1. real estate

BETTER HOMES REALTY
HOW TO OBTAIN MAXIMUM
EXPOSURE OF YOUR NEW
LISTINGS ON THE INTERNET
A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO USING THE TOOLS
AVAILABLE TO AGENTS OF BETTER HOMES REALTY
WHEN CREATING NEW LISTINGS
Document Version 1.0
1/30/2012
Most of the information in this guide has been taken from various documents available to all agents of
Better Homes Realty, which are found in the Technology Support link of one’s LinkURealty.com
account. These documents were originally authored by Larry Vecchio, Jr.; all I did was enhance them a
little for the technologically challenged.
– Paul Combitsis, REALTOR® Associate, Toms River, NJ
Table of Contents
New Listing Checklist..........................................................................................................................................2
What feeds where…? ..........................................................................................................................................3
HOW TO ADD A LISTING TO LINKUREALTY.COM ...................................................................................4
There are two ways you can log in: .........................................................................................................4
To Import a Listing into LinkU from the MLS ........................................................................................4
Additional Information ...............................................................................................................................4
To Manually Add a Listing into LinkU .......................................................................................................5
Additional Information ...............................................................................................................................5
HOW TO CREATE A VIRTUAL TOUR WITH REALBIRD............................................................................6
HOW TO ADD A LISTING TO POSTLETS .....................................................................................................7
HOW TO POST YOUR LISTING TO CRAIGSLIST FROM LINKU, REALBIRD AND POSTLETS ....8
From LinkURealty.............................................................................................................................................8
From RealBird....................................................................................................................................................8
From Postlets .....................................................................................................................................................8
Continue from here… ......................................................................................................................................8
HOW TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST DIRECTLY ............................................................................................. 10
Additional Information ............................................................................................................................ 11
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS ON ZILLOW AND TRULIA ............................................................. 12
HOW TO SHOWCASE YOUR LISTING ON REALTOR.COM .................................................................. 14
ADDITIONAL TUTORIALS & INFORMATION ............................................................................................ 15
How to Set Up a Prospect for Auto-Emails on the MLS ................................................................. 15
How to Run an Initial MLS Search and E-mail Results to a Prospect ....................................... 16
How to Upload Photos to the MLS, LinkU, Postlets, etc. ............................................................... 16
USB Memory Sticks .................................................................................................................................. 16
General Upload Instructions ................................................................................................................. 16
If the computer has a memory card slot compatible with your camera’s card ............ 17
If the computer does NOT have a memory card slot compatible with your camera’s
card ............................................................................................................................................................ 17
1
New Listing Checklist
When you obtain a new listing, these are the steps you should take in order to maximize your listing’s exposure
on the Internet:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Enter listing into the MLS.
Import listing into LinkU.
Create a virtual tour in Realbird
Create listing in Postlets.
Post listing to Craigslist.
Claim your listings on Zillow and Trulia.
Showcase your listing on Realtor.com (to be done approx. 24 hours AFTER
entry into the MLS).
The above list is, essentially, the BARE MINIMUM that you should be doing when you take a new listing, and the
steps should be done in that order. This ensures: a) that your listing gets maximum exposure on the Internet,
and b) that YOU, the agent, get maximum exposure right alongside it. I will never forget Larry Vecchio’s
question to me when I interviewed to come to Better Homes Realty:
Larry: “How many properties are currently on the Internet with your name on them?”
Me:
“Less than one.”
Larry: “Well, then, you don’t have a real estate business.”
Better Homes believes in the power of the Internet, and only by following the steps outlined above will you have
a fighting chance of outdoing, outsmarting and outperforming the competition. The goal is to get YOUR home
and YOUR name viewed by as many people as possible.
Steps 2 and (especially) 5, above, can be done with ANY property (sale or
rental), just as long as the disclaimer “Listing courtesy of _______”
appears way at the bottom if it is NOT an in-house listing. However,
PLEASE NOTE: if an agent is in need of listings to put on their LinkU page,
they should contact their administrator or manager for properties to load.
We don’t just want anybody and everybody to load anything. They need
to have permission to advertise listings, and the administrators and
managers have that list. We also don’t want two (or more) people loading
the same listings.
There are many more things you can do to increase your visibility and that
of your properties on the Internet. You can find help under the
.
