eKEY Adapter for iPhone
Use your iPhone as your lockbox key! The eKEY adapter for the iPhone is now availabe at the CCAR Realtor Shoppe for only $59.99, While supplies last.
With eKEY software, use your iPhone as your lockbox key. eKEY updates wirelessly so you can do business anywhere.
There are two service levels available: eKEY Basic which provides basic keybox functions. eKEY Professional (coming later this year)adds MLS data saved to your phone, links Google maps to the listings, and delivers showing details to your phone.
eKEY Basic Features
● Wireless Updates and Alerts
● Obtain Listing Keys
● Keep track of all your key boxes right from your phone
● Manage and Program your keyboxes
● Easily place and remove keyboxes from listings using your phone
● Change your own shackle codes
Supra eKEY Adapter
The Supra iPhone Adapter plugs into the 30 pin dock connector. It adds Infrared to the iPhone. It is designed to hang from a key chain when not in use. When you are ready to show a house, just slide it out of its cover, and plug it into your iPhone.
Paragon Maintenance
Paragon will be down for maintenance. On Tuesday, August 17th, this process will begin at 10:00pm (Pacific) and conclude no later than Wednesday, August 18th at 6:00am (Pacific). During this time the Paragon MLS system will be unavailable.
Discounts from T-Mobile
Special pricing and discounts from T-Mobile through June 30
T-Mobile, a C.A.R. Member Advantage Program partner, is offering special pricing on the new HTC HD2 Windows Mobile smartphone. This device features a 4.3-inch screen, 16 GB memory card, and 1 GHZ processor. New T-Mobile customers can purchase the HD2 for $149.99 and also receive a free Bluetooth headset.
California REALTORS® also qualify for discounts on the Blackberry® 9700, enabling users to connect to T-Mobile’s wireless network or any nearby Wi-Fi network.
Special pricing is available through June 30 and is not available in stores. To access these deals and for information on other offers available as a new T-Mobile customer, call 866 464 8662, enter option 3, and mention the code “C.A.R.”
All C.A.R. members receive 12 percent off their monthly recurring charges (select plans), free activation, and free shipping and handling. Current customers can complete an online migration form to access the monthly discount.
New Look on car.org
C.A.R. unveils new look, features, and functionality on car.org
car.org, the Association’s official Web site, now has a new look, features, and functionality. In addition to the drop-down menu navigation, font size and color changes for increased readability, and new color palette previously unveiled, additional highlights include:
Easy access to the Business Products mall (store.car.org) via a new shopping cart icon on every page. New “My Profile” button with custom profile specific links. New search button with preset search text to help clarify its function. New “Home” button to help users easily navigate back to the home page. A ‘One Cool Thing’ module highlighting a new cool service, product, or application each day. The addition of a ‘Stay Connected’ module on the home page featuring links to C.A.R.’s social networks, upcoming Webinars, current outreaches, and consumer-specific resources. An enhanced video module with a side-scrolling option enabling
visitors to browse through a selection of video clips without leaving the home page. Visit car.org today to view all of the site’s enhancements.
New CCAR Mobile Resources
New mobile tools at our new mobile portal!
CCAR is thrilled to release its mobile tools portal. Bookmark m.ccartoday.com from your mobile device for access to local market statistics, school and city info, contact info for CCAR, and many more tools.
New MLS login procedure
As previously communicated, when you access the Paragon MLS you will now see a very different looking login screen. THis is required to provide for the enhanced security which will eventually open the door for broad reciprocal access in Northern California. Please see an image of what the new login screen looks like below. In addition to this new login process, each MLS user will eventually be required to provide the answers to several security enhancing questions to augment their MLS profile. If you have questions or issues, please contact support at 925-295-1270 or by email at support@ccartoday.com.
Beginning December 17, CCAR MLS Particpant/subscribers will see a new login screen to MLS .
Beginning December 17, CCAR MLS Participants/Subscribers will see a different login screen when they access Paragon. CCAR is initiating a soft launch of additional security technology on the Paragon MLS as the next step in the creation of a Bay Area reciprocal access network.
