Tip of the Week: Map Layers

Many of you have seen the maps in the MLS. You can click the property address, from the search results page or the individual listing, and get a map showing the saved property location. Do you know about the maps that you can access in the Tax Search system?

When you view the map in the MLS, you can add a few layers to change the display. You can set it to the street view, which is the basic map. Or you can change it to the aerial view, called Satellite, to see buildings, trees, docks and the water. You can also set the map to a combination of the two by using the Hybrid view.

The last map layer available is the Terrain. It shows contours of way the land lays. It’s pretty flat in the south part of our counties, but gets more interesting as you go further north.

When you access the maps in the Tax Search system, Courthouse Retrieval System, now called CRS Data, you get even more layers that you can use.

Pull up any listing in our primary counties, Walton or Okaloosa. You can also use this for Santa Rosa or Bay County. Those are all the areas that we’re contracted to access through CRS Data. So pull up the listing and click the parcel ID, or the Tax link on the results page. Either one will bring up the CRS Data record.

Once there, click the Map tab at the top of the page. You will probably see an image of the property on the parcel map. There’s a link below that to go to a larger map. That works also.

The Maps tab itself has up to four maps available. The basic map goes to the Bing map. There’s also the MapQuest Directions map, a topigraphical map, and available for some counties, a GIS Interactive map.

When you open the basic Bing map you’re in an interactive map. Click any property on the map to see info on that property. It’s already set to the aerial view, and you can change it to the Road view if you like. I’ve found that some of the extras you can add to the map are easier to read with the Road view.

There’s also layers you can add by using the CRS Layers tab. Depending on the current Zoom level, you can access several additional layers to add to the map, such as Parcels and Subject Property, which are defaulted to be turned on. You can also add a FEMA Flood Zone map layer.

In addition to that, you have a few more options that will bring up a side menu with even more map layers. You can Labels for the property address, owner name, deeded access, and more. You can add so many labels that you can’t see the map anymore!

You can also add a layer to show listings for sale or for lease. This layer will add a color to each property that’s active, pending, or sold.

With any of these map layers, the more you zoom in, the more detail you can see. Some of the counties include lot dimensions that can only be seen if you zoom in fairly close to the property. But this is only available for a couple of the counties we can access.

There’s a lot of information available to you using the CRS Data maps. We haven’t even talked about the Measure tool that’s also available in these maps! We’ll go into them next week.

Don’t forget! These maps are only available in the MLS system. They are not available to your customers through the listing. When you email a listing to your customer, or when a Prospect notice is sent out, the parcel ID on that listing links to the county Property Appraiser’s website. There are different options available there that we’ll talk about later.

Questions? Call us at 850-244-2411, or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, I.S. Director
Emerald Coast Association of Realtors®
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Who trumps who?

Someone remind me! Is it in Hearts or Spades that you want to trump someone else’s cards? Whoever won the last hand lays down the first card and each player has to play the same suit or if they don’t have any, they can “trump” by play either a Heart or a Spade, and win the hand. Unless someone else played a higher trump.

Last week I sat through a webinar held by ListHub that was called “Trumping Rules – and Why it Matters.” The name made me think back on the card game and remember both the fun times and arguments we often got into during the games. Either way, it was still good memories.

The trumping rules for listing syndication pretty much follow the trumping rules in the card game that I remember. There is a hierarchy of data sources that decide who’s information gets displayed on ListHub’s channel partners.

Let me back up for just a few minutes. Some of you are asking who ListHub is. So I’ll explain that real quick.

ListHub is a listing syndication or distribution company. They contract with different MLS’s to send the listing data from the MLS to third party websites, such as Zillow, Trulia, Homefinders, etc. Many years ago, ECAR choose ListHub to handle this task.

These third party sites sign an agreement with ListHub to follow particular rules when it comes to the display of listing data so that everyone can work together. You can visit www.ListHub.com to view the different partners that are currently working with them. Every broker can also sign into ListHub to set up their preferences: sites to use or exclude, what their agents can do on the site, where leads go, etc.

Back to the webinar.

The speakers for the webinar were Lisa Suazo – ListHub – Training Manager, Kathleen Wayson ListHub – Industry Relations Manager, and Sara Bonert Zillow -VP of Broker Services. It was interesting to hear the Zillow side of things.

The main question for the webinar is what to do if ListHub or the third party sites get listing data from multiple sources. The data can come from the MLS’s, from a broker’s direct feed, or from IDX providers. So the same property is getting into the sites from different places.

