Creating a CMA. in Stratus

Transcription

1 Creating a CMA in Stratus

2 Toronto Real Estate Board 19 January 2015 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording without permission in writing from the Toronto Real Estate Board. The Toronto Real Estate Board is solely responsible for the content of this course material.

3 Table of Contents About This Workbook Learning Objectives Who should attend this seminar How to use the workbook Workbook conventions Creating a CMA What s in a CMA? Title Page Table of Contents Cover Letter Subject Property Details Subject Property Photo Gallery Side by Side Property Comparison Comparable Summary Report Adjustments & Detailed Listing Info - Full Format Detailed Listing Info - Client Thumbnail Detailed Listing Info - Flyer Photo Gallery Road / Aerial Map Market Statistics Report Days on Market Report Marketing Plan Attached Documents Creating a new CMA Completing the CMA data entry sections Entering client information Entering client information manually Importing client information from your Contacts Practice exercise Creating a subject property Searching for the MLS# of your subject property Subject Property Details Adding Subject Property photos Manipulating the photo Uploading the StreetScape image Contacts & CMA i

4 Placing the desired photo on the cover of the CMA Adding additional Subject Property photos Practice exercise Entering salesperson information Practice exercise Creating a title page Practice exercise Creating a cover letter Practice exercise Entering search criteria Searching for comparables to include in the CMA Using preselected listings as your comparables Practice exercise Adding Adjustments and to your comparables To Undo Adjustments and Practice exercise Creating a marketing plan Practice exercise Adding Attachments to your CMA Deleting an attachment Previewing your attachments Working with the Contents Generating the CMA Downloading the CMA Printing your CMA ing the CMA Practice exercise Working with an existing CMA Extending a CMA Deleting a CMA Summary Final Practice Exercise Managing Contacts Contacts interface Adding a contact Accessing the Contact detail form Entering contact information Entering financial information Adding an Activity ii Contacts & CMA

5 Entering contact notes Editing a contact Deleting a contact Creating and managing groups Adding a contact to a group Creating custom groups Renaming or deleting a custom group Transferring your contacts from Outlook Exporting your contacts Uploading your contacts to Stratus Exporting your contacts from Gmail Exporting your contacts from an Excel database file Searching and viewing contacts Viewing your contacts Searching contacts Searching groups Searching Members and Brokerages Using the Search text box Saving single pages of Market Watch MLS Home Price Index Index 127 Contacts & CMA iii

6 iv Contacts & CMA

7 Introduction About This Workbook

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9 Introduction: About This Workbook Learning Objectives Who should attend this seminar This workbook accompanies the course, Creating a CMA in Stratus, developed and offered by the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). After completing this course, you will be able to: create a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA). How to use the workbook This seminar is designed for TREB Members who want to learn the basics of the CMA program in Stratus. If you would like to learn about the CMA in a hands-on environment, then this course is for you. Workbook conventions This workbook contains all functionality covered in class. Since all procedures include step-by-step instructions, as well as screen captures, you will be able to use the workbook at home or at the office. Practice exercises are included throughout the workbook to reinforce skills before preceding to the next topic. Each exercise builds on the previous one, so exercises must be done in sequential order. A final practice exercise can be found in the last chapter. The workbook uses the following conventions: Creating a CMA in Stratus 3

10 Introduction: About This Workbook The names of objects that require user action, such as menu items, buttons, or function keys on the keyboard are in bold. Example: Click the Print View button. Labels such as names for dialogue boxes, toolbars or fields are capitalized. Example: The Print dialogue box appears. If you must press two or more keys simultaneously, they are separated by a + symbol. Example: To close open programs, press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys on your keyboard. Throughout the workbook, you will see two types of icons in the left margin: The light bulb signals a tip that will help make your task of using Stratus easier. The note signals information that you should note. Acronyms used in the manual are defined as follows: CMA: Comparative Market Analysis CSV: Comma Separated Value MLS: Multiple Listing Service TREB: Toronto Real Estate Board. 4 Creating a CMA in Stratus

11 Chapter 1 Creating a CMA In this chapter What s in a CMA Creating a new CMA Finding the MLS# of your subject property Completing the CMA data entry pages Generating the CMA Printing the CMA ing the CMA Using an existing CMA Deleting a CMA

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13 How can I use the CMA program in Stratus? The CMA component of Stratus allows you to easily create a comprehensive analysis of market activity for comparable homes in an area. Stratus streamlines the process of generating the CMA report, but also allows you to choose comparables, as well as make adjustments to listings for inclusion in the report. After completing the CMA, you can save it for reference or to be revised at a later date. You can print or it, specifying the components you want included in the document. In the end, you get a professional looking document for presentation to your client. This chapter outlines the steps in creating a CMA. To see the various components of the CMA, go to the next section. To start creating a CMA, go to page 26. Creating a CMA in Stratus 7

14 What s in a CMA? What are the different components in a CMA? Stratus can create the following CMA components: title page cover letter table of contents subject property details & photo gallery listing comparison comparable summary report detailed listing info - in your choice of formats adjustment report market statistical report days on market report marketing plan additional attached documents. You can see an example of these components on the following pages. 8 Creating a CMA in Stratus

15 Title Page Creating a CMA in Stratus 9

16 Table of Contents 10 Creating a CMA in Stratus

17 Cover Letter Creating a CMA in Stratus 11

18 Subject Property Details 12 Creating a CMA in Stratus

19 Subject Property Photo Gallery Creating a CMA in Stratus 13

20 Side by Side Property Comparison 14 Creating a CMA in Stratus

21 Comparable Summary Report Creating a CMA in Stratus 15

22 Adjustments & 16 Creating a CMA in Stratus

23 Detailed Listing Info - Full Format Creating a CMA in Stratus 17

24 Detailed Listing Info - Client Thumbnail 18 Creating a CMA in Stratus

25 Detailed Listing Info - Flyer Creating a CMA in Stratus 19

26 Photo Gallery 20 Creating a CMA in Stratus

27 Road / Aerial Map Markers indicate listing location Creating a CMA in Stratus 21

28 Market Statistics Report 22 Creating a CMA in Stratus

29 Days on Market Report Creating a CMA in Stratus 23

30 Marketing Plan 24 Creating a CMA in Stratus

31 Attached Documents Focus on the Home Price Index from Market Watch Creating a CMA in Stratus 25

32 Now that you know the various components of the CMA, you may go to the next section, which describes how to create a new CMA. Creating a new CMA To create a new CMA: 1. On the TREBMLS menu on the Left Side Panel, click CMA. A list of any current CMAs appears to the right. New CMA TREBMLS CMA NOTE: If you do not have any CMAs in the system, you will be prompted to add one. 2. To create a new CMA, click New CMA on the Action toolbar. The New CMA dialogue box opens. 3. In the CMA Name field, enter the unique name you want to assign to this CMA. 26 Creating a CMA in Stratus

33 4. In the Class section, click Residential Freehold, Residential Condo & Other, or Commercial. NOTE: Class is the one selection that cannot be edited in a CMA. If you realize further into the creation of your CMA that you forgot to change the class from Residential Freehold to another class, you will need to start the CMA over. The CMA detail edit form opens to the Contact section, with the Contact tab selected. This is the first section of the CMA form. To complete another section of the form, scroll through the page or click on the tab that corresponds to the desired section. TIP: You can use the Page Up and Page Down keys on your keyboard to move through the sections of the CMA detail edit form instead of scrolling with the mouse. Now that you have created a new CMA, you are ready to go to the next section on how to complete the CMA data entry sections. Creating a CMA in Stratus 27

34 Completing the CMA data entry sections Now we re ready to complete the CMA data entry. The CMA in Stratus provides a comprehensive and customizable report. At first glance, completing the CMA may seem a daunting task because of its many sections; however, as long as the form may appear, you can select only the components you wish to use. Just scroll through (or use the Page Up/Down arrows) to find the section you want to include. You can also navigate by clicking on any tab at the top of the screen. If you take more than 30 minutes to complete the data entry, and do not periodically save your CMA, you will be bumped out of the session and lose the information that you entered for the CMA. To prevent this from happening, you should save your CMA often. To save your CMA, click the Save button at the top the CMA data entry page, below the Action toolbar (see the following screen capture). You may then continue entering information in other sections, then save again later, as many times as necessary. Save 28 Creating a CMA in Stratus