What you can expect:
During this implementation period, you will at some point be required to answer a series of questions to augment your existing MLS profile. As an added security measure, you may also be required to create a new MLS password that is at least eight alphanumeric characters in length.
These new security measures should be familiar to most users, as they have become a standard in the online banking and payment transaction industries. Our ultimate goal is to provide greatly enhanced security for the MLS compilation, which will eventually allow us to bring you the benefits of broad reciprocal access throughout Northern California.
If you experience any difficulties during this implementation, contact CCAR Technical Support at (925) 295-1270 or email us at support@ccartoday.com.
Thank you for your support and patience during this transition.
CCAR Server Maintenance
Valued CCAR Members please be advised that beginning late this Saturday evening (the 5th) and continuing until late Sunday evening, we will be performing minor maintenance on the server that houses ccartoday.com (as well as ccarhelp.com, ccarlive.com, etc). During this time period all web services may be offline, or partially available. When complete, it will appear as though nothing has happened and you will be able to access the full functionality of our sites.
Tech Survey Results
Results from C.A.R.’s “Use of Technology Survey” Released
Forty-six percent of California REALTORS® surveyed report they use some type of social networking Web site to stay on top of trends in their business, according C.A.R.’s annual “Use of Technology Survey,” released yesterday at Tech Tuesday in San Jose. The most popular social networking site among REALTORS® surveyed was LinkedIn (34 percent), followed by YouTube (13 percent) and MySpace (12 percent).
REALTORS® also are enhancing their personal Web sites and the options made available to their clients. More than eight in 10 REALTORS® with a personal Web site include an e-mail “contact me” option (85 percent) or phone number/text feature (84 percent) on their Web sites. Seventy-eight percent include an IDX feed to display listings, while approximately half include features such as virtual tours (54 percent), links to individual listings (53 percent), and “Reasons to Use Me” (49 percent).
“In a time when clients demand both information and expertise from their real estate professionals, REALTORS® have responded to these demands by utilizing and integrating technology into their real estate business and the real estate transaction,” said C.A.R. President James Liptak. “With the top technology challenges in recent years for REALTORS® stemming from either keeping up with or reducing the amount of e-mail, many have managed to tackle those challenges head-on by integrating the tools necessary to be able to respond quicker and while out in the field.”
Click for more info.
CCAR MLS Rules Update – Exterior photo or rendering requirement
Hello, Michael Seguin, Director of Technology for the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®. We wanted to take a moment to ensure that you are aware of the recent addition to our MLS rules and regulations. We recently modified our rules to require at least one photo or rendering of the exterior of a property be posted to the MLS within 5 days of the property being input to the MLS. Our goal here is of course to improve the value of the MLS compilation to our REALTOR members and to the consumer. The specific text of the rule is below. Please note, we will begin addressing violations of this rule soon. It is our hope that through education and outreach we can solve the issue of properties without photos, rather than through citations and fines.
MLS Rules Language:
Residential, Mobile Home, Residential Income, Lease rental, Commercial Residential Multi units 5+, Commercial for Sale, and Commercial for lease must have a minimum of one main photo/image of the exterior of the property attached to the listing unless directed otherwise in writing by the seller. The main photo/image must be added within five (5) days of the listing being entered into the MLS.
Tips & Tidbits of the Week
The new Tips & Tidbits of the Week article has been published on CCARhelp.com. The article this week covers promoting your listings on Facebook. Learn how to have your listings show on your Facebook page in four easy steps.
HOT – HomesOpenToday.com now offers an export!
Good morning, Michael Seguin, Director of Technology for the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®. Today is Monday, October 19th. We hope you had a great weekend.
This past weekend we made some updates to the HOT – HomesOpenToday.com platform. These updates allow us to provide member brokers and the vendors that serve them with an export of Open Homes information. Specifically, we export MLS #, date and time held open to a file that participating members are allowed to download to merge with their existing consumer facing property search.
We will be working with authorized vendors to ensure that they are aware of their ability to pull this information into their search enabling database for use immediately.
