The Best of Beta

In case you have not noticed, there is an option where you can access the “new and improved loop page”.  There are many things to love about this new look, including the sleek and fresh view so let’s go over some of the features including some personal favorites!

At first glance you will notice the light bright look with color accents, and no more big circles, instead you have tiles with the circle in the bottom right corner.  It’s important to note that with the beta version only the loop page has been updated.  When you go into a loop or into other tabs, you will not see the new look and it will go back to what you are used to.  If you want to go back to the version you are used to, just click the top right where you see the words “Go Back”.  The development team also wants to know what you think of these new features and have added their email to send comments to: beta@dotloop.com.

Let’s start at the top right, when you click on your photo (provided you have one on your account), you will still see your “Member ID” and “My Account”.  The new things added here are the customer service number (easy to find and they are awesome at answering your questions) and a “Search Profiles”.  For people like me that are in multiple offices as an admin and help many offices with training and support, this is one of the best things to have here!  If you are like most people and only have one or a few profiles, then this feature may not mean much to you.  The “Sign Out” has moved to the bottom of the dropdown.

 

When you click on the “New Loop” you will see a new look.  I love this because it is emphasizing searching by an address or MLS number.  This is an important option to prevent duplicates and if you want to know more about this, please see my other blog post about this subject.  Once you have entered the address or loop name, if your office has templates you will be asked to select one or don’t and create the loop without it, if no templates, you will not see this option.  Next it prompts you to add the photo, which as you can tell, I like those on my loops.  Please remember that photos can be seen by anyone you share something from that loop with, so don’t put a “Buyer Selfie” on the loop, it’s not very professional.  🙂  Next you say you are “Done” and the loop is then created.  This really does make it much simpler to get the loop started and ready to go.

Notifications and Activity Log are still the same and at the top left and will take you back to the current view (not updated yet).  Ok, here comes one of my favorites and personal requests!  In the Filers you can now “Save Custom Filters”.  No more checking them and unchecking them individually!  I have my first two already set up and saved, one I call “Working Loops”, these are the: No Status, Private Listing, In-Progress, Active Listing, Under Contract, Pre-Listing, Pre-Offer and New.  My other one is “Completed Loops”, which includes: Sold, Leased, Archived and Done.  You can create other searches and even include review stages and tags in your searches.  You can even “search” all of the loop types, statuses and tags.  Once you have selected the items you want to filter, you will need to click “Apply” to use those filters or “Save” to keep the list to search again later.  This is also where you “Clear” your filters to see everything.

The same sort options still exist: Creation Date, Last Updated, Transaction Price, Listed Date, Expiration Date, Closing Date, Submitted for Review Date.  Instead of clicking it twice to change from ascending to descending, there is now a new button for it next to the sort.

Now for the loop tiles section.  The each tile represents a loop and you will notice the picture shows at the top of the tile with the “last updated” date at the bottom of the picture.  Below that you will see the address or loop name.  Next you will see the Transaction Type and Loop Status which both of those can be changed from the main page.  The very bottom shows the “List Price”, which I don’t think is the best choice of items to be listed, because only the listing agents care about the list price.  Since this is a “beta” version, there is a possibility that this could change to something else like “Sales Price” or “Contract Price”.  Now to the bottom right is where you see the circle that is tied to the loop percentage and inside it you will see the “Closing Date”.

 

That’s pretty much it for the new look and I’m looking forward to all the new cool stuff that will be updated within the other pages when everything goes live for all!

 

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Advertisement

No More Duplicates!

With more and more people using Dotloop across the country and in different offices and different companies, duplicates can be an issue if you don’t know some tips to prevent them!  First, my approach to this subject is I want to teach you the preventative measure first and then the reactionary next.