35 Entering client information Although you can create a CMA without associating the report with a contact, there are advantages to completing the Contact details section of the form. The contact information is used on the Title Page and Cover Letter. Stratus adds the information to your Contacts In this section, you will learn how to enter client information manually in the CMA, or import this data from Contacts. Entering client information manually If your contact is a new client, you can enter the details directly into the CMA. The Contact Details form is identical to the one in Contacts. Once a new Contact is saved in the CMA, the data is transferred to your contact list. To enter client information: 1. At the Contacts section of the CMA, ensure there is a check mark beside Include a Contact in this CMA. The Contact Details section will appear. 2. Enter text in the fields provided. Only the first and last names are mandatory; however, it is beneficial to complete as many fields as you can. 3. If, at any time, you want to discard all entered Client Information and restore fields to their default values, click Clear on the Action toolbar. 4. To save this new client data, click Save. You have learned how to enter the contact information from scratch. In the next section you will learn to import the information from an existing contact. Creating a CMA in Stratus 29

36 Importing client information from your Contacts To import client information from your Contacts: 1. At the Contacts section of the CMA, ensure there is a check mark beside Include a Contact in this CMA. The Contact Details section will appear. 2. To select an existing Contact, click Contacts next to Use Existing Contact. A list of your contacts displays. Contact tab Include a Contact in CMA Search existing Contacts List of Contacts Close 3. Select the Contact to use in the CMA. 4. If necessary, click Close. Stratus automatically populates the Contact Details form with the available information. TIP: You can select the contact from a narrowed list by typing all or part of the contact name in the Use Existing Contact text box. A short list of contacts appears narrowed by the criteria you entered. Select the desired contact name and the Details automatically populate on the form. 30 Creating a CMA in Stratus

37 5. Make any additions or changes necessary and then click Save CMA. NOTE: The information from Contacts will appear in your CMA report exactly as in Contacts i.e., any typos or letters in upper case will be transferred. You can edit them here. Stratus will add any changes made to the Contact in the CMA to the existing information in Contacts. 6. If, at any time, you wish to discard all entered Client Information and restore fields to their default values, click Clear on the Action toolbar. When Client Information is complete, do one of the following: Scroll to the next section to create a subject property (see Creating a subject property on page 33.) Creating a CMA in Stratus 31

38 Practice exercise 1 Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills you have learned in this section, do the practice exercise that follows. 1. Start a new CMA for a residential freehold property located at 56 Lauralynn Cres. in Toronto E07. Use the address as the name of the CMA. 2. At the Contact section, place a check mark beside Include a Contact in this CMA. 3. Enter the following Contact information: 4. Save your CMA. First Name: Otto Last Name: Binow Address: 56 Lauralynn Cres., Toronto ON M1S 2H5 (Home): Use your own address Home Phone: Mobile: Related Person (Spouse): Needa Source: Referral Source Descr: Wanda Binow (sister) When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to create a subject property, then do the exercise on page Creating a CMA in Stratus

39 Creating a subject property Stratus creates CMA presentations with or without subject properties. The subject property is the property for which you're preparing the CMA presentation. You can enter subject property information manually; or if a subject property is currently in the Multiple Listing System (even if expired), you can use the MLS# to autofill the Subject Property data entry page. In this section, you will learn how to complete the Subject Property page of your CMA. Searching for the MLS# of your subject property The CMA program in Stratus enables you to search for your subject property without leaving the CMA. Once the property is found, the system automatically fills information about that property in the CMA detail edit form. To search for a subject property: 1. In the Subject Property section of the CMA, place a check mark beside Include a Subject Property in this CMA. Include Subject Property Search Listings 2. If you know the MLS#, enter it in the MLS# field and then click Use. The data from the listing is added to the form. Creating a CMA in Stratus 33

40 3. If you need to locate the MLS#, click Search Listings. 4. In the Search Listings dialogue box, place check marks beside Available, Unavailable and Include Archived Listings. Available Unavailable Include Archived Listings NOTE: Selecting Available is useful if you are creating a CMA for a buyer client. Otherwise, you only need to select Unavailable. 5. Click Continue. The New Search criteria form appears. 6. Complete the criteria form by completing the Area, Municipality, Street Number and Street Name fields. TIP: To restrict your search to the one property only, enter the street number in both Minimum and Maximum fields. 7. Click Submit to view the search results. 8. At the search results screen, do one of the following: 34 Creating a CMA in Stratus

41 If there is more than one sale for the address, select the most recent (or suitable) one. Then click Use As Subject Property. You are returned to the CMA and the data from the listing is added. Click Revise Criteria to modify your search criteria. Click Return to CMA if there are no results. You can then fill in the information for the Subject Property page manually. Use As Subject Property Revise Criteria Return To CMA Subject Property Details After locating an MLS# for your property, the Subject Property Details are automatically populated. Any field on the form can be edited. For example, the taxes are probably inaccurate, as is the suggested price range. The age or other information may now be different. Add or edit information as required. If the property is new, or is not in the archives, you can enter data in any of the fields to create a Subject Property page for your CMA. Creating a CMA in Stratus 35

42 Adding Subject Property photos With the introduction of ilookabout in Stratus, you have an additional selection of photos to use in your CMA. You may continue to take your own photos or use a professional photographer. Or, you may select a StreetScape photo taken by ilookabout. You select the photo, manipulate it if you want, and then save it to the hard drive of your computer, for upload into your CMA. Access to ilookabout StreetScape photos is from Street Photos. You can access Street Photos while working in your CMA by selecting Street Photos on the LINKS menu of the Left Side Panel. 36 Creating a CMA in Stratus

43 When Street Photos opens, you may search for the address of the subject property. The Street Photos window contains two sections: the Tool panel on the left and the ViewPort on the right. You can search for the address by using the Search Single Property fields in the Tool Panel. Tool Panel Address tab Address Search ViewPort Creating a CMA in Stratus 37

44 Manipulating the photo 1. Click the Address tab. 2. In the Search, field type the address of the property. As you are typing, a list of possible matches appears. Select the correct address from the drop-down list. 3. Click the Search button to the right of the address. The ViewPorts update to display the search results for the desired property. The StreetScape photo may include trees or shrubs in front of the subject property. To get the best possible view of the property, follow these steps: 1. Click into, or slightly drag, the lower centre portion of the photo, looking for the Move Left and Move Right white arrows. Panning Tool Zoom Scale Move Right arrow Move Left arrow 2. Choose the arrow for the best view and click once or twice on the arrow. 38 Creating a CMA in Stratus

45 Chapter 1: Creating a CMA 3. Use the mouse wheel or the zoom scale to adjust the zoom level. 4. Pan the property by dragging the view to the desired position, or use the Panning Tool to find additional photo angles for the property. When a desired view of the subject property is found, save the photo. To save the photo: 1. In the top right corner of the StreetScape ViewPort, click Save StreetScape Image. Save button 2. In the Save StreetScape View dialogue box, change the image size to 600 x 400. Make any additional edits using the sliders, and click Apply. When asked if you wish to save the file, click OK. Creating a CMA in Stratus 39

46 3. Type a desired file name and select a location on your computer to save it in. 4. Close the Save StreetScape View dialogue box. 5. Close Street Photos. Uploading the StreetScape image To upload the StreetScape image, follow these steps: 1. In your CMA, scroll to the bottom of the Subject Property section to the Subject Photos. 2. Click the Upload button. 40 Creating a CMA in Stratus

47 3. In the Upload Photos dialogue box, click Browse to locate the picture you saved in the previous section. 4. Click on the desired file and click Open. The file appears in the Upload Photos dialogue box. File to upload Upload 5. To add this photo to your CMA, click Upload. Creating a CMA in Stratus 41

48 StreetScape photo position Placing the desired photo on the cover of the CMA When you have several photos, you can use the photo gallery to ensure that the desired exterior photo appears on the cover page of your CMA. To set the cover page: 1. The most recently added StreetScape photo will locate after any previously added pictures in Subject Property Photos. Drag it into the top left photo position in the gallery. 42 Creating a CMA in Stratus

49 Cover photo in top left position of photo gallery TIP: To delete any photo of the listing from the photo gallery, click in the check box in the upper left corner of the photo. Click Delete on the Action toolbar. Placing the exterior photo in this position will place it on the cover page of your CMA. Adding additional Subject Property photos In the Subject Property Photos section, you can add up to 20 photos of the property. To add photos: Creating a CMA in Stratus 43

50 1. Click the Upload button in the Subject Property Photos section. Upload 2. In the Upload Photos dialogue box, click Browse to search your computer for photos. Browse 44 Creating a CMA in Stratus

