As you may have noticed on our Facebook page and company website, the Real Estate Photo Contest is currently in full effect!  The contest has been going on since February and is held on Facebook with the intentions of recognizing great real estate photos and invite participation on MiRealSource’s Facebook page!

MONTHLY WINNERS (February – July)

Six (6) lucky winners will RECEIVE $50 (the monthly winner will be selected by a professional photographer).

GRAND PRIZE WINNER      THIS COULD BE YOU

The individual photo that is the most active and promotes their photo (by gaining votes) on Facebook will WIN THE GRAND PRIZE ($500 GIFT CARD).  So get busy sharing your photo

With all of tasks on your daily to-do list, do you have trouble finding enough time to keep an eye on the current market? If so, Paragon’s Market Monitor is the perfect tool. This virtual personal assistant helps you quickly and easily stay up-to-date with the ever-changing status of listings.

What is the Market Monitor? Simply put, it is a customizable electronic Hot Sheet with current market information. The available information includes:

Up to five color-coded data sets that you can view with just one click:

1.         My Info (Blue – Your own inventory.)

The alternate support line (877-657-4357) through LPS Paragon will no longer be available after June 30^th.  If you have this number saved in your phone, please be sure to update it to the number(s) below.

In our effort to improve and expand our support center services, we now exclusively handle all Paragon help desk calls through our main number: 248-247-1040.  Local support gives us the advantage of understanding our member’s needs, while providing our members with the expertise of our technical support specialist.

Our technicians not only provide phone and email support but also provide classroom training in our new classroom in Suite 200 for the full suite of MiRealSource MLS applications and products.

Mobile technology is here to stay! One of the great features of Paragon Mobile is scheduling a showing right from your mobile device!

Using ShowingAssist Mobile ~ Is as easy as 1-2-3

1. Log into Paragon Mobile (from your smartphones browser mimls.mobile.paragonrels.com)
2. Search to find the property that you want to schedule an appointment for
3. Set the date, time, and how you would like to be contacted (phone, email, text) and submit!

Perhaps you are out with a client and they want to see more properties in that same neighborhood ~ NO PROBLEM!

Earlier this year Paragon released its best photo feature yet ~ the Listing Slide Show feature.  When creating a slide show in Paragon, you will be emailed a link that will allow you to then send it to your buyers, sellers, or to display at an “open house” or in your office lobby.

REALTORS® want to get as much exposure as they can when it comes to selling a home, and sharing your listings on Facebook is a great way to do just that!  However, the proper etiquette when sharing on Social Media is to allow exposure to everyone, not just “Facebook friends”.

I used to think I took pretty good pictures for my listings until the day I sat in the MiRealSource Photography Class with Taylor.  She proved to everyone in the class by sharing her knowledge and expertise with photography that there is so much more to capturing perfect photos than just snapping off some pictures with point and shoot cameras.  Technique, style, lighting, understanding aperture and shutter speed, even when to use a wide angle lens or tripod as well as the type of camera you use are all very important factors to keep in mind.  My eyes were opened up to another world of magic when it comes to learning the various angles, splitting pictures into thirds, hearing about the different programs to enhance your photographs.  Even knowing the best times of the day to take the best possible photos and which direction the house faces all must be considered to know the best time to take the pictures.

Did you get a new smartphone, and need help figuring out what makes this device so “smart”?   Come join us for a NEW smart phone class at MiRealSource.  In this class you will learn how to make the smartphone work for you, and help you be more successful in your real estate business.

Email is crucial for busy agents ~ do not lose a deal based on the fact that you did not get that important message about the deal.  Your smartphone does allow you to send, receive, forward, and organize your messages.

Taking your photography to the next level

In January we introduced our newest class Photos with Taylor (available in our brand new classroom or she will come to your office).  We are happy to see such an overwhelming positive response to the class; that we are now offering our members even more advanced classes!  REALTORS® are eager to step up and stand out amongst their competition and truly enjoyed the tips on real estate photography, marketing, and our photo features (the new Slide Show) in Paragon.

Predictions show the Home Buying Season This Spring is expected to be a “HOT” One!

Recent highs in the stock market, March Mortgage rates at a near record low, and unemployment rates at 7.7% which are the lowest in over 4 years are all translating to affordability for Home Buyers!  Frank Nothaft, Vice President & Chief Economist at Freddie Mac, is predicting this to be the healthiest spring since 2007, noting “With the spring home buying season upon us, the recent highs in the stock market are a welcome signal of better times ahead. But it will be the gradually declining unemployment rate and steadily improving housing market that will deliver broad-based economic benefits for Americans and, in turn, support the overall recovery.”

Did you know Paragon uses Bing Maps? Bing Maps and Google Maps use Geo-Codes (latitude and longitude) as a way of mapping properties and locations, which makes them extremely accurate. Using Mapping in Paragon is much more effective, because you can search exactly where your client would like to purchase their new home.  Paragon will find the properties that match the criteria specified in that geological location.

MLS “Legacy” map coordinates have been around since the days of the “map books” as a means of property location.  However, searching by map coordinates is obsolete by comparison to more accurate forms of location based searching such as Map Searching.