First the Listing Loop:  For every listing you have, you need to do these 3 things to all of them:
1. Loop Status of “Active Listing” – Loop Type will be either Listing for Sale or Listing for Lease in order for that status to be an option.
2. Identity the Role of the “Listing Agent” – This is as simple as selecting listing agent next to your name in the loop, provided you are the listing agent.
3. Add the Address and/or MLS # to the View Details of the loop.
Once these 3 things are done, then your listing will be “searchable” and can be seen by agents when they go to create a loop.

Since the address is not added to the View Details, this loop is not “Searchable”.  You must do ALL 3 of these items in order for your listing to be searchable.

Next is the Buying (Selling) Loop:  When you go to create a loop, search for the property address for the listing you are about to make an offer on.  There are 3 places that you can search for a listing: 1. When you create a Loop, 2. In the View Details above the property address fields, and 3. On the Autofill screen above the address fields.  A few tips to help  your search:  First try searching the house number OR street name OR MLS # because some agents will enter an address with a space or period in the address and that can make it more difficult to find.  Personally I recommend not using periods in the address.

Once you have found the property, it will show you the listing agent’s name (which comes from #2 above) and it will display the MLS # and list price if you have them entered.  Depending on the place you searched it will ask you if you “want to save time and import data” and of course say YES!  So some important things to note here.  The Loop Rules still apply which means: “Anything you add to the loop is private, until you share it” which means that no one will see any of your documents even if the Buying agent selects to connect to the listing agent’s Loop.  The only exception to this is if you are using the Easy Offer (for more info on that, refer to that blog post).

The cool part about these items is that it connects the loops together so the listing agent will not get a second, third or fourth loop when an agent sends an offer, instead it will come in as an additional folder in the Same Loop!!!  From the Buying side, the listing agent will not get the offer or see anything until you “share” the offer to them so no worries there either plus it autofilled the view details so you had less things to type in, that’s what I call a win-win!

OK, so you didn’t know all that and you have a duplicate loop.  My first reaction is NOOOO, I don’t want a duplicate!  So here is how you fix it.  I have to start by telling you that you MUST do this from THE BEGINNING!  Do not think that you can merge it from the end of the transaction, because it won’t work!  I have an entire post written just for Merging Loops, and it explains everything, so click here to access it.

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Picture This

Most of the people that read this blog have attended one or more of my classes and I appreciate all of you!  Each and every class is different and has it’s on personality.  As those of you know that have attended a class, I take a “class selfie”.  I usually post them on Twitter and/or Facebook shortly after the class but some of you my want to go back and find your “class picture”.  Here is your chance.  I have posted them all on my Flickr account and linked them to my training website.  I have attached a link for anyone that ones to review them.  They are organized by year so have fun going down memory lane.  Feel free to save, post, tweet, share or print, feel free to tag me!!  Facebook: Carolyn  D Thompson, Twitter: @Carolyndt, Instagram: icarolynt, Flickr: CarolynThompson7

Flickr Collection Link

iCarolyn.com Post with pictures

It’s time for another great year and if your office or association would like to have me back, feel free to call, text, or email me to set something up!  Let’s see if I can beet 2017’s numbers: 120 Dotloop Classes Taught, 2,274 Students, 20 states.  I’m still working on my 50 state goal and looking to train in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming (17 left).  I’m a certified CE instructor in the following states: Oklahoma, Michigan, Georgia, South Dakota, Montana, Kansas, Maryland, Utah, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Washington, Missouri, and Florida.  If you want to attend another class or want to know where I will be, I have posted my calendar online and you can find it here: Carolyn’s Calendar.  I try to keep it updated as much as possible, but sometimes I get behind if I’m really busy, so you can always message me to check in.  Happy Looping!!

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Editing Heaven

This part of my class gets so many people excited and they always want to know if I have more information, so here we go!  Let’s start with a blank PDF.  If you have a document that you want to turn into your own customized form, then these tips will make you very happy, especially the “OCD and willing to admit it students”.  I’m going to be giving you tips from both the PC and MAC users so look for the one that applies to your type of computer.  

