On an mls listing form, in what section would you find information regarding waterfront footage?

It is important that REALTORS® be consistent in measuring the finished square footage of homes. Therefore, the SCWMLS has developed guidelines to aid you in completing the square footage fields on a listing. Square footage is a required entry and must be completed on all Single Family and Condo listings. For a copy of the Square Footage Guidelines, click here.

« Bathrooms

Please use the following guidelines when identifying bathrooms in the MLS:

• A half bath includes a stool and a sink
• A full bath includes a stool, a sink and a bathtub or shower (or both)

« Schools

There is an edit check table set up for school names (elementary, middle and high). When entering schools, use the actual school name, not the school district. School District is a separate field. If there is a situation of uncertainty by the school district (NOT the REALTOR®) as to which school the children of a family buying a particular property will go to, you may enter CALL DIST. Entering CALL DIST may cause your listing to be missed in a search if there is truly no uncertainty regarding boundaries in the school district. For a list of schools by county and school district in PDF format, click here.

« Remarks

Paragon accepts 600 characters for the MLS General (Public) Remarks.

• The General MLS Remarks section is reserved for information describing the property. Agent and office information, such as names, phone numbers, websites or special showing instructions cannot be included in this section.
• The Additional Wisconsinhomes Remarks section can be used for information not allowed in the general remarks section. This, along with the general remarks, is the verbiage that will display on the Internet listing for the property on wisconsinhomes.com.
• Broker to Broker Info will only display on Agent Reports. This is the section to use for listing agent and office information such as names, phones numbers, websites, bonuses, co-list information, special showing information, etc.

« Features

At least one entry is required under feature categories marked with a red (R). You may select multiple choices under each category, so please select as many as apply. If you select OTHER, you should specify in the Remarks what the other characteristic is.

« Open House/Tour

To load Open House information, open the OPEN HOUSE/TOUR section of the listing input screen and add the appropriate date and times. NOTE: Times must be entered in the format: 2:00-3:00.

« Under Construction Listings

• The estimated completion date or stage of completion at time of listing must be included in the first line of the Public Remarks section of all under construction listings.
• Under construction properties can be entered only once, and if construction has not been started, the "building plan with lot" feature must be selected (rather than "under construction"). The MLS will delete expired listings of properties for which construction was never started.
• If the house number is not yet on the property, be sure to include specifics such as 2nd from the corner in the directions. Enter the lot number in the street number field (ex: L6).
• Sketches, floor plans and plat maps can be submitted as photos for properties under construction. If you submit a photo of a completed similar model, please affix the words similar model to the photograph or add similar model as a photo label. Once construction is complete, an actual photo of the front exterior of the property is required. The "under construction" feature should be removed at that time and replaced with the "new/never occupied" feature.
• If you add upgrades or finish more square footage than the original listing in the MLS states, please adjust the list price and data in the MLS to reflect these changes. We often see the sale price several thousand dollars more than the list price due to buyer requested additions/upgrades. This of course makes it difficult to use these solds for appraisals and CMAs, and you can be assessed $5/day for incorrect data not adjusted.

« Condos

• Only condos that are either stand-alone or half-duplexes are allowed to be marketed secondarily under the Single Family category. Condo fees must be listed in the first line of the MLS general remarks and "Condominium" must be chosen under the Type feature.
• Only single family properties that have a shared wall or a monthly maintenance fee are allowed to be marketed secondarily under the Condo category. The Type feature "not a condo (single fam)" must be selected.
• Studio condos can be identified as having 0 or 1 bedrooms, at the option of the listing agent. However, they must be identified by the Type feature "Studio."

« Auction Listings

Properties being sold at Auction must include the date of auction, preview dates, and an explanation of what is being represented as the list price within the first line of MLS Remarks. In addition, an Auction Information Form is required as an associated document.
It is recommended that if there is a flyer with additional information about the auction, that this flyer be included as an associated document. You may also want to take advantage of photo labels and add AUCTION as a label for the first photo.

« Building Contracts

Building Contracts are only allowed on the MLS if they include land with the sale. You must select the "building plan with lot" feature under TYPE to identify this type of listing.