…. menu in your LinkU account. You will find many
more tutorials by clicking the Technology Support (LinkU, Realbird,
Craigslist, Realtor.com etc) link (the last link) of this menu (see right).
2
What feeds where…?
Instructions on how to load a listing on LinkU, Postlets, and RealBird can be
found under Technology Support, which is located in the LinkU Control Panel.
MLS automatically feeds to:
• Realtor.com
• Homes.com
LinkURealty automatically feeds to:
• BetterHomesUS
• HomesIn____.com
• Oodle
• Trulia
• Zillow
• PropBot
• ByOwnerMLS
• FrontDoor
• RentBits
You can
o
o
o
also provide a link to share in:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
You can also Post the HTML Code into
.
Postlets automatically feeds to:
• Enormo
• Hotpads
• Oodle
• Vast
• Backpage
You can
o
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o
o
o
also provide a link to share in:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
FriendFeed
MySpace
You can also Post the HTML Code into
.
Real Bird should be used for the creation of Virtual Tours. The URL that is
provided from the creation of a Virtual Tour can be used for LinkU and the MLS.
(The original information for this page is found under the heading “New Listing Checklist” of the LinkU menu.)
3
HOW TO ADD A LISTING TO LINKUREALTY.COM
There are two ways you can log in:
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Go to www.betterhomes.com
Put cursor on “Contact” at top of page; click “Agent Login” from drop-down menu. Login with assigned Username and Password
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Go to www.linkurealty.com
Click on “Client Login” at the top
Login with assigned Username and Password
OR
To Import a Listing into LinkU from the MLS
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Log in to LinkU (see previous instructions).
Click on “My Listings” icon.
Click the “Import Listing from MLS” link.
Fill in the four boxes of information. (“City” is not necessarily required.)
Click on the
button (at bottom right).
A completed form will come up; fill in any additional information needed
o Change “Short Title” to something that will attract attention.
o Select “Better Homes Realty Toms River NJ” for “Office”.
o If this is NOT a BHR listing, go to the end of the description, press <Enter> several times,
then type, “Listing courtesy of_________” (putting in the name of the listing brokerage).
o Check all other fields for accuracy.
o Make sure all MLS photos have transferred over.
Click the
button.
When the “View/Edit listing” screen comes up, check the following:
o Make sure the
radio button is selected
o If this is NOT a Better Homes Realty listing:
UNcheck the “uncheck to hide address” button, click
.
UNcheck the “uncheck to hide mapquest” button, click
.
o If this is an in-house listing, check the “Display as Showcase Listing” checkbox, and click
the
button. You are only allowed three (3) showcase listings.
Click on one of the
buttons if all information is correct.
AT THIS TIME, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST.
Click on the red >Logout link at the top-right.
Additional Information
On the last page where the “Set as AVAILABLE” choice is, there are two links:
• Create Short URL and Create Sub-Domain
• Click each of these links and enter the street address of the property (no spaces, all lowercase)
in the boxes. This will create a sub-page and sub-domain, respectively, for the listing under the
main Better Homes domain. These can then be used for advertising, Craigslist, etc. Click
….
or …..
, accordingly, to complete.
4
To Manually Add a Listing into LinkU
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Click on “My Listings” icon.
Click on “Add Listing” link.
Choose appropriate listing type (i.e. condo, single-family, etc.). Click
.
Complete form as applicable. Fields with red asterisks are required. Once form is filled in, click
the
button.
Check off all applicable boxes on next screen; click the
button.
Upload photos; click the
button.
Click the
button when you are done adding photos.
Click on the View Listing Details link.
When the “View/Edit listing” screen comes up, check the following:
o Make sure the
radio button is selected
o If this is NOT a Better Homes Realty listing:
.
UNcheck the “uncheck to hide address” button, click
UNcheck the “uncheck to hide mapquest” button, click
.
o If this is an in-house listing, check the “Display as Showcase Listing” box, and click the
.
button. You are only allowed three (3) showcase listings. Remember, this is only
for in-house listings; it does not give you permission to advertise listings.
Click on one of the
buttons if all information is correct.
You are done.
AT THIS TIME, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST.
Click on the red >Logout link at the top-right.
Additional Information
On the last page where the “Set as AVAILABLE” choice is, there are two links:
• Create Short URL and Create Sub-Domain
• Click each of these links and enter the street address of the property (no spaces, all lowercase)
in the boxes. This will create a sub-page and sub-domain, respectively, for the listing under the
main Better Homes domain. These can then be used for advertising, Craigslist, etc. Click
.