Load your document in your loop or templates, “drag and drop” is my favorite way to put a PDF in the loop.  For this we are going to add a lead based paint document in the loop.  Now that you have a document, open it.  At the top you will see “add” and you have several things you can add to a document.  Many of these items share the same properties and options for shortcuts.  Let’s start by adding some initials.  After you click on “add initial” at the top, you notice that it follows your curser.  Put the TOP LEFT corner in the place you want it to be.  When editing using these shortcuts, the top left is the fixed point and the bottom right is where they will move from.  

To MOVE the field added, hold your SHIFT KEY down and then select the arrows to move the direction you want to move the box to.  If you press the right arrow key it will move the box right, if you press the down arrow, it will move the box down and so on.

To RESIZE you will want to hold the ALT KEY on a PC/OPTION KEY on a MAC and then move the arrows away from the top left to make it larger or toward it to make it smaller.  For example if you want to make it smaller, then you will need to hold the ALT KEY/OPTION KEY and push the left or up arrow.  To make it larger would go the opposite direction, by holding down the ALT KEY/OPTION KEY to the right and down.  

Another option for resizing is best used for a “radio button” but can be used for many fields.  If you have clicked on or if an item is highlighted, you will see at the top right the “more” and when you click on it you will see the “advanced” and once selected will it will open a new box and display the exact pixels for the field highlighted.  You can alter the size of the item be changing the pixel number to higher to increase the size and lower to make it smaller.  You have the options of the X and Y axis which is hight and width.  The radio button is the one button that does not have the arrow to increase or decrease the size with the mouse and this allows your to still resize it.

To DUPLICATE you will combine buttons and hold both the SHIFT AND ALT KEY/OPTION KEY and then push the arrow in the direction you want to duplicate it to.  If you have placed an initial box, then resized it to the correct proportions and need another one exactly like it, then use this tip to duplicate another one.

A lot of times we need to have more than one client initial or sign so a great way to prepare a form to be used for either 1 or 2 buyers then you will want to GROUP.  This is very easy to do and extremely helpful.  Once you have put the initials, signatures or radio buttons on the page, you will need to “click and drag” over each of the items you want to group.  You will notice that they will be highlighted and at the top of the screen (in the menu area next to “assign”) you will see 4 squares (either red or blue) and then when you hover over it you will see the word GROUP above it.  Once you click it, they will be grouped together and will show white with the word UNGROUP above it, signaling they are already grouped together.  Once you have them grouped accordingly, you will need to also ASSIGN it to the ROLE  that you want to be the one to sign or select it.  What this does is makes it so that you can only have 1 of the items grouped together initialed, signed or selected by each person.  For example, if you have 3 items you have “grouped” then only one can be selected or if you have 2 initial boxes grouped then if they are assigned to a buyer then only 1 buyer can initial in each  of the group.  They can not initial both, it’s what I call “client proof”.  Very helpful for setting up templates and not wanting to duplicate efforts.  

When you get the document the way you want it AND you want to use this as a template again, then under “file” at the top you will see an option that says SAVE AS TEMPLATE.  Then it will ask you about saving your work and I would say “yes” and then you will be prompted to select a place to save the template.  It will only allow you to put this in one of your folders in your templates and not in an office template so if you don’t have a custom folder created in your templates, you may want to do that first.  Now that your template is created, you can use this on other documents over and over.  

APPLY TEMPLATE is how you use the template that you just created.  Open a document that you want to apply a template to and click the “file” and APPLY TEMPLATE, then select the template you want to use.  This can also be used if you have an updated document that needs to be slightly edited.  For example, your real estate commission or association puts out an updated version of a form already in Dotloop.  You have it as a PDF from the commission or association and load it into your loop or templates and then APPLY TEMPLATE and select the older version to layer over all of the fields from the old form onto the new one.  Then you can adjust the boxes as needed to be in the right place sets for the new version of the document.  