51 3. At the Select files to upload dialogue box, navigate to the folder containing your photos. For example, your photos may be in the Pictures Library. Pictures Library 4. Open the folder that contains your property photos. Select each photo you would like to upload. To select several photos, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard as you click on each desired photo. 5. Click Open. You are returned to the Upload Photos dialogue box which now lists the photos you want to upload. 6. If desired, click in the text box beside each photo to add a description. 7. Click Upload to add the photos to your CMA. TIP: It is recommended that your photos be taken in landscape orientation for best results. Pictures should maintain a 4:3 aspect ratio so that they don t appear distorted. If taking your own photos, do not turn the camera sideways. Typical examples of 4:3 aspect Creating a CMA in Stratus 45

52 ratio are 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768 (pixels). Cameras are often set to this default ratio. When your photos appear in the Subject Property Photos section, you may add or edit any of the descriptions below each picture. 46 Creating a CMA in Stratus

53 Check box Add descriptions NOTE: The first photo is the one that will appear on the Title Page. If necessary, click and drag the exterior photo so that it is in the first position. TIP: To delete a photo, click in the check box in the upper left corner of the photo. Click Delete on the Action toolbar. TIP: To add additional photos (if you have fewer than the 20 maximum), click the Upload button and select more photos. Practice exercise 2 When the information on the Subject Property page is complete, do one of the following: Scroll down to enter salesperson information (see the next section). Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed Practice exercise 1, on page 32. Creating a CMA in Stratus 47

54 1. Click the Subject Property tab of the CMA, if necessary. 2. Place a check mark to include a Subject Property. 3. Click Search Listings to search the archives for an MLS# for the subject property using the following information: Area: Toronto Municipality: Toronto E07 Address: 56 Lauralynn Cres. 4. When the listing is found, click Use As Subject Property for the data to be populated. 5. Edit/delete any information that is out of date. 6. Add up to 20 photos to the CMA, using the photos in the CMA folder in the Pictures Library. Type descriptions, if desired for the photos. NOTE: When practising this exercise from your own computer, navigate to the folder that contains your listing photos. 7. Save your CMA. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to enter salesperson information, then do the exercise on page 50. Entering salesperson information The Salesperson information data entry page in the CMA contains information about the primary salesperson and a secondary salesperson (if another person in your company is acting in this capacity). Stratus automatically fills the Name and fields for Salesperson #1. This data is determined through your log on codes. In this section, you will learn how to enter salesperson information for both the primary and secondary salesperson. 48 Creating a CMA in Stratus

55 To enter salesperson information: 1. Go to the Salesperson page by scrolling down or clicking the Salesperson tab. Salesperson #2 drop-down list Use 2. In the URL field, enter the address of your website or blog, if desired. 3. If there is no secondary salesperson, go to the summary at the end of this section. If there is a secondary person, complete the remaining steps. 4. In the Salesperson #2 field, choose the name of the salesperson from the dropdown list, then click Use. Stratus pre-fills the Name and fields for Salesperson #2. 5. In the URL field, enter the address of the second salesperson s website or blog, if desired. 6. Add, edit or delete any information as needed. Creating a CMA in Stratus 49

56 Practice exercise 3 NOTE: If you fill in every field for Salesperson #2, your Title page may run over the footer or onto a second page. To preview the page, click Preview on the Action toolbar, then Current Section and finally Preview. Close the preview and edit the salesperson information if necessary. When the salesperson information is complete, do one of the following: Click scroll to the next section to create a title page. Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. 1. In the Salesperson #1 section of the Salesperson Info page, edit any fields pertaining to yourself. 2. Add Salesperson #2, if applicable. 3. Save your CMA. Creating a title page When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to create a title page, then do the exercise on page 53. Stratus automatically creates a title page for your CMA presentation. You can use this, or customize the page and store it as your own personal default format. You can reset to the original default Stratus title page at any time. In this section, you will learn how to set up your title page. 50 Creating a CMA in Stratus

57 To create a customized default title page: 1. Scroll down to the Title Page section or click the Title Page tab. 2. The first time you create a CMA, the system displays a default title page template. 3. If the photo that appears at the top of the page is not the exterior photo of the property, scroll up to view the Subject Property Photos section and rearrange them so that the exterior photo is first. Use click and drag to move a photo. 4. Make any changes desired to the text and apply any preferred formatting using the formatting toolbar in the text area. 5. To use a border around the Title page, keep the check mark in the check box, Include Border around page. 6. Once you ve customized the page, click Set As Default. New Stratus confirms the action, The current Title Page is Set as the Default. If you make changes to the title page but do not click Set As Default, the changed title page is saved when you save the CMA; however, your default title page remains unchanged. Creating a CMA in Stratus 51

58 Formatting toolbar Set as Default Use Default Reset to MLS Default 7. When prompted, click OK. 8. To view the title page as it appears in the CMA presentation, click Preview on the Action toolbar. You will be prompted to select either the current selection or the entire CMA. Then the preview of the selected page appears. 9. To return to the Title Page screen, click Close at the bottom of the preview page. 10.If, at any time, you wish to delete your edits and restore the title page to the original default, click Reset to MLS Default. 52 Creating a CMA in Stratus

59 If, after creating your personal default title page, you want to use this new format for a pre-existing CMA, click Use Default at the Title Page screen for that CMA. Stratus replaces the former title page with your new default. Likewise, if you are editing your personal default title page in a CMA and then decide you want to restore it to your current personal default structure, click Use Default. Practice exercise 4 Once you have set up your title page, do one of the following: Scroll down the page to create a cover letter (see the next section). Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. The information from Otto Binow s Contact Details page as well as information from the Salesperson Info page appear on the Title Page screen. 1. To see how the page will look when printed, click Preview on the Action toolbar. 2. Review the page and then close the preview. Creating a CMA in Stratus 53

60 3. Make any corrections or additions to the content on this page. 4. Set the current title page as your default. 5. Save your CMA. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to create a cover letter, then do the exercise on page 57. Creating a cover letter Stratus automatically creates a cover letter for your CMA presentation. You can use this, or customize the letter and store it as your own personal default format. You can reset to the original default cover letter at any time. In this section, you will learn how to create your cover letter and save it as the default. 54 Creating a CMA in Stratus

61 To change your personal default cover letter: 1. Scroll down to the Cover Letter section or click the Cover Letter tab. Toolbar Set as Default Use Default Reset to MLS Default 2. The first time you create a CMA, the system displays the default letter template. It is populated with information from the Contacts tab, the Subject Property tab, the Salesperson tab and the Office Roster (if there are two salespeople). 3. Revise the text as needed. You may also use the formatting toolbar to change some of the formats. 4. Click Set As Default. New Stratus prompts, The current Cover Letter is set as the default. Creating a CMA in Stratus 55

62 NOTE: If you make changes to the cover letter but do not click Set As Default, the changed cover letter is saved when you save the CMA; however, your default cover letter remains unchanged. 5. When prompted, click OK. 6. To view the cover letter as it appears in the CMA presentation, click Preview on the Action toolbar. The cover letter displays. 7. To return to the Cover Letter page, click Close. 8. If, at any time, you wish to delete your changes and restore the cover letter to the original default, click Reset to MLS Default. If, after creating your personal default cover letter, you want to use this new format for a pre-existing CMA, click Use Default at the cover letter screen for that CMA. Stratus replaces the former cover letter with your new default. Likewise, if you are editing your personal default cover letter in a CMA and then decide you want to restore it to your current personal default, click Use Default. Once you have set your cover letter, do one of the following: Scroll down to the next section to enter search criteria (see the next section). Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). 56 Creating a CMA in Stratus

63 Practice exercise 5 To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. The contact information for Otto Binow appears in the default cover letter. 1. Change the salutation by deleting the last name. 2. Add a new paragraph after the first one by pressing ENTER at the end of the paragraph. Type the following (or similar) text: The report includes my Marketing Plan, outlining the many steps that I will take to effectively market your property. 3. Make any other desired edits to the text. 4. Set this cover letter as your default. 5. Save your CMA. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to enter search criteria, then do the exercise on page 64. Entering search criteria The CMA program allows you to define the criteria for comparables in the Search Criteria function: You choose your search criteria. Stratus searches for listings that meet your criteria, then displays the results for you to review. You choose which listings you want to include in the CMA presentation. Creating a CMA in Stratus 57

64 If you want to include listings that may not be found through the search, you can prespecify these to be included with your search results. They appear at the top of the search results list and are automatically selected by Stratus. In this section, you will learn how to define your comparables using the above methods. Searching for comparables to include in the CMA NOTE: The search criteria that you enter is saved only within this CMA. It cannot be used in future CMAs or as a saved search. To search for comparables to include in the CMA: 1. Click the Comparables tab to access the Comparables section. Comparables Search Listings 2. Click Search Listings. 3. In the Search Listings dialogue box, select one or more of Available, Sold, and/ or Leased. You must choose at least one status. 58 Creating a CMA in Stratus