.
or
…
, accordingly, to complete.
5
HOW TO CREATE A VIRTUAL TOUR WITH REALBIRD
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Go to www.realbird.com
DO NOT CREATE YOUR OWN ACCOUNT! You will be using Better Homes’ generic account.
Click on the “Member login” link at the top
o E-mail: info@bhnj.com; Password: njhomes
o NOTE: DO NOT CHANGE ANY OF THE PROFILE INFORMATION!!
Once logged in, click
on the top menu bar.
Click on
.
Fill out form accordingly
o Don’t forget to add description (copy from MLS, or write a new one)
o Click on the
bar. Copy and paste the short-URL link that you got from LinkU in
the “More Details URL” box.
Click on the
button at the bottom. (You will be taken to a “Listing Flyers” page.)
Add photos.
o NOTE: You need to make sure your photos are on your hard drive or on a USB “thumb”
drive. RealBird will NOT import photos from MLS or LinkU.
o Click on the “Add/Manage Photos” link.
o Read the instructions, and then click on the
button.
o Locate your photos, hold the “Ctrl” button down on your keyboard, and click each photo
that you wish to add. When finished, click on “Open” or “Save”.
If you are not automatically taken back to the main page, click on the link at the top that says
<<Back to the list.
From the main page, search for listing you just created by putting in the Street Name and click
on the
button.
The information page of the listing comes up.
o Note the QR barcode. This does NOT link directly to the virtual tour, but to an
information page on your listing. This link can be used for Craigslist.
Click on the Virtual Tour (unbranded) link. (DO NOT click on the “branded” link!) A new
window/tab will appear showing your virtual tour.
o Also, DO NOT click on the yellow
button. This is for something totally
different.
You now need to copy and paste the URL (web address) of this virtual tour.
o Click on URL address at the top to highlight it, right-click and click on “Copy”.
o Log into your LinkU account Go to “My Listings” “View/Edit Listings” Find the
listing and click on “Manage/Edit Listing”.
Click on the Virtual Tour link (menu on top in red)
Click the mouse in the white box, right-click/paste the Virtual Tour link in that box.
Click the
button. Congratulations! Your RealBird virtual tour is now associated with
your LinkU listing.
AT THIS TIME, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST.
When finished, click on the Sign out link at the top right.
NOTE: This virtual tour link should also be copied to other sites you load your listings to. Just follow the
instructions above for copying the Virtual Tour Link/URL and paste it into the other sites where applicable.
6
HOW TO ADD A LISTING TO POSTLETS
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Go to www.postlets.com and log into your account.
o If you don’t already have an account, click on “Set up a FREE account” and follow the
instructions on setting up your account.
Once logged in, click on the
button.
Enter Contact and Location Information as applicable
o NOTE: you will see that some fields are required and you cannot continue unless
those fields are entered.
Click the
button after entering the Confirmation # as shown.
Next you will be asked to enter the Real Estate Description of the property.
o Again, please note the fields which are required to be filled in).
o Don’t forget that the “Agent/broker” radio button should be filled in.
Once all applicable/required fields are entered, click the
button.
The next page is for Features and Links. Check all boxes that apply to the features of your
listing, enter a Property Description in the applicable box, copy links if applicable, (i.e. use the
link from the RealBird virtual tour you created) to the appropriate field(s). Once completed,
click the
button.
Now it is time to upload your Photos.
o NOTE: You need to make sure your photos are on your hard drive or on a USB “thumb”
drive. Postlets will NOT import photos from MLS or LinkU.
o Click the
button and choose your first photo.
o Once complete, another line will appear for an additional photo. If you have more
photos to upload, click
for your next photo. Repeat for more photos.
o When done, click
.
A summary page will now appear for you to Review your Details. If anything needs to be
corrected, click on the
link next to the category you need changes in. If all information is
correct, click the
button.
o NOTE: If you wish to save your entry as a draft at this time, you can do so by clicking on
the
button.
Your Postlets listing is now complete and active.
The final “Display and Distribution” page you will see after clicking “Publish” will show where
your listing will be automatically syndicated to. If you do not want it syndicated to one of these
sites, the box and click on
.
o NOTE that this page also provides an option to Post to Craigslist (click on the word
“craigslist” where you see
), share the link with Facebook, Twitter, etc.