One thing to note is that in order to save the templates and apply the templates, you will need to have Dotloop Premium.  If you are not a Premium user, you will need to upgrade in order to use these two features.  If you want to know all of the custom features and everything that you can do for all of the shortcuts, they are called “Hot Keys” and this is a link to the Dotloop support page with Hot Keys.

Two more tips: COPY and PASTE which are also shown on the bottom right of your screen when you are in a document, but here is how to use them.  First to COPY you will select or click on the item(s) you want to copy and then push these buttons on your keyboard together once: PC – CONTROL+SHIFT+C or MAC – COMAND+SHIFT+C and then click somewhere else on the screen or page you want to past them on and click all together once: PC – CONTROL+SHIFT+V or MAC – COMAND+SHIFT+V.  Then it will follow your curser and when you click, it will past the item you copied where ever you click and if you hold your SHIFT key down, it will allow you to past it multiple times until you let go of the SHIFT key.

I hope you enjoy these tips on Editing Heaven.  If you would like to have me come to your office to show you even more tips and tricks, complete the information below to get the ball rolling!  You never know what state I will be in.  I have trained in 34 states now and have 17 left to go (including D.C. as one of the places I have trained).  If you are in one of the 17, I’m ready to come your way!!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Phone Number(required)

Location/Office/Needs(required)

Submit

Δ

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

3 Amazing Dots

Many times we work in a program or system and we want to do something that we don’t see on the main menu. In Dotloop if you are looking for more things to do or more information, it has 3 little dots next to documents, folders, people and tasks. I have many names for the “3 little dots”, I call them: click right here, you want this, find more stuff and any other combination of 3 words that makes you think to click on it to find more features.

Document 3 Amazing Dots have all kinds of things, the longest list is going to be in a loop and next to a document that has been modified because remember they can’t give you a feature for something that doesn’t exist yet. For example. If you load a PDF and have not modified it or sent it for signatures then you can’t have a “history” or “signature verification” because there is only 1 version that does not have signatures yet. Once you have done things to the document, then it will have more menu items listed in the 3 amazing dots. On the templates page next to the document, you will not have a history or signature verification because those are templates and don’t have those items yet either. The items on an edited document with signatures in a loop would be: open, rename, make a copy, history, print, download, signature verification, archive, fax. If you do not have a premium account, you may not be able to use all of these features, but you can see them all. Most of these are pretty self explanatory, but the 3 I think worth mentioning are the make a copy, history and signature verification. Make a copy will allow you to copy a document from one folder to another or from one loop to another loop or to your templates to reuse in another loop. The History is where you can find out the progression or “history” of what has happened, also known as the “versions”. If the document has been modified, saved, signed, then it will have a new version each time and the number can ben found in this pop-up window along with the ability to view or download any one of the versions that you had permission to view. The signature verification is going to take you to the page for verifying the signatures for that document. It will take you to the latest or current version, but if you want to go to an older one, just view the version you one from the history and then click the “signature verification” link at the top left of any document. Every single document that is signed in Dotloop has one of these and can be viewed by anyone by either clicking on the link or typing the link in a web browser!

Folder 3 Amazing Dots will list items affiliated with folder options such as: open all, share all, rename, duplicate, archive. Open all will allow you to view and/or edit all of the forms in the folder at once by scrolling through them. The other 3 are mostly common since: rename the folder, duplicate the folder or archive (hide) the folder.

 

 

 