65 4. Enter a price range, if desired. Enter dollar values without any symbols or commas. This field is optional. 5. Enter a date range, if desired. Remember that Stratus will search back 2 years without a date range entered. Depending on how active the area is, you may want to search back 2-6 months. 6. Select a Search Type. In Stratus, you may select either a New Search (which includes the Quick or Flex Form) or a Map Search. In the example that follows, a Map Search is used. 7. Click Continue. The Map Search screen opens. 8. Use the Polygon tool to draw the boundaries of your search area. (Alternatively, use the New Search and select an Area, Municipality and Community.) 9. Add additional search criteria to find comparable properties. As criteria is entered, the results appear on the map and in the List view below. Creating a CMA in Stratus 59

66 List Details Search criteria Polygon outlining search area Search results 10.Review the listings in the results and select the ones that are most comparable to the subject property. Place a check mark next to the listings that you want to use as comparables. TIP: To see the details of any listing, select the listing and then click Details on the Action toolbar. The listing details open in Broker Full format. To return to the list after reviewing the details, click List on the Action toolbar. 60 Creating a CMA in Stratus

67 Selected listings Add to Comparables 11.Click Add to Comparables. The selected listings are displayed in a list on the CMA editing form. NOTE: If the search results are not suitable and you want to start over again, click Return to CMA and set up your search again. Once the selected properties are added to the Comparables list, you can edit the list. You can select one or more listings to exclude or remove from the CMA. Creating a CMA in Stratus 61

68 NOTE: Excluding a property leaves it in the list for later inclusion; however, the property will not appear in the CMA itself. Removing a property deletes it from the comparable list. Finally, including a property is to reverse the action of exclusion. The included property will be seen in the CMA. Once you have decided which listings to include in the CMA, do one of the following: If you wish to add preselected listings to the list of comparables, go to the next section Click one of the data entry tabs at the top of the screen (see the apprepriate section for instructions for each type of data entry section) To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, go to Practice exercise 6 on page 64. Using preselected listings as your comparables In this section, you will learn how to add preselected listings to the list of comparables. You can use these in combination with comparables that you search for in the CMA program, or you can bypass the search and use only your preselected listings. To enter preselected listings to the list of comparables: 1. In the Comparables section, click Add by MLS#. 62 Creating a CMA in Stratus

69 Add by MLS# 2. In the Add MLS#s dialogue box, enter the listing numbers for the properties you want to include in your CMA. 3. Click Add to have the listings added to the list of Comparables. At the Comparables list, you can remove any listing added in error. Creating a CMA in Stratus 63

70 Practice exercise 6 Now that you have found the comparable properties to include in your CMA, do one of the following: Go to the next section to learn how to make adjustments and notes for your comparables. Scroll down the page to the Marketing section and go to page 70 to create a marketing plan. Click one of the data entry page tabs at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. In this exercise, you will need the criteria that you previously collected for your subject property. 1. In the Comparables section, click Search Listings and then select the appropriate statuses for the comparables for 56 Lauralynn Cres. 2. Enter a date range of the last 6 months for your search for comparables. 3. Select the type of search you want to conduct. If you select New Search, complete these steps: In the Area field, select Toronto. In the Municipality field, select Toronto E Creating a CMA in Stratus

71 To narrow your search area, if desired, click in the Community field and select Agincourt South-Malvern West. Go to step 4 below. If you select Map Search, complete these steps: Click Locations on the Action toolbar and enter the address of the subject property (56 Lauralynn Cres, Toronto ON), and then click Find. Adjust the map zoom level so that you are able to view the entire search area. Click Polygon on the Action toolbar and draw the boundaries for your search area. Go to step 4 below. 4. Add the following additional search criteria: Type: Detached Style: Bungalow, Raised Bungalow Bedrooms: min 3 5. If you are using New Search, click Submit in order to view the results. If you are using a Map Search, your results automatically appear below the map. 6. Add the following MLS#s: E and E NOTE: Depending on when you perform this exercise, these two listings may be out of date; however, they are sufficient for practising the CMA component. 7. Peruse the results and select five to ten comparables, making sure that the two MLS#s in step 6 are included. 8. Click Add to Comparables. Creating a CMA in Stratus 65

72 9. At the Comparables section of the CMA, click Save. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to make adjustments and notes on your comparables, then do the exercise on page 69. Adding Adjustments and to your comparables Once you have chosen your comparables, New Stratus displays them one at a time, side-by-side with the subject property. This data entry screen is for making Adjustments and to comparables, not to the subject property. If you would like to make edits to the subject property, you need to go to the Subject Property data entry page (see page 33). Adjustments and allow you to account for any differences between a comparable property and the subject property, and adjust the price accordingly. In this section, you will learn how to make an adjustment. In our example, we will be accounting for the fact that a comparable has 3 bedrooms, whereas the subject property has 4. To make adjustments: 1. If necessary, click the Adjustments tab. 2. The first comparable appears side-by-side with the subject property. Click the right or left navigation arrows to view the property you want to adjust. 66 Creating a CMA in Stratus

73 Navigation arrows View 3. You can view the details of the comparable listing by clicking View. The Broker full report opens. Click Close to return to the CMA Adjustments page. 4. For the field that requires adjustment, click in the Adjustment column and enter a value. If the adjustment is a negative one, type a minus sign in front of the value, for example Adjustment values must be a number and should not include a dollar sign, comma or decimal. Creating a CMA in Stratus 67

74 NOTE: You may adjust several fields on one comparable. The system will tally all adjustments for the property. The Adjusted Price in the Adjustments report reflects this tally. 5. Click in the field for the adjustment and add explanatory notes, if desired. 6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 for other fields that require adjustment for the comparable property. If there is a field that does not appear in the field list, scroll to the bottom and click Add a field to select the required field. 7. To add an adjustment for another property, use the navigation arrows to place the property side-by-side with the subject property and then repeat the preceding steps. Repeat until you have entered all adjustments. 8. Click Save. 9. To view your edits, click the Preview on the Action toolbar and select Current Section. The Adjustments and preview appears displaying all adjusted comparables. To Undo Adjustments and If you have made unnecessary edits or adjustments to your CMA, you may wish to clear them from the presentation. To undo an edit or adjustment: 1. At the Adjustment page, select the comparable property. 2. Delete the text and delete the dollar amounts in the Adjustment and fields. These fields should remain blank. 3. Repeat steps 1-3 for each Edit/Adjustment you wish to clear. 4. Click Save. 68 Creating a CMA in Stratus

75 Practice exercise 7 Once you have completed your adjustments, do one of the following: Scroll down to the next section to create a marketing plan (see the next section). Click one of the data entry pages buttons at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. In this practise exercise, you will make an adjustment to a listing which has no garage, whereas our subject property, 56 Lauralynn, does. In making the adjustment, we can approximate what that property would have sold for if it did have a garage, thereby making the comparison more equal. 1. On the Adjustments page, navigate to a comparable property that has no garage. 2. Click in the Adjustment column for the field garage type and enter the value of a single-attached garage that is to be added to the adjusted sale price. 3. Click in the column for the field and enter the reason for the adjustment, for example, Subject property has an attached garage. 4. Save your CMA. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to create a marketing plan, then do the exercise on page 73. Creating a CMA in Stratus 69

76 Creating a marketing plan In this section, you will learn how to create a list of activities that demonstrates to your clients your plan for marketing their property. After you prepare a marketing plan, you can save this as your personal default plan. Each time you prepare a CMA report, you start with your default plan. Make changes as required for the new presentation. To create a marketing plan: 1. Scroll down the CMA data entry screen to the Marketing section or click the Marketing tab. Marketing tab Add Activity 2. Click Add Activity to enter your first activity. 3. In the Timeframe field, enter a specific date or type Step 1. TIP: If you are setting up a default marketing plan, you can wait to enter the dates for the current CMA until after you ve saved the plan as your default (see the next four steps). Doing so will bring up your default marketing plan with blank date fields so that you just need to add dates instead of modifying ones that are already there. 70 Creating a CMA in Stratus

77 4. In the Activity field, enter a description of the activity. 5. To remove an item from your marketing plan, click in the check box to the left of the step and then click Delete. Select All Check box Set as Default Use Default Delete 6. If, at any time, you wish to discard all marketing plan information, click the select all check box and then click Delete. 7. If you want to save this marketing plan for use as a default in subsequent CMAs, click Set As Default. At the prompt, click OK. Creating a CMA in Stratus 71