« Manufactured/Mobile Homes with No Land

Members of the SCWMLS are allowed to place manufactured/mobile homes without land on the MLS. However, when listing a manufactured/mobile home without land, the MLS requires the following statement to be included in the Broker to Broker remarks of the listing:
Personal property sale - No approved forms - See www.scwmls.com/pdf/mh.pdf.
The Type feature "Manufactured/Mobile-NO LAND" must also be selected.
Click here for details and restrictions pertaining to listing manufactured/mobile homes without land (personal property). Manufactured/mobile homes without land are deleted when they expire or sell.

« Homes with No Land/On Leased Land (Not Manufactured/Mobile)

Members of the SCWMLS are allowed to market existing homes with no land included in the sale on the MLS provided the structure is not being conveyed by motor vehicle title, and the land lease (if applicable) is for more than one year. The actual physical location must be identified and a disclaimer must be included in the first line of the public remarks explaining that no land is included in the sale. Also, the following specific wording must be included in the Broker to Broker remarks section: "DSPS forms related to the listing and sale of real property may not be appropriate for this transaction." These listings will be deleted when they expire or sell.

« Legally Comdemned Properties

A disclosure of the fact that a property is legally condemned must be included in the first line of public remarks (explanation of the reason for condemnation may be included, but is not required).

« Limited Service Listings

If a Participant lists a property for which limited services are offered, Participant must disclose the services they will not provide. A form outlining exactly what services will not be provided by the Participant is required to be attached to all Limited Service Listings at the time the listing is entered into the MLS database.
Click here for a copy of this Form

« Value Range Pricing

Traditionally, when a property is listed for sale, it is placed on the market at a fixed price. Under value range pricing, the property is marketed in a range of values, rather than one specific price. It is important to understand that value range pricing is simply a marketing tool which brokers and sellers can elect to utilize (or not). When entering the price for a value range priced property, you must enter the list price (price that earns a commission) in the List Price field in Paragon. The price range, as agreed to for marketing, must be entered in the first line of the MLS public remarks.

« Waterfront Properties

Properties marked with the “has actual water frontage” feature must be located on a lake, river or channel.

« Co-Listing with Non-Members

Properties that are listed with both a Participant and a non-participant of the South Central Wisconsin MLS may be submitted for publication to the SCWMLS provided said non-participant is a REALTOR® and is a Member of another REALTOR® MLS or CIREX, and provided said non-participant agrees in writing to abide by the Rules and Regulations of the South Central Wisconsin MLS. A completed and signed MLS Co-Listing Agreement must be submitted to the SCWMLS office before a listing is input.

« Farm Listings

There is not a separate Farm Category - Farm type properties with a residence should be listed under the Single Family category (those without a residence are restricted to the Lots & Acreage category). If you enter a listing under either category and select the "Farm" Type feature, you are required to attach a Farm Associated Document at the time the listing is entered into the MLS database.

« Vacant Land Listings

• If you have several lots for sale, you may wish to add a listing for each lot, OR add one to represent some or all of the lots. If you choose to enter one listing to represent more than one lot, do not list the total acreage of the combined lots in conjunction with the price of one lot. Pick one lot; list the size of that lot in conjunction with the price of that one lot. Mention the other available lots in the remarks. It is very difficult to search using acreage and price when the acreage entered doesn't match the price listed.
• If you choose to market more than one lot under one single MLS number, how do you report a sale when one of those lots sells? Enter the lot that sold as a new listing - a Comp Sale. Instead of entering it as an Active listing, enter it as a Sold Comp; use the actual list date (the 4-day input rule does not apply to listings entered as Sold) and expiration date. Remember to adjust the remaining Active MLS listing to reflect the lots that are left to be sold. You can use the Copy/Clone feature in Paragon to save a lot of time - details are listed under the Additional Paragon Features section.
• The Lots & Acreage category is limited to vacant land, and land with buildings other than residential structures. An exception can be made for properties that have a residential structure with little or no value. Those listings can be listed under Lots & Acreage, provided the "residential structure with little or no value" feature is selected under the Improvements feature group.