People 3 Amazing Dots are probably clicked on the least, but can be ver useful. They only have 4 options: edit, add to my team, introduce and remove. Edit can be tricky because sometimes we type the email address in wrong and want to fix it, which you can, but sometimes when you have shared the document it has an issue “re-sharing” and you end up removing the person and adding them back in to make sure it is working 100% correctly. I would try the edit first and I f you have not shared it at all, this should work just fine. Add to my team is VERY important you know what this does BEFORE you use it. This is ONLY for people that are working on the same side of the transaction and the same cupassity as you. For example some that would be on your team is an assistant that works for you or someone on a team or you have a property “co-listed” with another agent. Adding someone to your team will automatically show them all people, documents and tasks in the loop so if you add the wrong person this can be a big deal! The introduces is one of the most “unused” sections mostly because people don’t know it’s there or what to do with it. If you have a Buyer that you want to “introduce” to a lender, this is where you can do that. All it does is allows the people you are “introducing” to communicate inside the loop. Keep in mind that you may not always be a party to their conversation just like you can have a conversation with any one person independant of another person. Remove can be used to take someone out of the loop, but remember that it does not “unshare” things that you have already sent them. They will still have access to everything that has been sent to them, but you will not be able to send them anything else unless you add them back to the loop. You can also use this feature if you have entered an email address that was incorrect and it is not sharing to the new one for some reason.

3 Amazing Task Dots! First I have to say that if you are not using tasks, you are MISSING OUT!!  If you want to know more about tasks, check out my other post about tasks.  You have a different set of options between the task folder and the tasks in that folder. Next to the task folder you will see: create template, share, rename, delete and hide task list from team members. The create template is great for making a list in a loop and then deciding that you want to reuse it in another loop so you can “create template” and name it. Share sends it to someone else in the loop to view, rename and delete are self explanatory. Yes, I said delete. You can delete tasks, they will be listed in the activity log if you want to know what you did, but you can delete them. “Hide task list from team members” does exactly that, hides it from other people “on your team” in the loop. Keep in mind that the client can not see the list unless you share it (one of the original Loop Rules: #2 Everything you add to the loop is private until you share it.). The only exception to this is that when you “assign” a task to someone in the loop, they will then be able to see all of the tasks on that list with the item that was “assigned” to them so if you don’t want them to see the rest of the list, then make a new list per person. Next to the tasks you will find only two options under the 3 amazing dots which are rename and delete, both exactly what they say. The other items next to the task are to “assign” it to someone which is listed as “unassigned” until you select a person and a date that auto fills but can be changed to any date or can be tied to another task for example, if you want one task to be due after another task is completed.

That’s the basics of the “3 Amazing Dots”. It looks like a lot, but it just a matter of clicking the 3 little dots to find out what options are available so go check out the 3 Amazing Dots and explore what you can do!

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Attach My Association

You might be using Dotloop because your offices uses it or you might be an individual that chose to use it for your business and either way you may want to know how to attach an office or association to your account. Start by signing into your account and then click on your picture (or people icon if you have not added a photo) at the top right of your screen.

Then go to the “My Account” link. This will take you to your personal account information. On the left side of the screen you will see the word “Profiles”, click on that and go to profile that you want to attach to an office or add an association. If you only have one profile, that’s an easy choice. If you have more than one, then one could be connected to your office and the other could be personal or say “Default”. You can also change the names of each profile on this page.

Once you have the profile selected, scroll down a bit until you see “Add Association” or “Add Brokerage” (if not connected with an office). You can attach only 1 Brokerage or company per profile, but you CAN connect more than one association to a single profile. For this example, we are going to attach an association since that is the most common.

Click “Add Association” and a window will appear with the default search to be the state you are located in. You can delete the state name and type whatever name you are looking for. Keep in mind if you are used to calling an association by the acronym you should search the full name for example: GTAR should be Greater Tulsa Association of REALTORS®. You can also search for a commission or state board. Once you find the one you are looking for you may notice a green check mark next to the name. This means that they association, board or commission has provided those forms to Dotloop and they will typically be updated when new forms come out. If you do not see the check mark, that’s ok, you just may not have all the forms or they may not be updated.

The next screen you will see will be one of two things: 1. It will ask for your NRDS ID (National REALTOR® Identification Number) or your MLS ID and it will also auto fill your last name. This is to insure that you are a member in good standing with the board or association and have the rights to use those forms. If you are not licensed in that state, it will not give you access to the forms. 2. It will ask for an invitation code. This is another way for associations to control who has access to their forms. In this case, you will need to contact the association or board to get the invitation code. They will then give it to you if you are a member in good standing.