Of course we don’t want the property to show up multiple times with different data, so trumping rules were determined.

Listings that come from the syndicator, in our case, ListHub, are considered more accurate because they come directly from the MLS. With only a couple of exceptions, the MLS source trumps all.

The exceptions are a direct broker feed, or sites that hold a preexisting contract with ListHub.

One of the big questions that was mentioned during the webinar is what to do if you find inaccurate listing data.

First, determine the data source. Somewhere on that record, it will tell you what the source is. You’ll see something like “Provided by: ListHub” or “Data source: ListHub”. Or it may say the name of the listing brokerage. Some of the data on the record could come from the county tax collector or property appraiser’s website, and that should be visible on the record as well.

Once you’ve found the source, go to it for listing correction. If the source is ListHub, call us, ECAR MLS support. You can send the issue to ListHub, but after checking their data feed to make sure they don’t have a mistake, they’ll send it on to us, which will just slow things down.  We’ll check the MLS and go from there.

If the data source is the listing brokerage, you’ll need to contact that office or company. We don’t have the ability to check their source to make sure it’s right.

If you see incorrect listing data, and cannot find the Source information, let us know. If the site is a channel partner with ListHub, we can work with ListHub to get the site in compliance. If the site is not a channel partner with ListHub, or the site of one of our participant offices, they may be obtaining the data improperly, and we want to stop that.

One of the advantages of using ListHub is that we have this large, powerful company ready to help us if we need it. If a site is using the data improperly or not following the rules, ListHub will take care of it.

If you would like to watch a recording of the webinar, go to the ListHub YouTube channel, and click the video called “What are Trumping Rules” dated 10/10/2013.

Questions? Comment on this post or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, I.S. Director
Emerald Coast Association of Realtors®
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Thinking of getting the newest iPhone? Hold on for just a minute!

Android or iPhone? To me, the question is difficult to answer. Not that I want to be neutral, because I’m not. Just come by the office and I’ll be happy to tell you.  I’m just not putting it in writing. And in case you’re wondering, I put Android first only because the correct spelling of iPhone is with the first letter in lower case and the grammar geek in me will not start a sentence with a lower case letter. So I had to put Android first.

It’s difficult to answer because I use both. I have a Galaxy 3S phone and an Galaxy 2 tablet for my personal use, and an iPhone 4S and iPad Mini for work use. There has been some discussions with tech experts that I know about whether or not keeping both the tablet and iPad in the same pocket of my purse will create a black hole that swallow the entire universe. Would both devices being in covers prevent the disaster? Good questions, if you care to ask me!

Fortunately, I don’t often carry both tablets. I do carry both phones, but they have separate pockets on opposite sides of my bag. I’m doing what I can to protect the sanctity of our world. You’re welcome!

If you are of the iDevice persuasion, are you currently using an iPhone as your Supra eKey? Are you considering getting the service or switching to it? Check this out first.

Apple released the latest operating system for the Apple devices (iPhones, iPads, etc.) today. Supra wants you to know that they are taking proactive steps to help with the upgrade for their eKey customers.

Basically this means that if you have the eKey software on your iPhone, the system will help remind you to pick up the latest operating system version. It’s important to keep this updated so that the eKey software will continue to function correctly.

If you’re considering getting the newest iPhone, 5c or 5s, Supra reports that they fully expect the new phones to work with the eKEY software. They do not expect to have to make any programming changes to accommodate these newest Apple devices. If they find something, they’ll let us know ahead of time.

Any time you consider getting a new phone that will be used with the eKey software, be sure to check the Supra Approved Device list. It may not be a deciding factor in your smartphone selection, but it may help you break a tie.

Questions? Comment on this post, call us at 850-244-2411, or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, I.S. Director
Emerald Coast Association of Realtors®
Fort Walton Beach, FL

The Menagerie

The name of this blog came to mind because I’m reading a book with that name. It’s a sci-fi/archeology/mystery kind of read, with the name deriving from a huge display of creatures collected from different galaxies. I’ve just started the book so I don’t know yet where it’s going, but I suspect at some point, something is going to jump out at me.

For this blog, the menagerie is going to mean a collection of different points. I get blog ideas from things that happen, questions we get, or suggestions from members who run into situations. Sometimes those ideas can form into a full blog on their own, but sometimes they’re just little things that are important enough to mention, but not enough to stand alone. So here are a few of them.

