Watch the town hall recording from November 13th, 2024 here: https://youtu.be/20fHJUO0lCU

 

1. Will the drop-downs for Subdivisions return to the search field in Paragon?

Though we don’t have an exact date yet, the auto pop and drop-downs will return. The change to a text field results from importing data for the Data Sharing arrangements with Longleaf Pines and the merger with Alamance. While we work with the Paragon Team to bring the dropdown and auto pop back, a tip to use in the meantime is to use the text field operator. The default is Contains, but to get exact matches, this can be changed to Equal.

 

2. When I run a search in the new Paragon, and I’m viewing the results, I can only see the top couple of inches of the reports until it eventually figures it out and displays the full listings. Is this a known bug that is being worked on?

This should be a very temporary issue. Please report this to support@doorifymls.com if the issue continues.

 

3. When will the Appraiser 1 pg be returned as an option for detailed view located under report options?

That report will return. Due to changes in the data structure, we need to get input from the appraiser community to get it right. We will be reaching out within a week or two.

 

4. What are the benefits of Doorify to both the consumer and the member? How is the consumer hearing about Doorify? Is there an app?

One of the benefits of Doorify MLS is that consumers can connect directly with agents without agents paying for that connection. The site is positioned to interrupt consumers who may request information about a property from a site with a business model that monetizes those contacts. Doorify is a membership model. No one can buy those connections from Doorify because they are not for sale. When a consumer asks about a listing on our site, we connect them to the Listing Brokerage directly, instantly if the Broker’s tech can support it. Doorify connects consumers to MLS subscribers as a member benefit, not a la carte. How do consumers find out about Doorify? We tell them about it directly in two ways: earned and paid media. Our earned media is good and getting better. Through our partnership with UNC’s Kennan Flagler School of Business, Doorify produces housing statistics through a monthly news release and a quarterly podcast with the professors. ABC11, WRAL, Axios, and WUNC regularly contact Doorify for information and statements regarding the housing market in the greater Triangle area. Nationally, Doorify MLS has won awards from Inman News and the Council of Multiple Listings Services (CMLS), causing our projects to be showcased at conferences in Dallas and Seattle and covered in national trade publications. DMLS also published a detailed White Paper with the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) that received national attention at the NAR NXT conference in Boston this month. These are examples of earned media where our projects or news releases were sufficiently noteworthy to receive media attention. 

 

Consumers and prospective real estate professionals will also hear about Doorify MLS through Paid Media. We can only afford digital, so we focus on boosting stories about home ownership and affordability to the appropriate audiences. We have a talented team of Communication professionals on staff led by Andrea Presnal and supported by an array of trusted advisors and contractors. Follow us on Instagram, and be sure to check out the podcast on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.  

 

5. Does Paragon Connect use the same password as Doorify MLS, or do you need to create new log-in info? We’re having trouble logging in with our existing credentials.

The Connect App requires a separate password allowing you to use biometric login features (face ID or fingerprint) for faster access. If you access Paragon Connect via the Doorify MLS Dashboard, the Doorify MLS credentials are needed.

 

6. Will there be a search result report similar to the Agent Full Report 2 page that was in old paragon?

That report already exists in New Paragon. Look under Reports->Details.

 

7. Are we to expect pricing for agents increasing each year due to more and more services provided and monies invested?

No, we never intend to increase fees for all users again if we can avoid it. We intend to offer choice within your Doorify MLS subscription so you can choose the services you need. This could result in some subscribers paying more and some paying less, depending on the number of things you decide to use, like Basic Cable with optional Premium channels. 

 

8. Is there a planned date on when a subscriber doesn't have to be a member of a local or National board?

We do have a plan to create a new form of membership. It should be tested and ready by the end of Q3 2025. 

 

9. Will there be a point in time where consumers will be able to subscribe in order to access data that is currently not syndicated to public sites?

No. Doorify MLS is a professional service for Licensed Real Estate Professionals. All future membership options Doorify MLS plans require an active License from a Real Estate License Board or an Appraisal License Board. 

 

10. Is there a plan for Long Leaf Pine MLS to propagate all of their data via IDX to Doorify MLS?

Doorify MLS already has LLP data in IDX.

 

11. Is anyone looking for a product that will provide data similar to the activity report from paragon (how many searches a listing matches, how often it is viewed, etc) and the Price Analyzer tool to see how a price change can impact matches on search?  Both were lost when entry moved to listing manager.

We are working on a replacement for the lost functionality.

 

12. Users have had to adapt to lots of changes over the last year that have resulted in lots of frustration. Were agents consulted or perhaps allowed to beta test any of these systems prior to full roll out? Could we consider that for future updates?

The basic architecture of Choice was not something that we interviewed our subscribers about. The idea of moving away from a Single Vendor model has been around for a decade, but only two or three cities have published a working system. We arrived at the project gradually as we considered how to upgrade our aging infrastructure. Paragon was old tech not up to national standards, but changing to a new system like Flexmls would mean that all 15,000 would be forced to move after 9 years on Paragon. One of the solutions was to dust off the Choice concept and support both old Paragon and bring in support for newer platforms at the same time. While discussing it, Alamance approached us and asked to join. They had just renewed a five-year contract with CoreLogic, which would have been expensive to buy out. Already thinking about Choice, one option was to sync our data to CoreLogic and offer to continue supporting Matrix for the Alamance users. NorthStar MLS has these three options as well: Paragon, Flexmls, and Matrix, so we knew it was something these three vendors were capable of doing. Going forward, we do not anticipate ever removing an option from the Choice list unless the vendor violates our rules or runs out of subscribers. That means you will always choose the platform that suits you, on your schedule—no more mass updates or product cutovers.