(just click on each of the links) and a QR Code for marketing materials and sign riders
(very hi-tech). Just follow the instructions for each part. All of this is very valuable.
Click the ….
button to return to your main Postlets account page.
AT THIS TIME, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST.
Click on the Log out link at the top right.
7
HOW TO POST YOUR LISTING TO CRAIGSLIST
FROM LINKU, REALBIRD AND POSTLETS
From LinkURealty
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Log in to your LinkU account and find the listing you wish to post, if you have not already done
so. (i.e. My Listings View/Edit Listings)
Click on the Manage/Edit Listing link.
Click on the HTML Classified Creator link at the top next to “Marketing Tools”.
o If an error box pops up, just click the OK button.
You will be taken to the “HTML Classified Creator” page.
MINIMIZE THIS PAGE, FOR NOW.
Continue with these instructions from where it says “CONTINUE FROM HERE…”
From RealBird
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Log in to the Better Homes RealBird account and find the listing you wish to post, if you have
not already done so. (“Listing Marketing” at the top, enter street address, click
button.)
Click on the Post to Craigslist link on the right side.
Click on the
button on the left side.
MINIMIZE THIS PAGE, FOR NOW.
Continue with these instructions from where it says “CONTINUE FROM HERE…”
From Postlets
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Log in to your Postlets account and find the listing you wish to post, if you have not already
done so. (Logging in to your account brings you to the My Postlets page with your listings.)
Select “Links” from the drop-down menu to the right of the address of the listing.
When the screen refreshes, you will be at the “Display and Distribution” page. If you scroll
down, you will notice that the HTML code has already been highlighted.
MINIMIZE THIS PAGE, FOR NOW.
Continue with these instructions from where it says “CONTINUE FROM HERE…”
Continue from here…
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Open a new window or a new tab in your browser.
Go to www.craigslist.com
Click on
at the top-left.
Sign into your account
o NOTE: If you don’t already have one, create a new account for free by clicking on the
Sign up for an account link.
Click the “new posting” link at the top of the page.
Select applicable area in which to post from the drop-down menu (e.g. jersey shore, north
jersey, central NJ, etc.) and click the button.
8
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Click the “housing offered” radio button.
Select a category
o For SALES, click the “real estate – by broker” radio button
Enter the price, select the # of bedrooms, enter the square footage (if known),
enter a title, and type in the specific location of the listing (just the city is fine).
o For RENTALS, click the “apts/housing for rent” radio button
Enter the rent, select the # of bedrooms, enter the square footage (if known),
enter a title, and type in the specific location of the listing (just the city is fine).
Now go back to the minimized Linkurealty/RealBird/Postlets window and copy the HTML link
o LinkU: You can either highlight and copy everything in the text box, OR simply click on
the red Copy HTML link at the top left.
o RealBird: Click once inside the “Craigslist code” box. This should highlight everything in
that box. Right-click on the highlighted text and select “Copy”.
Don’t worry about the Step 3: Post to Craigslist link at the top of the page.
o Postlets: The HTML code should already be highlighted inside the “HTML code for your
postlet” box. Right-click on the highlighted text and select “Copy”.
Go back to the Craigslist window and paste the HTML link in the Posting Description box.
o Put your cursor inside the box, right-click on the mouse and select (left-click) “Paste”.
Click the
button.
Review and confirm your new ad by clicking
.
Craigslist may send you an e-mail and have you click on a link to confirm your new posting. Just
follow the instructions.
As you can see, you can actually create THREE (3) separate Craigslist postings for the same listing using
the HTML code from three different sites (i.e. LinkU, RealBird and Postlets). Just make sure that the
posting title is different for all three posts, or else Craigslist will flag you for creating similar postings.
This procedure will give your listing maximum exposure on Craigslist.
And don’t forget to renew your postings when they expire!
9
HOW TO POST TO CRAIGSLIST DIRECTLY
This procedure is mostly used for rentals, but it can be used to create a quick post for one of your
listings. Note that this method will not create as effective a posting as one created using HTML code,
but it will still get the message out there.
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Open a new window or a new tab in your browser.
Go to www.craigslist.com
Click on
at the top-left.
Sign into your account
o NOTE: If you don’t already have one, create a new account for free by clicking on the
Sign up for an account link.
Click the “new posting” link at the top of the page.