Snake!
Imagine walking up to show a property and you find the lockbox attached to the water faucet on the side of the house. The grass has grown up a bit or there’s a lot of bushes nearby (some with sharp pointy bits). And you get to reach through all of that to get to the house key! With the recent rains, snakes, bugs, and spiders are everywhere! So, to all you list agents or whoever places the lockbox on the property: please think of your fellow Realtor’s safety when you decide where to put the lockbox! Plus, placing an electronic device on a water faucet or where a sprinkler can easily hit it is counter-productive. Sure fired way to make the lockbox malfunction!

Auth Token
Have you seen this message pop up on the EKey program on your phone? This means that, for whatever reason, your key software needs to be verified and it can’t be done through the normal update process. The message usually appears when you open the program for the first time that day when the key software tries to update. To fix this, you can call ECAR support, 850-244-2411 (leave a message if it’s after-hours and we’ll call you back). You can also go to SupraWeb, sign in (NOT with your MLS username) and get it online any time.

RPR Commercial
Realtor Property Resource is NAR’s free agent only tax system extraordinaire. The commercial side is now up and free from the beta testing designation. If you’ve successfully used it with a commercial real estate deal and would like to give a testimonial about your transaction, please let us know. Training webinars are available just about any day, and ECAR will be hosting live training on the system on September

Admin Assistants
We got a call the other day from an assistant asking for help on something. When we looked up her record, we found that she was registered as an assistant for two companies. Turns out, she stopped working for one office a month ago, and that office never reported it to ECAR. So her access, unused, has been out there, active and available to use, for that time. Good thing she was an honest person! When an admin assistant leaves your employment, be sure to notify us so we can inactivate that access. And NO, you cannot just give it to the next admin. That’s a no-no.

Questions on any of these? Comment on this post, call us at 850-244-2411, or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck,  IS Director
Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS®
Fort Walton Beach, FL

2013 Florida Realtors Convention as seen by a TV Junkie

I’m a TV junkie. I admit it. I watch TV all the time. Literally. It’s on from the time I get home from work, until I leave for work the next day. Yes, that means it’s on all night. It helps me sleep because my brain hears the show instead of my thoughts. My mind keeps my brain awake. The TV makes my mind quiet. Does that make me crazy? No, my life makes me crazy, this is just a side effect. You’ll see my TV junkie-ness during this blog.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, the Florida Realtors 2013 Convention was all about MLS and trends. Earlier this week, I covered all the MLS updates, so today, let’s talk trends. What’s new or useful in technology?

I use the words new or useful because I noticed pretty quickly that not everything that was talked about was new. Sometimes an app or program has been around for a while, but it works well. Nothing better has come out, so why change? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! If something better comes along, give it a try.

Day one was the Real Estate BAR camp. This was my first one, so I had no idea what to expect. My main goal was to see if there was a way to implement this type of session into MLS training. I’m still mulling this over.

First, as everyone signed in, they wrote on a sticky note what topic they were hoping to learn about. Once most people had signed in, the coordinators gathered all the notes, sorted them out into topics and set up the sessions. Since it’s all done “on the fly”, topic experts weren’t available. Facilitators were used to guide and initiate the conversations.

The goal of the RE Bar camp was to get attendees to discuss it amongst themselves. Anyone remember actor Mike Myers   (Saturday Night Live) and his character Linda Richman? As the hostess of a talk show, if she got emotional about something, she would give a topic for the audience to discuss amongst themselves while she gathered herself together. For example, “Rhode Island: it’s neither a road or an island. Discuss!” I loved that. That’s what the job of the facilitators was. Start the discussion with the attendees sharing their experiences rather than listening to an expert speak on it. Who’s a better expert than your fellow Realtors who use that app/program, or work that issue?

So here’s my top picks from the RE Bar camp sessions that I went to.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – consumers don’t want website “apps”, they’d rather have mobile centric sites, ones that adjust to the screen size without reducing font size.
Digital Media/Email – interview your customers to see what their tech comfort level is, then use that to best communicate with them.
Online Storage – one word: Carbonite
Time Management – Create a work or task list, then “chunk” it. Group similar tasks together, so that the overall list doesn’t look overwhelming.

There was a lot more discussed, but these were the ones that stuck out the most for me

The General Session on Friday was right up my alley. It featured the Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott  . They’re on TV!!!! And I watch their show!!! Cool!

If you don’t know them, they have a couple of shows on HGTV about helping people buy a fixer-upper for less, then using the rest of their home-buying budget to improve it. Not flipping, but actually buying and living in the home. Both of  them are licensed real estate agents, but one of the identical twin brothers is also a licensed contractor. So one of them helps the buyer purchase the home, the other one leads the reconstruction.

