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.

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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.

Happily Aligned Center!

This one is for those of you that like things “centered”.  This one just makes me smile thinking about it!  How many times have you typed some text in a field and it is all the way over to the left and you wished it had some “space”, well you can with a click of the button, move all the text to be “centered”.  First click and drag over all the fields you want to align this way (text, name or date field).  Do not click and drag over signatures, initials, check boxes or radio buttons or this will NOT work.  Now that they are selected you will see at the top the menu of options and close to the middle you will see some lines.  Click on the one that has them centered and it says right above it ALIGN CENTER and done!  You can also use this trick to align all the text boxes on your templates so that they will always be that way each time you use that form!  

 

Don’t forget, while you are making these changes, you can also add any “default” information that you use 80% of the time.  It’s the 80/20 rule, if you do something 80% of the time then that is what you should have typed in.  That way you only have to change it 20% of the time or less.

Hope you enjoy this tip because it is a big hit in class!  Keep in mind that if the office admin makes these changes to the office documents in the templates, then it will be applied to all agents within the office.  Likewise, if you make these changes on your own templates, it will always be that way when pulling in that document.  Remember, if you need to do something more than once, you need a SYSTEM and this is a great one!

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.