cases as long as 50 to 60 years ago, by Real Estate Agents. These arbitrary boundaries may be perceived as steering buyers to or away from specific areas and thus could be used to discriminate for or against protected classes of people. 

Even just the appearance of possible discrimination can have severe consequences for our Participants and their agents. . Therefore, your MLS Leadership made the decision to eliminate these search areas to protect both consumers and our MLS participants. These days consumers that search for listings in your client portals and websites are not familiar with “MLS Search Areas” nor are many agents and brokers who are members/subscribers of MLS Now. 

In today’s internet-based world, there are multiple ways to search for properties that allow a buyer to determine where they want to live. Buyers are already searching on websites using such criteria as cities, townships, counties, school districts, zip codes, workplaces, places of interest, and even actual maps to locate listings. Often, their searches get different results than their Realtor’s search that was done using an arbitrary MLS Search area. Buyers may even wonder why their agent isn’t giving them all of the available listings. By eliminating the MLS Search areas, the Realtor returns to the buyer control over and responsibility for, where they want to search for property. 

We are already working to educate members on the many other search methods that are available. Plus, we are still working to put into place additional search abilities that will make this transition easier.”

In-App Support for Homebuyers in OneHome

OneHome continues to improve the experience for both agents and homebuyers. This includes ensuring that answers to frequently asked questions about OneHome are accessible directly from within the portal. 

Effective immediately, homebuyers can find a plethora of information, from how to get started with OneHome, how to search for properties, how to find properties that are the perfect fit for their preferences, and more. 

To access the FAQs, homebuyers simply need to click on the Help button located in the top right menu bar or footer. Once on the help screen, they can navigate the content by clicking on a topic or using the search bar. As characters are typed, the search will display a populated list of questions/answers/categories based on those characters.

Option 1: Select Topics to Get More Information

Option 2: Use the Search Bar to Find Answers