They were interesting, informative, and entertaining. The interactions between the brothers made me, as the mother of two, want to tell them to get along, but I suspect that it’s mostly show. I hope.

They said two things that particularly reached me. One was that if you have a buyer who is interested in purchasing a fixer-upper, having their contractor with you for the showings can be helpful. The contractor can see and point out things that are easily fixed, and things that are not.

The other good point they made was along a completely different line. They talked about the Continuing Education (CE) that you have to get in order to renew your real estate license. Many agents wait until just before their renewal date to slam in the hours. As Association staff, I can tell you that we see this all the time. Panicking agents with less than a week to get 14 hours of credit!

Jonathan and Drew, my new good friends, suggest that it might be better to get the credits early, and then use the knowledge from the courses to help your business. Makes sense to me!

Another seminar I went to was called Seven Trends That Are Changing Real Estate. Thank goodness the Risk Management committee agenda was a repeat of other committee meetings I had been in, because it was at the same time as the Seven Trends session, which was really interesting. I liked and agreed with each of the seven trends. Florida Realtors News apparently agreed because they did an article on the session. Click the link to read their article which includes each of the seven trends. The one that struck me the most was the one on video (back to TV). Make a video selling yourself or a property, commercial style. Short, sweet and to the point.

As I mentioned before there was a lot more info at these meetings and sessions that I didn’t include in these blogs. All I can hope to do is bring back the high points.

Questions? Comment on this post or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of Realtors
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Big News – New MLS System!

Did you hear the news? Wow, it’s finally been announced! A new MLS system has been selected! FlexMLS, created by FBS, Inc. has been selected as our new MLS system and vendor.  What!!

Hopefully you’ve already seen the special ECAR Buzz that went out last Saturday. We don’t normally send out news on the weekend but this was too big to hold. Some of you may have already heard from your local chapter directors as well. ECAR staff and the Board of Directors are eager and excited to tell everyone about the big change.

Since some of you won’t read past this point, please allow me to go ahead and give you the links to get additional information. We’ve put together a Frequently Asked Questions document for you with some of your favorite questions. You can also go right to the source to check them out, http://www.flexmls.com/. You can see for yourself who this company and read reviews from other clients of theirs.

The search actually started early last year, before most people even realize. I started doing research on different MLS systems and what they offer. I looked at product, technology, support, and a lot more levels. I think I researched, spoke to or contacted about 15 different people and companies. From this, I narrowed it down to my top five picks.

In 2012 a task force was put together to review these systems. Some were easy to eliminate and others were not. As the year ended, the group selected their top two. This year, President Jan Hooks selected a new task force to continue the work. New people seeing the top selections, built on the work of the previous task force, and making the final recommendation to the Board of Directors.

After some negotiations, a final contract was reached and approved by the Board. I will say that there was one or two things that President Jan insisted on negotiating that I didn’t think would go through. But it worked. She was absolutely right, and we came to a good compromise. Smart lady!

FlexMLS will be our new MLS system. The company is out of Fargo, North Dakota and is employee owned. This means that their employees are personally invested in making sure they offer the best software and service available to their customers. I’m thrilled to be working with them. And I really believe you’ll love their system.

Why are we leaving Solid Earth? Good question. Our contract with them was ending near the end of this year, so it was a natural time to check out what else was out there. We’ve been using the Solid Earth system, List-It, for over 10 years. That’s a long time for software. List-It’s been a good system that many of you love. But even Solid Earth knows that it’s time is up.

They have a new product that’s nearing completion. It’s called Spring, and yes, it was one of the top five picks that I mentioned earlier. But it’s not finished yet. It sounds like it will be a great system with completely new way to think about an MLS system. But it’s not finished yet. The decision that had to be made was to continue with List-It and go to Spring when it’s ready, or to go with a different system and company that’s ready now.

I’ve known Solid Earth and their president, Matt Fowler, since we started with them over 10 years ago. He’s an awesome man and he has a great new product coming up. I’ve known most of their support team since they were first hired as basic support techs and now  they’re in executive leadership positions in the company. I can’t say how proud I am of them and what they’ve created. I’ll miss each of them and look forward to seeing them around.