 

13. Are there any plans to improve Rental Beast?

We are actively evaluating the Rental Beast service to ensure it meets the needs of our subscribers. As part of this process, we recently shared a survey across various Doorify platforms to gather valuable feedback. The survey results will play a key role in our decision-making. Once the evaluation is complete, we’ll determine the best path forward, including continuing the service or exploring alternative solutions to support your rental needs better.

 

14. Does your staff work together in an office or do you all collaborate remotely? If you are remote, how can you justify this being the right model for the DMLS with all other tech companies bringing workers back in the office?

Doorify, like many tech companies, is fully remote and has been since April 2023. There are certainly costs for managing work this way, and some things that cannot be replicated virtually are lost. However, the benefits vastly outweigh the downsides, and contrary to your assertion, most tech companies are not returning to the office. Doorify MLS hires the best people in the industry, not just those who can commute to Cary. As a result, there are senior experts at our Help Desk who have materially changed that experience. Plus, we operate across time zones, so our West Coast employees can provide support later into the evening at the East Coast time. We have the best team in the MLS business, and it’s 100% because we work remotely.

 

15. What is the contact information for the stakeholder focus group?

Talk to your Association Executive about the SAC. All Association Executives are on the SAC along with two appointed members from each Association. 

 

16. We have watched as the quality and quantity of the data entered by agents has diminished over the past couple years.

Ensuring the Accuracy and Completeness of the data is the most important thing we do at the MLS. To help improve the data, we have drastically increased the number of required fields and the number of people in our Data Integrity department. A new updated version of our automated Data Checker from CoreLogic is up and running flagging violations in photos and in the listings. Overall we believe the data is good and getting better as we seek and achieve RESO Certifications and continue to include data from more MLSs.

 

17. Has there been any discussion about agents being compensated for providing more data? ex. room location, room dimensions, fields entered inaccurately (main floor primary), acreage, etc.

No, we look at that a bit differently. Filling out more of the listing fields makes the listing more visible online. A complete description may cause the property to be included in consumer searches or when a colleague is looking for a buyer. It's the responsibility of the Listing Brokerage to get this part right since it's in the best interest of the seller. Entering incorrect data is just careless and can cause fines. Without this attention to detail and without the rules we are no better than the Classifieds, or Craigslist. MLS is a well-ordered, rules-based set of data because of complete and accurate data. Watch for a new product coming in 2025 from Doorify that uses AI to automatically create near-complete draft listings for entry into the MLS. 

 

18. Looking in the Agent 2 view the pertinent info related to a sale highlighted in gray located in the top right corner. List price, closed price, DOM, contract date, closed date and concessions. One of the most important fields is the terms of financing is missing. And I found it on the last line of the second page on the left corner under Selling/closing Information. This field needs to be relocated to the top right corner within the highlighted section.

Thank you for that suggestion. We will share it with the team.

 

19. How do you boost listings on DoorifyMLS.com?

You don’t. Doorify MLS is the levelest of playing fields. We will not accept payment to increase the visibility of listings on the site in any way. Listings may be sortable by popularity driven entirely by automated engagement metrics not accessible to MLS staff.  

 

20. Is there any tool for buyer loan qualification?

No, although a Mortgage Widget is being considered for DoorifyMLS.com that is popular on other MLS portals. It allows a Buyer to seek prequalification through a workflow that exposes Mortgage affiliates who pay a fee for placement. The Mortgage Affiliates can be configured to work with the Listing Broker’s selected Mortgage Partner as well.

 

21. How will you prevent the consumer from accessing if non-NAR members can join? What is the new criteria for membership?

They still have to have a license. We automatically receive a list of licensees every day from the NC Real Estate Commission and an easy check to see if an applicant has a valid license. We will accept licenses from other states and those from Appraisal Commissions. We do not have a consumer membership other than an account on our website, doorifymls.com. Doorify has the same data found on hundreds of other sites like realtor.com, etc., except our site is the only one that operates under our rules.  

 

22. Will there be a day where local MLS (like Doorify) wouldn't syndicate to large search sites like Zillow, etc. That limits exposure, but it keeps the leads with the agent.

Zillow is a Broker, just like any other Broker. They converted their business to this model in January 2020, so we cannot restrict our business from them. And, as you say, that would not be in the best interest of the seller since Zillow and other sites have so much traffic. Instead, our strategy is to support Zillow as a broker while strictly following our rules, just like any other broker. At the same time, the MLS is investing in our tech to support competition. How? First, the new DoorifyMLS.com will deliver thousands of consumer connections directly to members as a member benefit. Each one that comes through Doorify did not go through a paid lead generation site. There is nothing wrong with those sites. We just offer a local, “farm-to-table” alternative. Second, Doorify MLS’s new automated data systems make sub-second update speeds available for the first time. Plugged in directly to the MLS, your app can be as fast as the fastest app on the app store. 

 

23. Is there an analytic tool that tracks views from all IDX sites?

Not really. There are some reports from companies like ListHub and ListTrac but none of them are complete. The new automated data systems at Doorify MLS should help with this by the middle of next year. They have allowed us to proceed with a comprehensive data analytics project that should be visible to members sometime next year.

 

24. When an agent is shown as "Designated Realtor Participant" what does that mean?

The Broker in Charge (BIC) of the office.

 

25. Domus does not provide the same function as price analysis. Price analyzer showed how many searches set up by agents showed a listing so that you could see if a price change would hit more searches to get more exposure.

We are aware that the feature was removed, and we are looking for a replacement.

 

26. Will my links in new Paragon be restored?

No, unfortunately, we were not able to copy the links to new Paragon.