Once you have entered the appropriate information, you will have the library of forms connected to the association or board that you just added. The forms can be found in your “Templates” and will be listed usually with the name of the association or board you added. You will not be able to edit the forms in that library folder, but you can copy any of the forms to your own folder in templates which will allow you to then customize the forms to suit your needs. For information about customizing forms click here.

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

What Filter?

Ok, so one of the most common support questions that people have concerns “Filters”. In class, I explain it as, “Have you ever thought you lost a loop?”. What I mean by that is that, you can’t seem to find it, but you remember creating it. It is usually a matter of clearing your filters and it appears.

First I would recommend you toggle to the “list view”, circle at the top right below your photo with 3 lines in it or if you are on the list view it will have 4 boxes in the circle. Another way to know you are on the list view is that you will see a search bar at the top.

Now that you are on the list view and can see the search bar, type in something in one of these categories which applies to the loop you are looking for. Categories are: street number, street name, city, state, zip code, MLS #, or Loop Name. Every time you are searching in the search bar, the system is looking through these 7 categories. If your loop is still not listed, then click at the top under the main menu items on the “filter” and the top will expand and show you what things you are being filtered for currently. Click the “clear all” button on the right and then click “Filter” and it will show you every loop regardless of status or category. Poof, they should appear. If your loop is still not there then change the text to are searching for or if you are using more than one account or profile, it could be on another account or profile, in which case you will need to toggle to the other profile and repeat the search and clear the filters again.

Once you are done and ready to go back to the original search list, just select the items you want to view, for example, I check all except: sold, leased, archived or done.

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Changing Dotloop Email

I have had this question a lot: “How do I change my email address when it says that my email is already in use?”  First, I should explain why this happens and a few background information.  In Dotloop your email address is your username and in that respect each email is a different “profile” or person.  Many of us have more than one email and we sometimes end up wanting to change an email affiliated with an account.  If you have never used the email before in Dotloop or never been sent anything in Dotloop to that email, then you will have no problem changing your email in the “my account” section of the account you want to keep.  If it gives you an error, this is how you fix it.

The reason it will not let you add that email is because the system sees that the email already has a profile or person with that email address and won’t allow duplicates, so like it or not, that email has an account already.  We are going to call the account with the email address that you want to change and the loops that you want to keep, the “Keep Account” (Example email address myemail@yahoo.com).  The account that is using the email address that you want to put on the Keep account that you do not want to use we are going to call the “Junk Account” (Example email address myemail@gmail.com).  This will require a 3rd email address (or use a family member’s) (Example email address myemail@hotmail.com)

Step 1: Sign-in* to the Junk Account and go to the “my Account” section in the top right below your picture, when you hover over the photo.  You will see the email that you want to use on the Keep Account.  Change the email address to a 3rd email (you can change it to the one listed on the Keep Account later, but not now).  The 3rd email needs to be one that has not been used before or you will get the same error message.  Click “save”.  A verification email will be sent from Dotloop to that email so you will need to access that email and then confirm the email change.  If you do not confirm this, you will not be able to proceed to the next step.  Log out of that account.  The password will be the same, just a different email to sign-in with.  Example: Sign-in to myemail@gmail.com and change the email address to myemail@hotmail.com.

Step 2: Sign-in* to the Keep Account and repeat the process by going into the “my Account” section and change the email address from the one you don’t want to the one you do want in the Keep Account.  Click “save”.  If you get an error message, make sure you completed all of step 1 because if you do not confirm, it won’t clear out the email for the new account.  Now go into that email account and confirm the email from Dotloop that changes the email.  Once you have done this, log out and log back in using the email address you just changed the Keep Account to and the password you used to sign-in before.  Example: Sign-in to myemail@yahoo.com and change email address to myemail@gmail.com.