« Multi Family Listings

• The Multi Family category is limited to multi-unit buildings that contain two or more separate dwelling units. An exception can be made for single unit properties that are zoned multi family. For single unit properties that are zoned multi family, the listing must have the "single family-zoned multi family" feature selected under the Type feature group. [The listing agent for this type of property can choose to enter it as Single Family or Multi Family, but not both.]
• Single family listings are not allowed in the Multi Family category, and multi family listings are not allowed in the Single Family category, with the exception of multi family dwellings that were originally single family dwellings and can be converted back (these may be listed in Single Family as well as Multi Family). What is required to convert it back to single family use must be clearly indicated in the public remarks.

« Reporting FSBOs and Other Non-MLS Listed Comp Sales

When entering non-MLS listed properties as Comp Sales, the following guidelines are to be used:

1. FSBO sales, One-Party listings & other properties not listed on MLS while active cannot be entered until after closing.
2. Add the listing as Sold instead of Active.
3. For listing date, use the verifiable date on which the owner/builder began marketing the property to the public at large (must be the accepted offer date or earlier), unless you have an actual contractual date. This will allow the days on market to truly reflect the open market exposure time for the property, which in turn will help appraisers locate useable comps. The 4-day rule does not apply for listings entered as Sold.
4. For expiration date, use the closing date (or actual contractual date).
5. Room sizes, if unavailable, are not required, but room numbers and levels are required.
6. ALL other listing rules that apply to active listings apply to Sold Comps, including photo requirements.
7. If a FSBO is entered as a sold, the list side should be recorded as the actual Selling Agent and the sale side as the actual Selling Agent. After the listing is entered, email and request the list side be changed to Sold by REALTOR®.
8. If an exclusive agency listing is sold by the seller, the list side should be recorded as the actual Listing Agent and the sale side as Seller Sold Listing.
9. If a one-party listing is entered as a sold, the list side should be recorded as the actual Listing Agent, and the sale side should be recorded as the actual Selling Agent.
10. If a property sells to a seller listed exclusion, the list side should be recorded as the actual Listing Agent and the sale side should be recorded as the actual Selling Agent, if the buyer was represented by an agent. If not, the sale side should be recorded as Seller Sold Listing. After the listing is entered, email and request the list side be changed to Seller Sold Listing. If the sale data is not known, the listing should be Expired and "sold to seller listed exclusion" noted in the remarks.
11. If a property sells to a listed exclusion under a previous listing, that previous listing should be reported as sold, and any subsequent listing should be expired or deleted - email for assistance with deletions.
12. For co-broke sales where an agent acts on their own behalf in purchasing an MLS listed property, the sale-side of the transaction should be recorded under the listing office. If another agent in his/her firm represents the agent/buyer, the sale-side of the transaction shall be recorded under the firm representing the buyer.

« Non-Member Sales

If the selling agent/office of your listing is not a Member of our MLS, use SCWMLS Non-Member for selling agent and selling office and add the name of the actual agent & office to the broker to broker remarks. Please use this option only if the office/agent is not listed in our database. Members of Rock/Green MLS are listed in our database, and therefore should be entered when they are the selling side on your listing. After the listing is entered, email & request the sale side be changed in WIREX to reflect the actual agent.
If you are the selling agent of a listing that is not in our MLS, but rather listed by a Member of another MLS, you may enter the listing as a comp sale. Enter yourself as the listing and selling side and add the name of the actual listing agent & office to the broker to broker remarks. After the listing is entered, email & request the list side be changed to SCWMLS Non-Member.

« Rentals

Residential properties for rent can be included within the Paragon program. If you have access to add listings, you can add rentals by clicking on Listings - Add Listing - Rental. To search for rentals click on Search - Search by Class - Rental. Click here for a copy of the Rental Profile Sheet. These listings will be deleted when they expire or sell.

« Status Changes Required in Paragon

Accepted Offers - When you receive an accepted offer, you have 3 days to change the status of that listing to either Offer-Show (AC) or Offer-No Show (PND). The only exception is if there is a bump clause in the offer or a short sale situation. If there is a bump, or if the property is a short sale, you will have 3 days to either change the status to Offer-Show (AC), Offer-No Show (PND), Offer-Bump (AB), or you can leave the status as Active, but you must disclose the existence of the offer in the Broker to Broker remarks (Accepted Offer Bump Clause or Accepted Offer Short Sale). When recording an Accepted Offer, you will be prompted to enter the date of the acceptance and if there were competing offers at the time of acceptance.

