On July 12, a new Residential Data Input Form (DIF) will be released and will include many updates requested by members of the Fraser Valley, BC Northern, Chilliwack & District, and Greater Vancouver real estate boards. The changes will add valuable new data to draw upon and enhance our Paragon property reports.
New and improved
The slate of changes and new fields to be added, previewed in an earlier article, will strengthen the existing Full Realtor and Full Public reports, which are already packed full of data.
In addition, members will have access to newly designed two-page report options. The extra “real estate” provided by the two-page, easier-to-read format will provide space to accommodate new fields in the future as the MLS® database is continuously expanded and improved. Members are not obligated to use the two-page reports – the default report remains the familiar one-page version – but we highly encourage you to consider using the new reports to take advantage of having added information at your fingertips to share with clients.
A Team Effort
These improvements to both the capacity and quality of information that members can share with clients would not have been possible without the collaborative efforts of a focus group comprising members from all four boards, who provided valuable feedback on behalf of their respective memberships. The valuable guidance from this group included:
- Reports should be consistent: Fields should be in the same location regardless of which report is being viewed.
- Strata fields should be grouped together: Buyers’ agents should be able to easily locate the strata details.
- Listings of Townhomes with approved suites (where zoning permits them) should be highlighted on reports: A “suite” field should be included in the Residential Attached reports, so these listings can be featured.
- Laneway or Coach Home information (square footage) should be highlighted: This information should be featured in the reports.
- Lot Size acreage should be easy to see: This field should be added to the standard Full Realtor report, so members don’t need to change report views just to see this field.
- On the new two-page reports, key information should be on page one: Keep the most crucial “what do I need to do my business” information on page one, and have secondary information appear on page two.
That is just a small portion of the comprehensive discussion, which helped to drive the direction of the design of your new two-page reports. It was a true collaboration and we thank all the Realtors involved for their valuable input. Please watch for more details leading up to the July 12 cutover for the Residential DIF and property report changes.
Questions? Email FVREB’s MLS® team at mls@fvreb.bc.ca.
Source: FVREB MLS®