One way or another, we would have been changing MLS systems regardless. The only real decision was to change vendors or not. The different groups put together to make this decision spent countless hours trying to make sure that the needs of all ECAR MLS subscribers would benefit from this change. It was not taken lightly or without serious consideration for what a change like this would mean. A lot of hands were part of the decision-making process. We know that many of you don’t like change, but please know that it was inevitable and we’re going to do the best we can to make it as painless as possible.

Now the hard work begins.

Questions? Please call us at 850-244-2411, or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of Realtors®
Fort Walton Beach, FL

http://www.emeraldcoastrealtors.com/?attachment_id=3627

Tip of the Week – RPR: new tax source with MLS details

Our normally scheduled Tip has been pre-empted for an important announcement. RPR is live with ECAR MLS data! Training classes to start at ECAR on July 18 with webinars to follow!

Do you remember the old news flashes that would jump into the middle of your favorite TV show? No, is it just me? I doubt it! Some of you are just not owning up to your age!

But the news flash is right. RPR, NAR’s Realtor Property Resource, is live with ECAR MLS data added to their existing property data. Adding MLS data to their already extensive information make the site even more valuable to you and your sellers/buyers.

And… are you sitting down?… it’s FREE! The site is free to all NAR members. If you’re a Realtor, whether sales associate or appraiser, you have free access to this wealth of information. All you need is your National Realtor Database System (NRDS, also known as “nerds” ID) number, and you can sign up for a free account.

A short live demo will be given at the July 17th Membership luncheon, followed by live classes here at ECAR on the 18^th. More live classes are being scheduled for August. Webinars are also being worked in. Watch the Education calendar for more info on these classes.

Come and learn how to use this important resource. The site includes property from across the country, with our own MLS data included for our local properties.

Questions? Contact ECAR’s Education department at 850-243-6145 for questions about the classes, or email susan@ecaor.com for questions on the system.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Supra – Monthly Lease or Yearly Lease?

Am I talking about leasing a house? Leasing an office or warehouse? Nope and nope. I’m talking about leasing the Supra keys. Now is the time to be thinking about this. I mentioned this a few blogs ago, but it bears repeating.

ECAR was notified today that Supra will be pulling the data for the annual Active key lease renewal on July 20^th. This means a couple of things to Active key users.

The first thing it means is that you want to decide now if you’re going to renew the Active key for another year. If not, return it to ECAR now. Be sure to get a receipt. Do NOT walk out of ECAR without a receipt for the cancelled key.

If you are going to renew the lease, you’ll receive the renewal bill by mail and by email directly from Supra. You can pay it online by going to the Supra website, you can mail a check to them along with the invoice, or you can pay it here at ECAR. All Active key lease renewals must be paid digitally by credit/debit card or by check. No cash!

The other decision to make is possibly upgrading to the eKey service. This is the key service available on your phone. Any iPhone, Android phone, most Blackberry’s and a few Windows phones can be set up with the key software.

Now is the best time to make that change, before you pay out the full year’s lease for the Active key. The cost of the two key types is the same in the long run. The difference is the lease term. The eKey service is paid monthly by credit/debit card, and the Active key lease is paid yearly in advance. But it’s the same total at the end of the year.

What are the pluses and minuses? With the Active key, you have a separate device that needs to be regularly charged. I recommend overnight, every night, to make sure it’s good to go. You have no monthly charges, but at the same time, you can’t cancel midyear. Well, you can, but you probably won’t get a refund of the annual lease. Supra’s contract does not require them to do that.

With the eKey, you pay monthly, so you can cancel at any time. Just keep in mind that if you cancel the key account completely, and then change your mind later, there will most likely be another activation fee to start a new account.

Since the eKey service uses your phone, if your phone dies, or gets broken or lost, you have no key. But how long are you going to go without a phone? Probably not very long. Oh, yeah, in case you’re wondering, the little adapter/fob that you use with the phone to open the lockboxes is useless without the key software on the phone.

So in a nutshell (we’ll make it a peanut shell because I’m allergic to tree nuts), you can renew the Active key, you can cancel it, or you can upgrade it. Just let us know what you want to do.

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle. The cow jumped over the moon. I’m done.

Questions? (That last part is for Michaela who’s waiting for me to finish writing this as we speak). Comment on this blog or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Flood Insurance and Legislative Changes! Read On!

As the liaison for the residential MLS committee, the ECAR Commercial Alliance forum and committee, and the ECAR Residential Property Management forum and committee, I see a little of all types of real estate. Definitely enough to know that real estate sales or leasing is hard work. You have to be educated beyond what your license renewal requires if you want to be successful.

