Being able to find information and answers pertaining to property records quickly—and without difficulty—is important to any real estate professional or MLS member, and thanks to the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite, you can empower your team to get everything they need at their fingertips.
The MLS Tax Suite integrates seamlessly into any MLS system, providing real estate professionals with current tax data, detailed maps and robust features on all browsers and devices. The system is also instrumental when it comes to finding listings and FSBOs quickly.
Life can be made easier using the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite, notes Theresa Hatton, executive vice president of the Greenwich Association of REALTORS® in Greenwich, Conn., as a plethora of information is available via its MLS software interface, which provides agents the detailed information they need to best service their clients, whether they’re in the office or on the road.
“The integration within our MLS system allows for the seamless display of information related to listed properties within our system,” says Hatton. “The display of important real estate information related to the property is laid out in a very user-friendly format, grouping information in relevant categories such as property description, tax information, sales information, mortgage information, liens, and many versions of maps, including flood zone information—a very important topic in our market.”
Victoria DeAndrea, professional development and communications manager for the Greenwich Association of REALTORS®/ Greenwich Multiple Listing Service, Inc., agrees that the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite has been greatly beneficial to association members.
“Not only has the look of CRS Data changed to give it a more modern, user-friendly feel, the navigation of the site is easier than ever. Everything you need, or everything you’re looking for, is right in front of your eyes; there isn’t much searching around that needs to be done in order to find the function that best suits you. It’s short, simple and to the point,” says DeAndrea, a trainer at the Greenwich MLS in charge of showing agents how best to use the system.
“CRS Data MLS Tax Suite is beneficial to me because it’s so easy to show our members how to use it,” she adds. “It couldn’t be easier to navigate. Everything is right there for them. It isn’t confusing at all, and it’s all very straightforward.”
Nicole A. Murray, association executive at Pocono Mountains Association of REALTORS® in Stroudsburg, Pa., notes that the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite allows members to get more accurate listing data.
“We have it set up so it auto-populates the tax data into a listing once it puts in the tax ID number, so it’s pulling in anything we have from a county assessor into the program, which certainly helps,” says Murray. “It’s a double-check for them to make sure the listing lines up with the tax records, because a lot of times, it isn’t the same.”
Tools to Know
In her role as MLS director, Hatton explains that the tax data and reports generated through the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite are extremely helpful, as they allow her to run reports and generate mailing lists targeting homeowners in specific zones, living in properties that are rented and not owner-occupied, as well as properties that are in flood zones, etc.
“As the Greenwich Association of REALTORS® advocates for property owners in our town, CRS Data is an exceptional tool to assist,” she says. “The CRS Data MLS Tax Suite is extremely helpful to be able to use the property information combined with Census information and other schematics that are available within CRS Data. It’s also helpful to learn more about the properties in our market, providing the ability to contact homeowners to educate them about potential regulation changes that could affect their homes.”
New suite features include added home improvement values and additional search capabilities, such as a multi-county search tool.
According to DeAndrea, one of the most important features the Greenwich MLS staff uses CRS Data for is to check ownership of properties.
Another important tool is the map feature, specifically the “view larger” map function and the applicable layers that can be turned on, both of which are ideal for agents.
“The most popular layer used is the FEMA Flood Zones. It shows exactly where your house is and how close it is to flood zones. What’s great about this is that you can print the map out, and it looks exactly how you view it on your computer screen,” says DeAndrea.
“The maps and the detail related to the FEMA flood maps are exceptionally helpful in a state where 60 percent of the properties are impacted by water or potential wetlands,” adds Hatton.
Advice for Others
Murray notes that the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite is great for prospecting, and being that her market deals with a lot of second-home owners, it’s critical for real estate professionals to have access to this information before jumping into the process.
In Hatton’s opinion, everyone should be using the CRS Data MLS Tax Suite system. Not only is it fast and responsive, but it has a very reliable up-time level, and the customer service support is amazing.
“Any question I have, there are real people that respond and follow up. The team takes great care in understanding my organization’s needs and is responsive to making the system work in more efficient manners for our agents,” says Hatton. “The design is intuitive and easy-to-use, and its ability to integrate with other software products allows our agents to have access to the data they need to best serve their customers. The reliability, up-time, intuitive design and customer service combination make CRS Data our go-to vendor for tax data.”
Murray agrees. “When we brought CRS Data in, we did a lot of research as a committee into different tax suite providers, and one of the major reasons we chose CRS Data is because the customer service is just amazing.”
DeAndrea would recommend the program to others because it has everything they need in one simple package.
“It’s great that you can see property information that’s within your MLS as well as information that isn’t,” she says. “If we find an error on the site, we send in the correction and they’re quick in fixing it. The support team at CRS Data is also really great. Whether we send an email or call the office, everyone is extremely helpful and very friendly.”
For more information, please visit www.crsdata.com.