The practical upshot of this is that HOT now offers yet more FREE exposure for your open homes. HomesOpenToday.com was of course built as a member benefit by the Contra Costa Association to facilitate its members showcasing of their MLS open homes. It is the only MLS driven open homes search in the East Bay. Adding your open house to HOT is free and easy for members – simply navigate to HomesOpenToday.com, login as you would to the MLS, and click ‘add open house’ next to the property that you want to publish as an open house. Enter the date and time held open, and click save. That is all!
You will now note a new checkbox on that property publication page – this check box allows you to OPT OUT of the free advertising that exporting your open house MLS #/date & time allows. If you choose not to allow us to syndicate this information to broker members and their sites, we will still publish your open house on HOT for the consumer to find… you simply won’t get all the extra free exposure that comes with having that open house be searchable from other bay area member search sites.
Thanks for your continued use of the HOT – HomesOpenToday.com platform. We look forward to providing you with more HOT updates soon.
Paragon and Windows 7 Compatibility
October 16, 2009
Microsoft™ recently announced the final release date of October 22nd, 2009 for the new Windows 7 Operating System. LPS Real Estate Group (LPSREG) is pleased to announce that quality assurance testing has been completed and the Paragon Online and Desktop MLS systems are Windows 7 Compatible.
Technology Article of the Year
The Technology Center would like to share our first Article of the Year. It’s titled Real Estate Agent’s – Are You Broadcasting to the World, “Please Spam Me?”, written by our very own Richard Tausch. It is a very informative article that will assist you in marketing yourself without the headaches of spam. This is the first of many future articles to contribute to improving your real estate experience.
CCAR is on Facebook at facebook.com/ccartoday
Hello, Michael Seguin, Director of Technology for the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®. Today is Wednesday, October the 14th, 2009.
I wanted to take a moment to encourage our members and participants, and even the real estate minded consumer, to become a fan of our Facebook business page. Facebook is a wildly popular, engaging social media tool that allows you to send and receive status updates from your ‘friends.’ In the case of CCAR’s business page located at Facebook.com/ccartoday, it is yet another way for CCAR to provide relevant industry news and updates from the Association and MLS.
Becoming a fan of our business page is easy. If you already have a facebook account, just login and then navigate to facebook.com/ccartoday. If you do not yet have a facebook account, they only take a moment to create.
Following our business page at facebook.com/ccartoday is an easy way to make sure that you stay up to date with everything real estate related in Contra Costa County and beyond.
For more information on this service, and to see the other ways that CCAR is engaging its members and the consumer with social media, please visit ccartoday.com/social.
Thanks for your time, see you in cyberspace.
CCARhelp: Technical Training & Support
The Contra Costa Association of Realtors is excited to share our updated Technical Support website with all of you. This site has a plethora of information and training resources’ that will help you with solutions. In addition we currently are publishing useful articles covering a range of topics. Please stop by our updated website and see what CCAR’s Technology Center has to offer!
Most Recent Publications:
Microsoft Windows & Office Updates
Tips & Tidbits of the Week: “My Internet Explorer Window is too small!”
Insight of the Month:The Greatest Backup on Earth by Richard Tausch
More publications to come::
Introducing ELF – Event Logic Framework
Good morning, Michael Seguin here, Director of Technology for the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®. It is Monday, October the 12th. We hope that you had a great weekend.
We wanted to take a moment to introduce you to ELF. ELF stands for Event Logic Framework.
At its core, ELF is a message broker system built using the AMQP protocol. What that really means for you is that it is a very sophisticated business intelligence tool that we are able to use to send you communications based on pre-programmed channels of information.
So, for example… lets say that you just entered a new listing into the MLS. ELF constantly ‘listens’ for this sort of change, and reacts accordingly when it ‘hears’ an updated piece of information. In this case, it notices that you have a new listing, and sends you a convenient one stop ‘post listing input shop’ with information and tools for your new listing.
Want a snapshot of how your new listing compares to other listings in your area? Want a handy link to the rules and regulations governing that listing, direct access to add the listing as an open house to HOT, and other useful new listing tidbits? ELF will start sending these to you on every new listing.
Each message ‘channel’ that we program into the ELF system will be yet another way for you to get information that you need, when and where you need it. We look forward to putting this system online in October 2009. So please, white list the address ‘elf@ccartoday.com’ and stay tuned for more from ELF!