78 Once you create a marketing plan and save it as the default, Stratus displays this at all subsequent CMAs. Review the plan and edit where necessary (e.g., the dates). You can, at any time, make changes to your default marketing plan. After revising the text, click Set As Default if you want the edited page to be your new default. At the prompt, click OK. If after creating your personal default marketing plan, you want to use this new format for a pre-existing CMA, click Use Default at the marketing plan page for that CMA. Stratus replaces the former plan with your new default. Likewise, if you are editing your personal default marketing plan in a CMA and then decide you want to restore it to your current personal default, click Use Default. 8. To view the marketing plan as it appears in the CMA presentation, click Preview on the Action toolbar. The marketing plan displays in a secondary window. Click Close to return to the Marketing Plan page. When you are finished, do one of the following: Scroll down to add attachments to your CMA (see the next section). If you have other data entry pages to complete, click the appropriate data entry page tab at the top of the screen (see the appropriate section for instructions for each type of data entry page). To reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section, do the exercise that follows. 72 Creating a CMA in Stratus

79 Practice exercise 8 Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. 1. Add the following activities to your marketing plan: Take additional digital images of listing. Take measurements of home and sign listing agreement. Upload listing to Stratus. Distribute Feature Sheet. Hold Open House for salespeople. 2. If desired, set these activities as your default marketing plan. 3. Save your CMA. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to upload attachments to your CMA, then do the exercise on page 82. Adding Attachments to your CMA You may include a variety of additional documents to your CMA. For example, you may want to include a section from Market Watch or testimonials from past clients. Using the Attachments section of the CMA, you can add as many as 8 documents (PDF, JPG, GIF, or DOCX) to your presentation, each document not to exceed 750KB. To add attachments: 1. Scroll down to the Attachments section or click the Attachments tab. Creating a CMA in Stratus 73

80 2. Click Upload. 3. At the Upload dialogue box, click Browse. Navigate to the library (and folder) on your computer that contains the file to be uploaded. 4. Select the file and click Upload. You are returned to the Upload dialogue box which now displays the files to be attached. Click in the text field beside each file to add a description, if desired. NOTE: You may select more than one file at a time provided that they are all in the same folder on your computer. Hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard to select multiple files. 74 Creating a CMA in Stratus

81 . Browse Files to attach Descriptions (optional) Upload 5. To attach files from a different folder, click Browse again to locate the additional file(s). 6. Repeat step 4 above. 7. When all files are included in the Upload Attachments dialogue box, click Upload to complete the action. You are then returned to the Attachments section of the CMA and an thumbnail icon appears for each uploaded file. TIP: You can select the default name given for the file and rename it. For example, the name might be a number (e.g., 11251_2.pdf). You can name the file Market Watch Info or some other descriptive name. NOTE: To learn how to attach a page from Market Watch, see Saving single pages of Market Watch on page 119. Creating a CMA in Stratus 75

82 Deleting an attachment To remove one of the attached files: 1. Click the check box in the file thumbnail. 2. Click Delete on the Action toolbar. Delete Check box in thumbnail 3. You are asked to confirm the action. Click Delete. The file is removed from the CMA. Previewing your attachments To preview the attachments as they will appear in the CMA: 1. Click Preview on the Action toolbar. 2. Select Current Section. 3. Click Preview. The selected documents appear in a pop up window for your review. 76 Creating a CMA in Stratus

83 4. Click Close to exit the preview mode and return to the CMA. Working with the Contents The contents section of the CMA is used to select the components that you want to appear in the presentation. You may preview any one component by clicking on it. To access the Contents: 1. Click the Contents tab or scroll down through the CMA until you reach the section (shown on the screen capture that follows). 2. At the Contents section, you can do any of the following: 3. Click Save. Click in a check box to include an item in the printed presentation Click to remove a check mark beside a selected item to exclude it from the printed presentation Click directly on the name of an item to preview its content Click and drag an item to move it up or down to a different order in the list Change the order in which comparable listings appear based on their status. You can select from Available, Sold, Leased; or Sold, Leased, Available. Creating a CMA in Stratus 77

84 TIP: You can drag any item in the contents list, up or down, to change the order of the items. Now that you have decided what to include in your CMA presentation, you are ready to generate the CMA which is covered in the next section. Generating the CMA In this section, you will learn how to save, print or the CMA presentation. You have already selected the components to include in your CMA, in the previous section. You can always review your selections and make changes. 78 Creating a CMA in Stratus

85 Downloading the CMA Downloading the CMA creates a PDF document that you can save on your computer. 1. Navigate to the Contents section. Ensure that only the components you want to include are selected. 2. Click Download on the Action toolbar. Download Send Print 3. You will be prompted to open or save the PDF. Select Open. View the finished document and then you can save it. Creating a CMA in Stratus 79

86 4. In the PDF document window you can now save the CMA to your computer or a removable storage device such as a USB drive. To save the PDF, click the save icon on the PDF toolbar, or click File, point to Save As and select PDF. Printing your CMA 5. The Save As dialogue box opens. Select the save location and type a new file name for the CMA. NOTE: The option to save as a Word or Excel Outline is not available to users with the free Adobe Reader. You will be prompted to sign up for a paid account. Your CMA is now downloaded and saved on your computer. You can now open the CMA without logging on to Stratus. After selecting the components that you want to print in the Contents section, you are ready to print your CMA. 1. Navigate to the Contents section. Ensure that only the components you want to print are selected. 80 Creating a CMA in Stratus

87 NOTE: You can remove a component to exclude it from printing. Deselecting the component will not delete it from the CMA. You can check mark that component at another time if you wish to then include it. 2. Click Print on the Action toolbar. A dialogue box opens asking what you would like to print. You can select the current section or the entire CMA. ing the CMA 3. Select The entire CMA. The print dialogue box opens so that you can select your printer and the number of copies to be printed. This step may take a couple of minutes as the CMA is converted to a PDF file for printing. 4. Review your printer settings and then click Print. Since the CMA is converted to a PDF document when saved or printed, it is easy to it to your client. To the CMA: Creating a CMA in Stratus 81

88 Practice exercise 9 1. On the Contents page, select the components you want to include for ing the CMA. 2. Click Send on the Action toolbar. 3. An composition screen opens (same as when ing listings). Type the recipient s address and edit the message body, if desired. You may want to place a check mark to send yourself a copy. 4. Click Send. A message confirming that the was sent appears and you are returned to the CMA. Once you have downloaded, printed, and/or ed the CMA presentation, go to the exercise that follows to reinforce the skills that you have learned in this section. Before attempting this exercise, make sure you have completed the previous exercises in this chapter. 1. Click on the Attachments tab in your CMA for 56 Lauralynn Cres. 2. Attach the file Market Info found in the CMA folder in the documents library. 3. Scroll down to the Contents section and select the following components for your CMA. Title Page Cover Letter Table of Contents Subject Property Details Subject Property Photo Gallery 82 Creating a CMA in Stratus

89 Side-by-Side Property Comparison Comparable Summary Client Full Road Map Market Statistics Report Days on Market Report Marketing Plan. 4. Save your CMA. 5. the CMA to yourself. When you have successfully completed this exercise, read the next section on how to use an existing CMA. Working with an existing CMA In this section, you will learn how to access a CMA that you have created previously. To use an existing CMA: 1. On the Left Side Panel of Stratus, select the CMA. 2. A list of your saved CMAs appears. Creating a CMA in Stratus 83

90 Edit Selected CMA 3. Click the check box beside the CMA you want to use. 4. Click Edit on the Action toolbar. 5. Scroll to the section you want to work on or click the corresponding tab. 6. Make the necessary changes to the CMA and then click Save. Extending a CMA CMAs remain active for a period of six months. After this time, they are deleted permanently. For a period of 14 days prior to expiry, a CMA can be extended. You will receive an alert on the Info Centre. When you click on the alert, you will be transferred to the CMA page which will display only expiring CMAs. 84 Creating a CMA in Stratus

91 Expiring CMA Alert To extend all CMAs that are eligible for extension: 1. At the CMA list, click Extend on the Action toolbar. A dialogue box will open with text indicating either: the number of CMAs that are eligible for extension; or that none of the CMAs are eligible for extension. Creating a CMA in Stratus 85

92 Extend 2. You are asked to confirm the Extend action. Click Yes. Your CMAs are extended for an additional 190 days from the current date. TIP: You can also extend individual CMAs, one at a time. If you notice that the CMA expiry date is almost due, click the check box beside that CMA and then click Extend. Deleting a CMA In this section, you will learn how to permanently delete a CMA that you have created previously. To delete a CMA: 1. On the Left Side Panel of Stratus, select the CMA. 2. A list of your saved CMAs appears. 3. Click the check box beside the CMA you want to delete. 4. Click Delete on the Action toolbar. 86 Creating a CMA in Stratus