Select applicable area in which to post from the drop-down menu (e.g. jersey shore, north
jersey, central NJ, etc.) and click the button.
Click the “housing offered” radio button.
Select a category
o For SALES, click the “real estate – by broker” radio button
Enter the price, select the # of bedrooms, enter the square footage (if known),
enter a title, and type in the specific location of the listing (just the city is fine).
o For RENTALS, click the “apts/housing for rent” radio button
Enter the rent, select the # of bedrooms, and enter the sq. footage (if known).
Posting Title should state the area plus the word “rental” (e.g. “Lavallette Rental”
or “Hazlet Rental”) .
For Specific Location, put the town name (e.g. Lavallette or Hazlet ) .
o For both SALES and RENTALS:
In the Posting Description, type in the following information:
1. Put some sort of code number (e.g. last 4 numbers of the MLS #), so you
can identify what listing someone is calling on.
2. “Better Homes Realty”
3. Area (e.g. “Hazlet, NJ”)
4. Number of Bedrooms
5. Number of Bathrooms
6. Price
7. “Call for more information”
8. Agent’s name
9. Agent’s cell phone number
10. Office number (this is required by NJREC)
Click the
button.
Review and confirm your new ad by clicking
.
Craigslist may send you an e-mail and have you click on a link to confirm your new posting. Just
follow the instructions.
(Continued on next page)
10
Additional Information
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You should post Craigslist ads for rentals EVERY DAY, even for the same type of “generic”
information. This assures that your name will be “at the top” of the list for the day!
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If property is in central jersey, you should post to both central jersey and jersey shore. If
property is in south, just post to south; if in north, just post to north.
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Even though you are posting the same listing to two different areas, you cannot word them
identically. They cannot have the same wording in both areas, or you will receive a “similar
posting” error. So you will just need to change a few words from one posting to another. And
don’t forget to renew your postings!
•
Finally, DO NOT put the address or information that makes it look like someone else’s listing.
Keep it generic. The reasons for not putting the address are, first, because it is not our listing;
second, buyer/tenant may drive there and see someone else’s sign and call them. We want
them calling YOU!
11
HOW TO CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS
ON ZILLOW AND TRULIA
When listings feed over to these two web sites, generic contact information is associated with them. This means
that when someone searches for homes and your listing is part of their results, your name and contact
information is NOT associated with the listing. You have to actually go through a short process of “claiming”
your listings. You can claim those listings if they were already fed to them from another source (i.e.
Linkurealty.com). If not, you will have to load your listings manually.
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Go to www.zillow.com and click on the Sign In link in the top right-hand corner.
Log in with your e-mail address and password and click the
button.
o If you do not have an account with Zillow, click on the Register now link.
o Complete form accordingly and click on the
button.
o Update your profile by putting your cursor on the My Zillow link in the top right corner.
From the drop-down menu that appears, click on “Profile”.
o From there, you can edit your profile (
Profile) to include your title, additional
phone numbers, web site, upload your photo, etc.
TO CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS:
o Put your cursor on the My Zillow link in the top right corner.
o From the drop-down menu that appears, click on “Listings”.
o Type in the address in the box at the top that says “Title, Keywords or Name”, and type
in the City and State in the next box.
o Click the
button.
o When listing comes up, click on the address of the property.
o Click on
Claim This Listing.
o You are done. Listing is now associated with you.
o Click My Zillow Sign out to log off of Zillow.
Go to www.trulia.com , click on the “Log in” link in the top right-hand corner, and log in with
your e-mail address and password (or Facebook account).
o If you do not have an account with Trulia, click on the
button.
o Fill out the form accordingly and click on the
button.
o An e-mail will be sent to you advising that your account has been created.
o Update your profile by putting your cursor on the down arrow next to your name in the
top right corner. From the drop-down menu that appears, click on “Profile”.
o From there, you can edit your profile (via the Edit profile link on the left) to update your
personal information (i.e. add your photo, title, experience, etc.).
12
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TO CLAIM YOUR LISTINGS:
o To Claim or add listings, click on My Listings (either from down-arrow next to your name
or from the link on the left side of your Profile page).
o Click on the Find/ Submit Listings link on the left side.
o Enter the property address or MLS # to claim a listing that is already posted on Trulia,
OR click the Submit Your Listings » link to load your listing manually.