WINforms® Becoming zipForm®
Winforms is becoming zipForm® 6!
New name, same great product!
Coming January 1st 2010, CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS’® WINForms® users will have the option to upgrade for free to the new zipForm® 6 software. The new application features easy-to-use navigation that lets you move quickly through documents and transactions.
What are the differences between zipForm® 6 and WINForms® software?
• Complete and e-mail/print forms without first having to create a transaction
• Apply one or multiple templates at any time during a transaction
• Drag and drop forms into transactions
• Platform independent – runs on PC or MAC
• Automatically saves (in the background) as you work
• Compatible with Windows Vista 32-bit and 64-bit zipForm® 6 System
Requirements
The following minimum system requirements must be met to receive technical support:
WINDOWS PC:
Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or Vista
Java version 6 update 11-14
1 Ghz CPU or higher
1 Gig of RAM
1024 x 768 screen resolution or higher
Internet Explorer 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, or Mozilla Firefox 3
Broadband Internet connection
MACINTOSH:
Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard)
Java 1.5
1 Ghz CPU or higher
1 Gig of RAM
1024 x 768 screen resolution or higher
Safari 3, Safari 4, or Mozilla Firefox 3
Broadband Internet or high-speed connection (Cable, DSL, Sattelite)
Learn how to use zipForm® 6 at an upcoming webinar. Click here to register.
CCAR now offers support via chat – come LOL with us as we provide more support options
Get support via chat. Go to ccartoday.com and click on support, then chat, or just go direct to ccartoday.com/chat. Please remember that it sometimes takes a moment for us to see that you are requesting support via chat, so please don’t leave until we pick up!
Technology Center Closed 10/6
The CCAR technology staff will be in an all day training session today, October 6, 2009. We have made arrangements to provide support should you need it during this day, and we will be available in the event of an emergency by contacting membership services at 925-295-9200. For routine technical support, please do continue to dial 925-295-1270 and your calls will be routed appropriately.
New Clarus Released This Week
NEW VERSION OF CLARUS MarketMetrics® TO BE RELEASED THIS WEEK
A new version of Clarus MarketMetrics ® will be released this week. The day prior to the actual release, users will receive an email with details of the new enhancements. Here are some of the changes you can look forward to:
DESIGN CHANGES
• We are introducing a New Navigation Menu, located on the top-left corner of the screen. It includes all of the standard administrative functionality such as, print, email, or save reports and revising/transferring the search criteria to top menu bar
• We have added the ability to view the Search Criteria as a panel window on both the search and results pages.
PRICING ANALYSIS
We are adding several New Reports in the Pricing Analysis Tool
• Market Size: to measure and show changes to the size of the market over sequential time periods
• Market Price: to measure and show changes to pricing over sequential time periods
• Target Price – Sales Price to Original Price (SP/OP): to compare sales activity of properties with and without price changes
MARKET DYNAMICS
We are adding several New Reports in the Market Dynamics Tool
• Median for Sale vs Median Sold: to compare and contrast the pricing of both For Sale and Sold properties by month
• Number of Expired Listings: to measure the changes in the number of listings that expire each month
• Cover Sheet: to allow an agent to add an introduction page which includes the market criteria searched
CCAR Free Webinar
CCAR Local Market Update & Foreclosure Radar Webinar
Wednesday, 09/23/2009. 09:30 am-11:00 am
This webinar will be approximately 90 minutes and has been created specifically for the Contra Costa Association of REALTORS®. Speakers Leslie Appleton-Young, Vice President and Chief Economist for the California Association of REALTORS®, and Sean O’Toole, founder and CEO of ForeclosureRadar.com, will provide local market information, tips on navigating the foreclosure market, and a demonstration of ForeclosureRadar.com.
Want to make the most of this webinar? Consider signing up for the exceptional ForeclosureRadar.com service through REBS and receive a 10% discount when you use promo code RADAR99 (all CAPS).
Online registration is open until Wednesday, 09/23/2009 08:30 am, after which please contact the association during normal business hours to register.
For additional course registration information, or to register for this course as a non-member, please contact us at 925-295-9231 or by email at courses@ccartoday.com.