93 Summary 5. Stratus prompts, Are you sure you want to Delete CMA name?. Click Delete. 6. Stratus prompts, CMA Deleted. Click OK. You have successfully deleted a CMA. You are ready to go to the final practice exercise on page 89. After completing the material in this chapter, you should be able to: create a new CMA find the MLS# of your subject property complete the CMA data entry pages download, print and a CMA use an existing CMA extend eligible CMAs delete a CMA. Now that you know how to work with the CMA component, you are ready to go to the next chapter to do the final practise exercise. Creating a CMA in Stratus 87

94 88 Creating a CMA in Stratus

95 Chapter 2 Final Practice Exercise

96

97 Chapter 2: Final Practice Exercise This final practice exercise reinforces the skills for creating a CMA in Stratus. You have just met with Ms. Mae Selle, who is interested in selling her home. To gain her confidence in a pricing strategy, you will present a CMA. Follow the steps below to begin the process. 1. During your meeting, you find out that the property is 334 Durie St. in Toronto W02. Ms. Selle bought the property in 2005, so you expect that it will be in the MLS System. 2. Now you re ready to add a new CMA. 3. Use the Contacts section of the CMA to add Ms. Selle s contact information. Her postal code is M6R 1R7 and her phone number is Information entered here will automatically be added to your contacts. 4. You will need the MLS# to input as your subject property in the CMA. At the Subject Property section, select the option to include a Subject property and then click Search Properties to conduct a New Search to find a previous listing for this address. Don t forget that the property will be in the archives. Once you locate a previous listing, select the option to use it as the subject property. 5. Edit the Salesperson section, Title Page and Cover Letter data entry sheets, if desired. 6. On the Comparables page, click Search Properties to search for comparable available and sold properties to present to your client. Enter criteria as desired and submit the search. Once you view the search results, select the ones that you want to include in the CMA. 7. Review the comparables to see if any adjustments are required; and if so, make the adjustments and explanatory notes. Creating a CMA in Stratus 91

98 Chapter 2: Final Practice Exercise 8. Create a marketing plan. 9. Go to the Contents page and select the components that you want to include in the CMA, then preview the CMA. 10. the CMA to yourself. Congratulations! Your CMA was a success with your client Ms. Mae Selle and the property sold quickly. Since this is an exercise only, you could finish by deleting the CMA and the Contact. Below are addresses of other properties in the GTA that you can use instead of 334 Durie St. Freehold properties: Snow Goose Lane, Mississauga Coady Avenue, Toronto E Brownell Street, Whitby Halstead Drive, Markham Condominium Properties: Finch Ave E, Apt 1007, Toronto C Kingsbridge Garden Circle, Apt 714, Mississauga 92 Creating a CMA in Stratus

99 Appendices Appendix A Managing Contacts The Contacts program in Stratus allows you to store basic contact information as well as financial information, and extensive notes related to the contact. Contacts are linked to the following components of New Stratus: Listings At the form, you can select the appropriate addresses from the list of your Contacts addresses. Stratus places them in the To field on the form. Contacts CMA Stratus pre-fills CMA records from contact information wherever it applies, for example, on the Client Information, Title Page and Cover Letter data entry screens. Prospects Stratus pre-fills Prospect Match records from contact information wherever it applies, for example, the Contact name and address. Creating a CMA in Stratus 93

100 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Contacts interface Contacts in Stratus has the added feature of searching the TREB Brokerage and Member rosters. When you access the Contacts interface, you will find many features that are consistent with the New Search interface and function in the same way. Search field Action toolbar Groups dropdown Expanded view Contact Groups Left Side Panel Dynamic Criteria Panel Search: This field will search for a name within your contacts Action Toolbar: The Action toolbar provides the tools for adding, editing and deleting contacts, uploading contacts, managing groups and more. The available tools will change depending on the view and list that you are in. Groups Drop-down: This list contains all of your groups and custom groups. Click on a group in this list to view the contacts it contains. Contact Groups: The groups listed here are the default groups created by New Status. My Contacts contains a complete list of your contacts. Left Side Panel: The Contacts list can be collapsed and expanded as desired. Click Contacts to reverse the current view. In the example above, Contacts is 94 Creating a CMA in Stratus

101 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Adding a contact expanded to display the contact groups. The down arrow indicates an expanded view. Click Contacts again to collapse the list. Dynamic Criteria Panel: This search panel works in a similar way as in a New Search or Map Search. Use the fields here to filter the contacts list according to your desired criteria. At the bottom of the panel is an Add a field list providing you with a complete list of additional searchable contact fields. In this section, you will learn how to add a contact. There are four sections to the add contact screen that allow you to enter data about your contact: General Information Financial Information Activities. The entry form is one continuous page; however, you can jump to a section by clicking on the corresponding tab at the top of the page. In the example below, the Contact Details tab is selected. Tabs Accessing the Contact detail form To add a contact, you must complete the required fields on the Contact Details screen; all other screens are optional. To access the Contact detail form: 1. On the Left Side Panel, click Contacts. If you have contacts already in the system, they will appear in a list view to the right. Creating a CMA in Stratus 95

102 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Contacts Entering contact information 2. On the Action toolbar, click Add Contact. The Contact detail form appears. To enter general information: 1. At the Contact Details page, enter contact text. You can enter as much or as little information as desired. Although only the names (first and last) are required, it is advantageous to include a mailing address, address and phone numbers. 2. If you wish to assign the contact to one or more groups, click the check boxes for the appropriate groups. NOTE: The groups that appear are the default groups. You may create your own custom groups that will appear in a section below the default groups. To create a custom group, see Creating and managing groups on page If you would like to add more information, do one of the following: To add financial information, scroll down to the next section. Click on a tab to jump to the section you require, for example,. 96 Creating a CMA in Stratus

103 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Entering financial information Adding an Activity To enter financial information pertaining to your contact: 1. At the Contact Detail page, click the Financials tab at the top of the screen. Alternatively, scroll through the Contact details until you can access the financial fields. 2. At the Financial Information page enter appropriate data (see the following screen capture). 3. If you have no further information to enter for that contact, click Save at the top right of the form. 4. If you would like to add more information, do one of the following: To proceed to the Activities page, scroll down the page or click the Activities tab. Click any of the data entry tabs at the top of the page, and proceed to the appropriate section. To add an activity pertaining to your contact: 1. At the Contact Details page, click the Activities tab at the top of the screen. 2. At the Activities page enter appropriate text for the first activity. Creating a CMA in Stratus 97

104 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Entering contact notes NOTE: If you choose to add an activity, the date and title are required. In the date field, you can enter the date using the T format, where T is today s date. 3. If there is more than one activity, click Add Another Activity. Stratus displays another set of activity input fields. 4. Enter the data, including the status (completed, to-do, etc.) 5. Repeat as necessary for all activities. 6. To arrange activities chronologically, click Sort Activities by Date. 7. If you would like to add more information, do one of the following: To proceed to the page, scroll down the page or click the tab. Click any of the data entry tabs at the top of the page, and proceed to the appropriate section. To record any requirements or notes pertaining to your contact: 1. At the Contact Details page, click the tab at the top of the screen. 2. At the page enter appropriate text. As the amount of text entered increases, a scroll bar will appear. can be added or edited at any time. 3. If you have no further information to enter for that contact, click Save. 98 Creating a CMA in Stratus

105 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 4. To review or edit your data, click on the appropriate tab at the top of the current form. TIP: To cancel the new contact record, click Cancel on the Action toolbar. Editing a contact In this section, you will learn how to access contact records so that you can incorporate and save any changes. To edit a contact: 1. On the Left Side Panel, click My Contacts. It may be necessary to click Contacts to expand the list of groups. Edit Check mark Contacts My Contacts 2. Click to place a check mark beside the contact you wish to edit. 3. On the Action toolbar, click Edit. The Contact Details form appears. 4. To edit contact information, scroll through the form or use the tabs to view the section(s) requiring changes. Replace existing data or add new data as necessary. 5. When all changes are made, click Save. TIP: To cancel changes to the contact record, click Cancel on the Action toolbar. Creating a CMA in Stratus 99

106 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Deleting a contact In this section, you will learn how to delete a contact permanently from your contact records. To delete a contact: 1. On the Left Side Panel, click Contacts to view your list of contact groups. 2. Click on a group, or click My Contacts to view your entire list. Delete 3. Click to place a check mark beside each contact that you wish to delete. 4. Click Delete on the Action toolbar. 5. A pop-up message asks you to confirm the delete action. A list of names will appear if more than one is selected. 6. Click Delete. The record is removed from your Contacts. 100 Creating a CMA in Stratus