If your seller has instructed you to not disclose the existence of the offer, the status must then be changed (within 3 days) to Withdrawn by Seller until such a time as the property closes, or the offer falls through.

You may be assessed $5/day for status changes that are not done in a timely fashion.

Withheld/Delayed - If you and your seller decide that a new listing will not be ready for showings until after the required 4 days for listing input, or if a seller suspends showings for an existing listing during the term of the contract with the intent to allow showings at a later date, you can enter that listing into the status of Withheld/Delayed until such time as it is ready to market and show - up to a maximum of 45 days. Properties in Withheld/Delayed on day 46 will be moved to the status of MLS Suspended. The Show Date field is required for listings in Withheld/Delayed. While a listing is in the status of Withheld/Delayed, days on market are not counted, the listing will not come up in active searches, nor will it be included on public websites. While a listing is in the status of Withheld/Delayed, it cannot be shown to potential buyers. Agents from companies other than the listing company are not allowed to preview. Fines up to $15,000 and suspension of MLS services may be imposed on both the listing agent and the showing agent if found in violation.

Withdrawn by Seller - If a seller no longer wants you to market their property, but the listing contract has not been terminated, that listing should be put in Withdrawn by Seller. While a listing is in the status of Withdrawn by Seller, it is not available for anyone, including the listing company, to show.

Expired - If your office releases a seller from their listing contract before the expiration date, the listing must be moved to an expired status in MLS.

Sold - Once the listing is sold and closed, be sure to change the status in Paragon.

When closing out a property, you are required to identify if the sale was court approved, non-arm's length, relocation, a short sale, or if the property was bank owned/REO. A choice for N/A is available if none of these apply.

If the seller made concessions, be sure to indicate that amount in the Seller Concessions field. Seller Concessions is defined as: Points paid by seller on behalf of buyer, seller-paid buyer closing costs, cash or cash allowances not escrowed, down payment assistance, and personal property not usual and customary to such transactions conveyed from seller to buyer having an agreed upon monetary value.

Reports of closed sales, exchanges and rentals must be done on the Paragon system within ten (10) days of the date of closing. You will be assessed $5/day for status changes that are not done in a timely fashion, up to a maximum of $25. In addition, if the closing date is falsified to avoid the late fee, a fine of $100 will be assessed, in addition to the $5 per day fee.

Price Changes & General Information Changes - When there is a change to the price or any other material condition of the original listing, it must be reported on the Paragon MLS Sytem within 48 hours (excluding Saturdays, Sundays and MLS Holidays). You may be assessed $5/day for price changes and other information changes that are not done in a timely fashion.

MLS STATUSES AND WHEN TO USE THEM

« Associated Documents

Paragon MLS allows you to attach documents to the listing information. Documents that you may attach include seller's disclosures, lead-based paint disclosure, flood information, etc. Any agent viewing the listing is able to download or print these documents. Click here for instructions on how to associate documents in Paragon.

PDF files work best.

You can set your associated documents to be automatically included when a listing is emailed from Paragon. Within the Associated Documents maintenance window, you will see a check box for Public. Check this box only for documents that are appropriate for the public. Also, when entering the description for your document, please remember your audience includes the public.

The MLS requires specific associated documents for Auctions, Farms, and Limited Service Listings. *You may be assessed $5/day for missing required Associated Documents.
Click here for the appropriate form.

« ShowingTime for the MLS

To customize each listing individually for the ShowingTime for the MLS™ feature, you can go to Maintain Listings and select the Showing Time option from the Select an Action drop-down box. For details on the ShowingTime for the MLS™ feature, click here.