If manual submission, click on the
or the
button, as applicable. Complete forms accordingly.
o If listing is found, click the checkbox to the left of the listing, check the box that certifies
you as the listing agent, and then click the
button.
o You are done. Listing is now associated with you.
o Click YourName Log out to log off of Trulia.
13
HOW TO SHOWCASE YOUR LISTING ON
REALTOR.COM
When you load a listing into the MLS, it will automatically feed to Realtor.com in approximately 24
hours, with the exception of Commercial Listings, which do NOT go on Realtor.com.
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Go to http://solutioncenter.realtor.com/ - OR - go to www.realtor.com, click on the Agent
Control Panel Login link at the bottom left.
o Account Type is agent; for MLS, choose your MLS County (i.e. Monmouth, Ocean,
Hudson, etc.); then enter your Agent MLS ID and your Password.
o Click on the
or the
button, depending on which screen you are on.
If unsure of your password, please email TechSupport@BetterHomes.com
Once logged in, click on the Edit a Listing link under the “My Listings” heading, which is on the
left side of the screen.
You will be taken to the My Listings screen, where you should see a list of all of your listings
that are currently on Realtor.com. Click the Edit link to the left of the applicable listing you wish
to showcase.
What you need to do to showcase the listing:
o Manage Photos – manage/upload your photos as applicable. (If you loaded your photos
on the MLS, they should carry over to Realtor.com. Occasionally this does not happen
and you will need to upload your photos manually into Realtor.com).
o Text Descriptions – Add a text description which would be different from the MLS
description, if you wish. For example, “Beautiful 1 family ranch on an oversized lot.
Finished basement, garage parking, etc.”
After adding the description, check off the appropriate boxes indicating which
description you would like to appear on the Search Results page or on the Listing
Details page of Realtor.com.
o Headlines – Add short headlines, which will appear on the Realtor.com listing. For
example, “1 Family Ranch – Hazlet”.
o Special Message Box – Add a special message, which appears on the property details
section of the listing. You should include agent’s name, cell number and office number,
as well as applicable website (e.g. HomesinHazlet.com).
o Open Houses – Add an Open House date, if applicable.
REMINDER: DON’T FORGET TO CLICK THE
BUTTON AFTER YOU COMPLETE EACH
SECTION!
Your listing has now been showcased!
14
ADDITIONAL TUTORIALS & INFORMATION
Better Homes Realty has many other tutorials that an agent can download to take advantage of other
services. These can be found on the “Technology Support” link of LinkU’s “ADDITIONAL INFO” menu.
If you ever have a problem or a question on any of the posted tutorials or with any of the information
in this document, help is only an e-mail away at:
techsupport@betterhomes.com
Following are a few other tutorials that answer some common questions asked by agents during
training sessions and meetings, as well as my own experiences with people coming up to me asking,
“How do you do this?”
How to Set Up a Prospect for Auto-Emails on the MLS
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If you have not already done so, you must first add your client as a new Prospect.
o Prospects New Prospect
o When the “Edit Prospect” box pops up, enter (at a minimum) your client’s name and email address. You may enter other contact information at your discretion.
o Click on the
button.
o Click the
button to confirm.
If client has already been added as a prospect, pull up that prospects information from the
Prospects tab.
Click the “Saved Searches” tab from the “Edit Prospect” window with your prospect’s
information.
You must first create a search for this prospect.
o Click on the Create a New Search link.
o Enter the criteria desired to search for properties for this prospects. You may have to go
into refine search to include as much information as possible for the prospect. Once you
are satisfied with the search, click “Save”.
o When done, click on the
button. THIS IS IMPORTANT, as you do NOT want to
do the search yet. You want to SAVE it first.
o When the “Save as” dialogue box appears, name the search the same as your prospect,
and click the “Save” button, which looks like this:
.
o Click the
button to confirm the Save.
Go back to your prospect and open up the prospect card.
Go to the “Saved Searches” tab, and you should see your new search (named the same as your
prospect) under where it says “Select a Search to Edit”.
o If you do NOT see this, you will have to add it.
o Click the down-arrow underneath “Add a Search to this Prospect”.
o Select the search that you just created (remember it’s named the same as the prospect).
o Click the
button.