107 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Creating and managing groups Keeping track of your contacts is much easier when they are organized into groups. Stratus provides several default groups, plus the Member Roster and Brokerage Roster. Default groups Adding a contact to a group A contact can belong to more than one group. You can also create your own custom groups. You can add a new contact to a group when the contact is first created. Or, you can add an existing contact to a group at any time. When you are adding a new contact: 1. Click Contacts on the Left Side Panel. 2. On the Action toolbar, click Add Contact. 3. Complete the contact s information as on page In the Contact Details form, select the desired group(s) for the contact. If you have created any custom groups, they will be listed with the label Custom Groups, below the default group names. Creating a CMA in Stratus 101

108 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Default groups Custom groups Creating custom groups 5. Click Save when you have completed all contact information. To add an existing contact to a group, you will need to edit the contact. To edit a contact: 1. Select My Contacts on the Left Side Panel to display a complete list of your contacts. 2. Place a check mark next to the contact you wish to edit. 3. On the Action toolbar, click Edit. The Contact Details form opens. 4. In the Groups section, click to place a check mark next to each group you want to add the contact to. 5. Click Save to complete the edit. To create your own custom groups: 1. On the Left Side Panel, click Contacts to access your contacts. 102 Creating a CMA in Stratus

109 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 2. On the Action toolbar, click Manage Groups. The Manage Groups dialogue box opens. Create New 3. Click Create New. 4. Type a name for your new group. For example, to create a group for your contacts who are investors, type Investors as a group name. 5. Click Add to have the group added to your list of custom groups. Renaming or deleting a custom group From time to time you may want to either delete or rename one of your custom groups. Creating a CMA in Stratus 103

110 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 1. Access the Manage Groups dialogue box as in steps 1-2 above. 2. Select a group name to be deleted or renamed. 3. To rename the group, click Rename. In the Rename Group dialogue box, type a new name. Click Rename. 4. To delete the group, click Delete. When prompted to confirm the action, click Delete. NOTE: Deleting a contact group will NOT delete the contacts in the group. They remain in your list of contacts and can be assigned to other groups, if desired. 5. At the Manage Groups dialogue box, click Close. Transferring your contacts from Outlook You can prefill Stratus contact records with information from your Outlook contacts. In this section, you will learn how to export the contacts as a text file in comma separated values format (.CSV), and then upload the file to Stratus Contacts.. NOTE: You can also upload your contacts from Gmail (see page 111) or from an Excel database file (see page 112). If you select fields for your export file that do not exist in the Stratus contact record, Stratus excludes those fields. Make sure you select all fields corresponding to those in the Stratus contacts record. For example, Stratus Contacts expects a 'first name' field and a 'last name' field. The list you upload 104 Creating a CMA in Stratus

111 Appendix A: Managing Contacts must have the names in separate fields (if you upload a list without separate fields but with a 'name' field containing both first and last name, the list uploads; however, the first and last name fields are blank). Not all fields of data make the transition from Outlook smoothly. The following table shows how some fields in Outlook transfer: program Name of Outlook Field Imports into New Stratus? Outlook Title (Miss, Mrs, Mr, etc.) No. Does not match up with the Salutation field. Outlook Home address/street Address Yes. Matches up with Address Line 1. Outlook Other address fields (Business, Other) No. Outlook Mobile Yes. Corresponding field is Cellular. Outlook Other Yes. Matches up with Other Phone. Outlook Pager Yes. Matches up with Pager. Outlook Home Fax/Fax Yes. Matches up with Fax. Outlook Business Fax No. Outlook Web page address/ Web Page Outlook - Yes. Matches up with URL field. Exporting your contacts This section first describes how to convert your contacts to a CSV file format. Once you have your contacts in a CSV file format, you can then go to page 109 to complete the upload to New Stratus. To export your contacts from Outlook 2010: 1. Open Outlook, if necessary and click Contacts to enter the Contacts program. 2. Click the File tab to enter Backstage view. Creating a CMA in Stratus 105

112 Appendix A: Managing Contacts File tab Options 3. Select Options. The Outlook Options dialogue box opens. 4. Click Advanced, and then click the Export button. Advanced Export button 106 Creating a CMA in Stratus

113 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 5. The Import and Export Wizard appears. Click Export to a file, then click Next. Export to a file Next 6. Click Comma Separated Values (Windows), then click Next. Comma Separated Values (Windows) Next 7. If necessary, select Contacts from the folder list, then click Next. Creating a CMA in Stratus 107

114 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Contacts Next 8. Click Browse. The Browse dialogue box appears to allow you to choose a location for the exported file. Browse 9. Select a file location. In our example, we chose to export to the Desktop. 108 Creating a CMA in Stratus

115 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Desktop File name Uploading your contacts to Stratus 10.Click into the File name field and type a name for the file. In our example we typed, My Outlook Contacts. 11.Click OK. The Wizard reappears. 12.Click Next and in the following screen click Finish. A message appears confirming the export. To upload your contacts to Stratus: 1. Click the Contacts on the Left Side Panel. Creating a CMA in Stratus 109

116 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Contacts 2. On the Action toolbar, click Upload. 3. In the Upload Contacts dialogue box, click Browse. Browse 4. Locate the Outlook CSV file by clicking the down arrow in the Look In field to select the location in which you saved the exported file. 5. Click on the filename to select it and then click Upload. 110 Creating a CMA in Stratus

117 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 6. When the upload is complete, Stratus displays an import log, identifying the number of contacts uploaded. To close the import log, click the Close button. Exporting your contacts from Gmail Uploading contacts from another address book will save you time. However, your Gmail address book may contain fields that are not recognized by Stratus and therefore will not upload. Use the following steps as a guide, and once your contacts are uploaded, select the contacts in Stratus and edit them to complete any desired missing information. 1. Log into your Gmail account. 2. Access your contacts by clicking on the Gmail down arrow and selecting Contacts. 3. In the Contacts screen, click the More down arrow and select Export. Creating a CMA in Stratus 111

118 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 4. Select either a group of contacts or All contacts to export. 5. Select an export format. For Stratus, select the Outlook CSV option. 6. When prompted, select a location in which to save the file. Your file is ready to upload into Stratus. To upload, see 'Uploading your contacts to Stratus on page 109 NOTE: New Stratus will not guarantee that files exported from other address books will upload successfully. In your mail program, try to export your contacts to a CSV file, using the Outlook option wherever possible. Then see if the file will upload. If it does not, you can try to import the file into Microsoft Outlook, and follow the steps for Transferring your contacts from Outlook on page 104. Exporting your contacts from an Excel database file The successful upload of contacts from Excel will depend on the field names used. Before exporting and uploading, it may be necessary to change your column headings. The following list of column headings (field names) will upload perfectly into Stratus. Note that there are no spaces in the field names. FirstName MiddleName LastName RelatedPersonFullName 112 Creating a CMA in Stratus

119 Appendix A: Managing Contacts OrganizationName HomePhone WorkPhone Address1StreetNumberAndName Address1UnitOrSuiteOrApartment Address1City Address1StateOrProvince Address1PostalCode Before you can upload an Excel file, you may need to check it for errors. In order for Excel to be used as a database and therefore be imported into other programs, it is very important that there be no blank rows or columns after the column headings. Widen your columns to ensure that none are empty. If you find an empty column, delete it. Delete any blank rows. Then, save the files as a CSV file. (In the Save As dialogue box, change the file type to CSV.) The file is now ready to upload into New Stratus. To upload your file, see Uploading your contacts to Stratus on page 109 Now that you have successfully uploaded your contacts into New Stratus, you are ready to go to the next section to learn how to search and display your contacts in New Stratus. Searching and viewing contacts Viewing your contacts There are two ways to find contacts in Stratus: view a list of all your contacts perform a search. Your contact list will grow very rapidly once you see the benefits of storing them in Stratus. There are two main formats for viewing them. You have already seen the default list format. Whenever you click on My Contacts on the Left Side Panel, the contacts display in this format. But in this view, you cannot see all of the contact details. To view the contact details: Creating a CMA in Stratus 113

120 Appendix A: Managing Contacts 1. Click on My Contacts to view your contacts in list format. Then select the first contact to view. 2. On the Action toolbar, click View. Your contacts display, one at a time, in details format. List View Navigation arrows Tabs Extend 3. Scroll through the Contact Details, or click one of the tabs at the top of the report to view a specific section, for example, Prospects. 4. To view the next contact, click the navigation arrow. 5. To edit the contact, click Edit on the Action toolbar. 114 Creating a CMA in Stratus