Optional Step 3: If you want to make the Junk Account with the email address that was originally on the Keep Account, repeat Step 1 with the exception of changing it to the email you want it to be on.  Example: Sign-in to the myemail@hotmail.com and change to myemail@yahoo.com.  Then you will no longer have a Dotloop account on the myemail@hotmail.com.

 

*If you do not know your password, no worries, go to dotloop.com and click “sign in” at the top right and then click the magical button that says “forgot your password?”. 🙂 Enter the email you don’t know the password to and it will send you a “reset password” email.  Change it to whatever you want.

 

 

Side Note: Profiles are not the same thing as accounts.  You can still have multiple profiles on the same email account.  I have a personal profile that I call “Carolyn Thompson” and a real estate profile attached to my office which I call “KWRA Carolyn”.  The “Carolyn Thompson” used to be called “Default” which was confusing.  You can change your profile names in your “my account” section under “profiles”.  No one else sees these but you and this way if someone adds you to a loop, it will pop up a box when you first click on it that says, “which profile”.  You can also deactivate a profile if you are not using them, also in the same area (top of the profile).

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my real estate website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Apply MY Template!

For those of you that have attended one of my trainings this one is going to be familiar. “Remember transparencies?”  I believe if you need to do something more than once you need a system and in this case a template works great!!

For the example we are going to be creating a “Lead Based Paint – Buyer Template”.  As an agent when you are writing an offer for a Buyer we have to get seller/property disclosures, lead based paint disclosures and sometimes other forms that may be required by your state.  Since we all must have a lead based paint disclosure, I’m use a general one for the example.  Your’s may look different and you will want to do these steps with any from that you need.

First, go into your Templates section of your account.  You should have a folder if you have created Document Templates, then use a Buyer Packet that is YOURS, can’t use one created by the office.  If you don’t have one, click “create folder” and name it something.  Now go to the office library of forms and find the lead based paint and click “make copy” and select your folder in your templates and make sure you say “flat PDF”.  Select your folder and click “copy”.  Now you have a PDF in your folder and let’s go back to that document and you will now see no text boxes, signatures or anything fillable on it, that’s what we want.  At the top under “file” click “apply template” and select the EXACT document you originally added from the library.  This will add all the fields to the form but allow you to move and edit them!  Click “save”.

With the fields applied exactly where they should be you will need to select the seller fields like the ones at the top and the signatures fields.  Click and drag over the fields and then use a shortcut “shift-delete” (two keys at the same time).  Anything highlighted will be deleted so don’t select any of the buyer fields.  Continue this until all the fields are removed that you do not need.

As a side note, I find some lead based paint forms are not done correctly with a “radio button” instead of “checkbox”.  If that is the case with your form you can fix it now!  How you can tell if your form is correct depends of if it will allow you to select both receive and waive the opportunity to test for lead based paint.  If you see a “check” on both it needs to be fixed.  If you see a dot then it has been done correctly and will only allow a choice and not both.  To fix this first delete the current check boxes with click-drag-highlight then shift-delete.  Now click at the top “add” and select “radio button” (one of my favorites).  Before you click hold your shift key button down on your keyboard and then let go before you click the second one.  (While holding the shift key button down when you click, it keeps the item with your cursor so you can apply more than one.”  You will need to “group” all of the radio buttons which is as simple as click and drag over all of them, in this case 2, and once they are highlighted you will see 4 boxes making a square at the top left next to the “assign” area.  The word “group” will be above it when you hover over the boxes then click on them and it will turn white and say “ungroup” above it.  Don’t forget to adjust the boxes to exactly where you want them.  Do do this, click on or click and drag over multiple items and the hold the “shift key” down and move your arrow keys the direction you want it to go.  If you need to change the size of say a text box, then you can old your “Alt”(PC) or “Option”(MAC) PLUS the arrow keys and it will change the size of the box based on the TOP LEFT CORNER is “fixed” and everything moves from it.  These are known as “hot keys” by Dotloop.