Update the information under the “Saved Searches” as follows:
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•
•
o Recipients – Select “Prospect” (or, select “Me & Prospect” if you would also like to
receive the e-mails from the MLS at the same time as the prospect).
o Report – This should be “Customer Full” or “Customer Full (w/Contact)”.
o Custom Subject – Suggested text for this is “Here is the Real Estate Information you
requested…”
o Custom Message – Type in a message for the e-mail that will be sent to the prospect.
Suggested text: “Dear _____, Below are links to properties that meet the search criteria
we discussed. Please review them and let me know if you would like to see any of them.
I look forward to hearing from you soon.” (…. or something like that…)
Click on the
button.
Your prospect is now set up for auto-emails.
You may want to run an initial search and e-mail the results to the prospect. The easiest way to do this
is as follows:
How to Run an Initial MLS Search and E-mail Results to a Prospect
•
•
•
Click on the
drop-down menu (located on the left-hand side), and select the
search with your prospect’s name on it.
When the results appear, check them all, change “Reports” to “Customer Full” or “Customer
Full (w/Contact)”, and click the e-mail button .
Select your prospect’s name on the right-hand side (no need to put their e-mail address in the
button. E-mail is sent.
“To:” box), type in a personal message, and click the
How to Upload Photos to the MLS, LinkU, Postlets, etc.
Photos are typically located in one of four places:
•
•
•
•
On the memory card of a camera or smartphone (most typical);
On a USB memory stick (sometimes called a “thumb drive”);
On the hard drive of a computer; or
On a CD or DVD (least typical for us realtors).
USB Memory Sticks
It is recommended that you obtain a good, inexpensive 2 Gb (“gigabyte”) or 4Gb memory stick, easily
obtainable at most pharmacies such as Walgreens, Walmart, Best Buy, etc. This is where you can
(temporarily) keep photos, documents, scan images and virtually anything else associated with your
real estate business. A memory stick can be plugged into a USB port of any recently-manufactured
computer and acts as a “removable drive”, which can be accessed as if it were another hard drive.
(The PC will assign it a new drive letter, like G: or K: or something like that.) Using a USB memory stick
assures that your photos/documents are always with you.
General Upload Instructions
If your photos are located on the camera, it may be easiest to transfer them to the computer’s hard
drive or onto a USB memory stick. This may be accomplished in one of two ways:
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If the computer has a memory card slot compatible with your camera’s card
•
•
•
•
Insert your USB drive into your computer (if you wish to transfer photos to it) and note the
drive letter the computer assigns to it. (For example, drive J:).
Remove the camera’s memory card (most common format is SD) and insert it into the SD
slot of the computer, if available. This card is now considered a “removable drive” (for
example, drive K:) on the computer, and can be accessed as if it were another hard drive.
Drag-and-drop photos from drive K: to a folder on your computer’s hard drive (or onto the
Desktop) OR onto the USB drive J:.
You may then delete the photos from the camera’s memory card K: once you confirm that
they all transferred properly to drive J:.
If the computer does NOT have a memory card slot compatible with your camera’s card
•
•
•
•
•
Insert your USB drive into your computer (if you wish to transfer photos to it) and note the
drive letter the computer assigns to it. (For example, drive J:).
Connect the camera to the computer (via the USB cable that would have come with the
camera). Once you make the connection, the computer will “see” the camera and consider
it a “removable drive”. (For example, drive K:.)
Drag-and-drop photos from drive K: to a folder on your computer’s hard drive (or onto the
Desktop) OR onto the USB drive J:.
You may then delete the photos from the camera (drive K:) once you confirm that they all
transferred properly to drive J:.
Unplug the camera’s USB cable from the computer port.
[NOTE: If you wish, you can also upload your photos to a “cloud” environment (e.g. Google docs,
Windows Live, Snapfish, Picasa, etc.), so you can access them from any computer that has Internet
access. This is strictly a “back-up” procedure; you will NOT be able to upload your photos to the MLS
(or LinkU, etc.) directly from these sites without first downloading them to the local computer on
which you are working.]
Once you know where your photos are, you can then upload them to the desired website. Interfaces
are different, but they all have the following things in common:
•
•
•
•
There will be a “Browse” button which you must click in order to search your hard drive/camera
memory card for the desired photo(s).
Some interfaces may allow you to upload multiple photos at one time; others, you will need to
do one at a time.
There may be a place to put some text to describe the photo.
Photos may be limited to a specific number and file size, depending on the site. (For example,
MLS limits you to 15 photos, no larger than 3 Mb – megabytes – each.)
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