121 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Searching contacts 6. To add the contact to a group, click Edit, then click to place a check mark beside the desired group name. 7. To extend an expired Prospect Search, place a check mark beside the Prospect and then click Extend. The Prospect Search is reactivated for a period of 90 days. 8. To delete the contact, click Delete on the Action toolbar. 9. To return to list view, click List on the Action toolbar. The Contact list page contains a dynamic criteria panel to facilitate your searches for specific contacts. It also contains a group list for viewing contacts in a specific group. In this section, you will learn how to search for individual contacts, groups of contacts, a Brokerage, and Members. Group list Dynamic Criteria Panel To search contacts: 1. On the Left Side Panel, click Contacts. A list of all of your contacts appears. By default, you will see 20 contacts at a time. As in your searches Creating a CMA in Stratus 115

122 Appendix A: Managing Contacts in Stratus, you can change the number that displays by clicking the down arrow, as shown in the following screen capture. Page size down arrow 2. To search for specific contacts, enter search criteria in any field of the dynamic criteria panel. The display immediately updates showing only contacts that meet the criteria. In our example, we entered criteria to see all contacts whose first name starts with J or M. Clear TIP: To clear the criteria, click Clear on the toolbar within the dynamic criteria panel. The list updates to display all contacts. Searching groups You can easily display all contacts in a group. 1. When the contacts list is displayed, click the Groups down arrow. A list of the default groups, your custom groups and both Member and Brokerage rosters appears. 116 Creating a CMA in Stratus

123 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Group dropdown list 2. Click on the name of the group you want to view. 3. If the group has a large number of contacts, for example, the Member Roster, you can add criteria to the dynamic criteria panel to modify the list. 4. To view a record in detail, click in the check box to select the contact and then click View on the Actions toolbar. Searching Members and Brokerages In Stratus, searching for other Members or Brokerages is as easy as searching for a single contact or group. 1. In New Stratus, click Contacts in the Left Side Panel to display your contacts. 2. Click on Contacts a second time, if necessary, to display the list of groups. 3. Click Member Roster to search for a Member. Use the dynamic criteria panel to narrow down the search. Remember that there are over 31,000 Members of TREB. You will not see all results at once; therefore, entering search criteria will simply your search. 4. Click Brokerage Roster to search for a Brokerage. Once the selected Brokerage displays, click Show Members on the Action toolbar to view the Members of that Brokerage. Creating a CMA in Stratus 117

124 Appendix A: Managing Contacts Using the Search text box There is a quick way of searching in any one group. 1. Click to select the contact group under Contacts. For example, click My Contacts. 2. Click in the Search text box, on the Action toolbar, and enter all or part of the name you are searching for. Stratus will search in the following fields for the text string entered: First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Organization and address. 3. Once you locate your contact(s), be sure to clear the text in the Search field. You have learned how to successfully search for contacts and view their details. 118 Creating a CMA in Stratus

125 Appendices Appendix B Saving single pages of Market Watch The CMA in Stratus gives you the ability to attach other files to your CMA presentation. This means that you can insert Market Watch, feature sheets or other important, relevant documents. There are some limitations, however. Files must be under 750K each, so you may not want to add an additional 20 or so pages to an already lengthy report. In this section, you will learn how to save a single page of Market Watch as a separate file so that you can attach only the page or pages most relevant to the market area your subject property is in. We will use the page, Focus on the MLS Home Price Index as our example. 1. From the Stratus home page, click Market Watch under the Market Stats/Information slider. 2. Open the current edition by clicking Click here for complete report. 3. When Market Watch opens, scroll through the pages until you locate the Home Price Index page. It is usually near the very end of the report. Creating a CMA in Stratus 119

126 Appendix B: Saving single pages of Market Watch Chrome Print icon 4. If you do not see a toolbar, hover your mouse over the bottom right, as shown above for the browser Chrome, to display a ghost toolbar. Click on the print icon to display the Print dialogue box in the left sidebar. 5. In the destination section click Change. From the list that displays choose Save as PDF. 120 Creating a CMA in Stratus

127 Appendix B: Saving single pages of Market Watch. Save Save as PDF Change Set desired page 6. In the Pages section, turn on the radio button to select the desired page or pages. Type in the number(s) of the page(s). 7. Click Save. Once saved, you can attach the file to your CMA. NOTE: Internet Explorer does not have an embedded PDF writer. For this browser, only, download a free PDF writer. NOTE: Using Firefox, the Print icon can be found in the top right corner of the screen. Click on it to open the Print dialogue box. NOTE: Using Safari click on Print. In the Print dialogue box, open the drop-down menu for PDF. Select Save as PDF from the menu. Choose a location and name for the saved PDF file. Your Home Price Index report is now ready to attach to your CMA. To attach the Home Price Index report to your CMA, see Adding Attachments to your CMA on page 73. Creating a CMA in Stratus 121

128 Appendix B: Saving single pages of Market Watch 122 Creating a CMA in Stratus

129 Appendix C MLS Home Price Index The Home Price Index is a tool that will allow you to track trends for different housing types and neighbourhoods. The Index indicates the change in value for a specific property type (benchmark) relative to January 2005, which has an index of 100. For information about the Home Price Index, see the article from Across The Board that appears on the following pages. Creating a CMA in Stratus 123

130 MLS Home Price Index MEASURING HOME PRICE CHANGE TREB Members often want to quickly determine the current price and historic price growth for a certain type of home located in a particular part of the TREB market area. When determining price growth over time, it is important that an apples-to-apples comparison is taking place in other words, comparing pricing for the same type of home over time. In order to achieve this goal, the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), and four other major real estate boards across Canada have developed a new system to measure home prices and home price growth: the MLS Home Price Index (MLS HPI). measures, which can swing dramatically in response to changes in the number of very expensive or inexpensive home sales from one time period to the next. Less volatility is achieved because the MLS HPI is based on prices calculated for benchmark homes, which are models of typical homes in a given area. The attributes of benchmark homes remain constant over time, so changes in benchmark prices are always based on an apples-to-apples comparison, meaning reported price changes are due solely to market forces (i.e., changes in both in the Market Watch publication (pages 25 and 26 of the online version) and in a more detailed set of tables found on TREB s dedicated MLS HPI website. TO ACCESS TREB S DEDICATED MLS HPI WEBSITE: 1. Log in to TorontoMLS or New Stratus. 2. Click MarketWatch in the sliders on the right side of the home page. The Market Statistics page appears. 3. On the Market Statistics page, click MLS Home Price Index in the left side bar. TREB s dedicated MLS HPI website appears. ABOUT THE MLS HPI The MLS HPI is calculated using a sophisticated statistical model that augments the traditional repeat sales approach (i.e., comparing the sale price for the same home between two points in time) by taking into account a home s quantitative (e.g., number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, lot size, age) and qualitative (e.g., whether it has a finished basement, views, proximity to amenities) features. This method accounts for and assigns value to changes in homes over time. The MLS HPI is traditionally less volatile than average and median demand and supply for a given housing type in a given area). Currently, TREB reports MLS HPI statistics for four benchmark home types (single-family detached, single-family attached, townhouse, and apartment) at the municipal level of geography the same geography reported in the monthly Market Watch publication. HOW TO USE THE MLS HPI Launched in February 2012, the TREB MLS HPI is reported on a monthly basis, 3

131 MLS Home Price Index (cont d) While you re there, you can watch an informative video, get more information from an interactive Widget and access the monthly detailed tables containing HPI data by municipality and property type including per cent change calculations as far back as 10 years. View this informative video from the MLS Home Price Index home page. In either Market Watch or the dedicated MLS HPI tables, you will find three types of information: the index value for the month, geography and benchmark home type in question; the corresponding benchmark home price; and one or more per cent change calculations. (Market Watch contains year-over-year per cent change only and the MLS HPI tables contain per cent change calculations for additional shorter and longer periods of time.) MLS HPI tables and April 2012, the benchmark price for a single-family detached home increased by 49.4 per cent. While per cent change figures are provided for other periods of time in the dedicated MLS HPI tables, it is useful to know how they are calculated. For example, if the index value for a given property type and geography was 150 in the most current month and 140 in the same month for the previous year, the year-over-year per cent change would be 7.1 per cent [(150/140-1)*100]. The MLS HPI has a base year of January 2005, with an index value of 100. In April 2012, the index value for a singlefamily detached home for the TREB market area as a whole was This means that between the January Using the example of Toronto W06 (Mimico) in April 2012, we can see from this chart that since January 2005 (the base year), single-family detached homes increased in value 60.5% (160.5 subtract the base year value of 100). Comparing April of last year to April of this year, single-family detached homes have increased 1.78%. Is this a good rate of growth? Compare Mimico to Toronto where the growth of single-family detached homes was 57.8%, and all of the TREB regions where growth was 49.4%.