At the Crestview Commercial Forum, held on the third Tuesday of each month, Dawn Mann, Legacy Insurance (and ECAR affiliate member), spoke about flood insurance. Did you know that Crestview’s Main Street flooded in the early 50’s bad enough to require locals to use boats to get around? Not from a hurricane or bad storm, but from a ruptured sewer line. If that happened now, would the owners there have flood insurance?

Floods don’t only happen due to rain or storms. It could be the neighbor down the street flushing the wrong thing, or a work crew digging up a ditch. Whether the property is in a “low risk” flood zone or not, a flood policy can be a lifesaver. Tenants, whether commercial or residential, should have their own flood policies as well. The homeowners flood policy won’t cover the tenant’s possessions, and renters insurance doesn’t cover flood damage!

Starting October 1, 2013, the flood insurance rates are scheduled to change. Grandfathered properties with years old rates may not see those rates any more. Check with your favorite insurance company to get more info for your tenants and buyers.

This was discussed at the Residential Property Management meeting on Wednesday (held the third Wednesday of each month) as well.

However, the main topic for this meeting was the recent changes to the Florida Landlord/Tenant law. Not familiar with Chapter 83? You seriously need to be if you’re going to do any property management in Florida. Number one complaint to Florida Real Estate Commission? Unlicensed activity. Number two? Property management and escrow accounts.

The changes to Chapter 83 were too numerous to mention in this blog. You can go to http://evict.com/FLORIDA%20STATUTES%202013%20NEW.pdf to see the entire document written up by Harry Heist, renowned attorney and expert on property management law. The changes are in red. The section names are links to the actual sections. Click on one of them to jump right to that part of the chapter. But I’ll give you a few highlights here.

Section 83.49 Deposit money or advanced rent (several changes to this section, a must-read)
Section 83.51 Landlord’s obligation to maintain premises (check out (1)(b) the part about screens!)
Section 83.56 Termination of rental agreement (lots of changes, including notices and partial rent payment)

Check out the full document to see all of the changes. Make sure you know about the new requirements and restrictions. You can also go to http://flsenate.gov, under Laws, Statutes (be sure to check the year field to compare the new statute to previous years), Title VI, Chapter 83, Part II. This site is still showing the 2012 statutes but this should be updated soon.

Have questions on the new chapter 83? Come to the July ECAR membership luncheon. We’ll have a panel of local property management experts for you to question and bring your issues to.

We’d love to see you at the next Crestview or Destin Commercial forum, or the Residential Property Management forum! Just send me an email, susan@ecaor.com, let me know which group (or groups) you’re interested in, and I’ll add you to the email list.

Questions? Comment on this blog or email susan@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS
Fort Walton Beach, FL

Tip of the Week – Supra Active Key Billing

Do you have the Supra key service that’s on your phone? Then this message is not for you. This is ONLY for those of you who have the small white device with an antenna as your key, also known as the Active key. The annual lease renewal is just around the corner.

The lease for the Active key is renewed each year in August. The billing is usually done in late July or early August. So June is a good time to review your key service and make a decision.

What decision is that? You have three choices: renew the Active key for another year, upgrade to the eKey service on your phone, or cancel the service.

We don’t know yet what the exact amount for the renewed lease, but it will probably be about $200. If you opt for the insurance for the Active key, there will be a separate additional renewal bill of $25. You can pay that at ECAR by credit/debit card or check, you can mail a check to Supra, or you can go online to the Supra website.

If you choose to upgrade to the eKey service, you must make an appointment with the ECAR MLS staff. This upgrade includes a complete change of the key assignment and billing process. It’s not a lengthy process but it does take some time. While there’s no cost to upgrade to the eKey, there is a monthly lease for the service, rather than an annual lease of the device. There’s also the purchase of an adapter which allows the phones to communicate with the lockboxes. That’s about $58.

If you choose to cancel the key service, you’ll need to return the Active key to ECAR. We’ll turn off the service and give you a receipt. Please do not leave your Active key at the front desk without getting a receipt. If you have someone else drop the key off for you, we’ll give them a handwritten receipt and then email an actual receipt to you. This will let you know that the account has been actually cancelled. Then and only then, you’re no longer responsible for the key.

Also keep in mind that if you cancel the key account, and then change your mind later on, there may be a $50 activation fee to start a new key account.

Questions about the different key services or costs? Call us at 850-244-2411 or email MLS@ecaor.com.

Susan Beck, MLS Director
Emerald Coast Association of REALTORS
Fort Walton Beach, FL