If you needed to create a from from scratch an don’t use the shortcut above make sure you also “group” (mentioned in the above paragraph) the signature boxes and/or initial boxes. This makes it so if you have more than one client it will only allow them to sign/initial 1 of the grouped boxes.  This is makes it in my opinion, “client proof” so they can’t accidentally sign more boxes than we need for them to.

Now that you have all of the necessary changes and corrections done, click the “save” button and go back to your templates.  While in your templates you may want to rename the file “Lead Based Paint – Buyer Template” or something that makes since to you so that you know it only has the Buyer boxes/signatures/initials on it.

If you chose to do this from a loop instead of in the templates, you will need to  click on the “file” and then “save as template” at the top.  Then select the template folder to put the document it.  It will automatically name it whatever your original document is called so you may want to go in and change the name.

USING YOUR TEMPLATE – Since you have created this template it is super easy to use. Load in your loop the seller signed lead based paint (usually from MLS or the Listing Agent) and then go into the document.  Click “file”, “apply template” and select the template you just created, in this case “Lead Based Paint – Buyer Template”.  It will then add all of the Buyer only fields.  It may not be perfect based on the fact that all scans are not equal, but simply click the “save” button and use the shortcut keys (hot keys according to Dotloop) and move them around.  Now send it to your client to sign and you are good to go. (Same as the pictures above)

I have created templates like this for seller/property disclosure, estimated net/cost and other forms that I repeatedly use and don’t want to add the boxes every time.  Enjoy, most classes love this tip and I hope you do too!

I can be reached at CarolynTechPertise@gmail.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.

Task Mastery

Many agents and admin overlook the power of the “task lists” in dotloop.  Everyone has a list of items that need to be done to list a house or close a transaction, even if it is only currently in your head.  Now is the time to make those lists work for you!

First sign into your dotloop account.  There are two ways to create a task list and I recommend creating it in a loop because you can rearrange the order of the tasks, where currently in the templates section, you can not.  Create a loop called “Task List Loop” or use a sample loop you already have.  At the bottom of the loop, click “Add Task” and a new list will be started.  Start typing the items you want on your list.  Drag and drop them to the order you want them.  I also suggest that you keep all of your task lists in the same loop incase you accidentally delete it, you have a place you can load it from again.  

Rename the task list to what it is, for example: “My Listing Checklist” or “My Contract Checklist”, etc.  To do this, click on the down arrow next to the folder name and select “rename”.  This is also where you will see the option to “Create Template”.  Once you have clicked on the “Create Template”, it will ask you to name the new template and create template.

The most unused portion of this feature is that you can add live links to the task lists and when you do it becomes a live link that the client can click on and go to your website or other webpage you have linked to.  The most common use for this would be using your website as a reference with a page that has the local utility companies or local inspectors listed so they can easily access the information.  This also creates SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your website (if you are running the link to your website).  

Think of having a task list for your client to complete items for a transaction!  You can also “share” or “hide” the task lists from clients.  The admins for your office also have the option to “lock” the task list from the agents.  This is used for compliance because let’s face it, agents sometimes think they have completed something correctly, and the office thinks differently.  🙂  The task lists are directly connected to the loop percentage so if you have 4 tasks and you complete 2 of them, you have 2 left which gives you a percentage of completion of 50%.

As a quick reminder, “Urgent Tasks” are automatically added to a loop when there is a from that requires your signature or initials.  They are also automatically checked when you sign or initial where needed and document name is a “link” that takes you into the document if you click on the name.

Once the task lists are created and you want to load them into a new loop, click on the “Load Template” on the bottom right of the loop and select the template decided for that loop.  Reuse them as many times as you want because you are now a task master!

I can be reached at Carolyn@icarolyn.com, by phone or text at 918-951-9020 or visit my website at http://www.SearchTulsaHouses.com.  For technology training or consulting assistance visit http://www.iCarolyn.com.