« Copy/Clone

Paragon MLS allows you to copy listing information from one MLS number to create another. Note: you can only copy your own listings (Brokers and administrative personnel can copy any office or firm listing). To copy an existing listing and create a new listing - Go to Maintain Listing (on the Listing Menu) and select the appropriate listing by entering the MLS number or address; Select Copy/Clone from the Select an Action box. Change the necessary information (dates, price, etc.) and click Save to save the listing information.
NOTE: You cannot copy one class to create a listing in another class.

« Mapping

If the map for your listing needs to be added or corrected, you can make those changes. Go to Maintain Listing (on the Listing Menu) and select the appropriate listing by entering the MLS number or address; Select Change Geocode from the Select an Action box. Select the correct location by using the Map It buttons and zooming in and out on the map grid; click Save to save the map changes.

« Partial Save

PARTIAL SAVE will allow you to save a partially completed listing. To do this:

1. Click on SAVE AS PARTIAL LISTING on the SAVE drop-down menu at any time during the listing input process
2. A web dialog box will open, select a Save Action (Continue Input - if you wish to save data, but continue entering more data or Finished - if you wish to exit the listing input screen)
3. To go back and finish the partially saved listing - go to the Listing drop-down menu and select MAINTAIN PARTIALS.

« Converting Subject Properties

If you have administrative access to the Paragon system, you can convert your Subject Property to a regular MLS listing.

1. Select CMA from the menu bar in Paragon
2. Select Maintain Subject Properties
3. Locate correct listing - click on "Select an Action"
4. Select "Maintain Subject Property"
5. Review the information. Click the Convert button at top of screen (if you SAVE - you still have a subject property). If there are errors you will be prompted to correct them. Click the Convert Button again after corrections.
6. A box will come up and you will be prompted to enter status, listing date & expiration date. Be absolutely sure to enter SOLD as the status for Sold Comp listings, or you may be subject to a late input fee.
7. Click SAVE and the listing will be saved with a 7-digit MLS number

« Other Marketing Area for Rural Properties

The MLS understands that it is sometimes difficult to market rural property, as the physical location of that property is identified by a township name, not by the name of a more recognizable city or village. For instance, when searching on public websites, the public does not realize that the rural area south of McFarland is called the Township of Dunn. They just know that they would like to find houses in the country south of McFarland so they choose McFarland.

To help minimize this problem, you may include an Other Marketing Area within your rural listings on the MLS that are located in a township. When an agent searches Paragon, or the public searches wisconsinhomes.com (and other public websites if other marketing area is incorporated), properties that include the area selected as either the primary area or the "other marketing area" will come up as matches. Please note: most public websites search by mailing city, not municipality or other marketing area.

When deciding whether or not to include an Other Marketing Area on your listing, please keep in mind the other marketing area chosen must be one of the following: mailing city, school district, or a city, village or township that is contiguous to (touching) the township in which the listing is located.

The only exception that will allow an Other Marketing Area to be used outside a township is for cities and villages that cross county lines. In these cases, Paragon will automatically include the other county code for that municipality as other marketing area.

« Virtual Tours

If you purchase an unbranded virtual tour for your listing, you can include that link on Paragon reports. To include your tour, enter the tour link as part of your initial listing input (OPEN HOUSE/TOUR/HitCount tab in Add Listing) or choose Virtual Tour from the Listing Maintenance "Select an Action" drop-down list if adding it later.

MLS Rules prohibit the display of virtual tours that include agent information and/or office information. As with the Customer Full Report, office name is allowed. The reason for this restriction is that links to virtual tours on MLS listings in Paragon are included as part of the Customer Full Report. By design, the listing company is given credit on this report, but there is no agent information or office contact information. This report is the one Members most often email from Paragon to their clients/customers. Before this restriction, some of the tour links on listings emailed from Paragon took the client/customer to a web page containing agent and office information along with a tour of the property. On some of these web pages the focus was on the agent/office and not the property.

Branded virtual tours (those containing office/agent promotion) can be added for the sole purpose of exporting to outside websites such as Zillow, Trulia, and Realtor.com. You must add the link for branded virtual tours in the field marked Branded Virtual Tour. Do not put links to branded virtual tours in the Virtual Tour field. Branded virtual tours do not display on Paragon reports.

« Complete Listing of SCWMLS Rules and Regulations

For a complete list of rules, see the MLS Handbook

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