Hot Sheets widget

The Hot Sheets widget lets you quickly search for status changes directly from the connectMLS home page:

There is a separate category for each of the property types on the MLS.  

There is also a Timeframe drop down menu in the upper left of the widget that allows you to narrow your focus to a specific period of time:

• Since last run= looks for status changes since you last ran the Hot Sheet.
• Today= the current calendar day.
• Time Range (today)= search within a specific timeframe for the current calendar day. 
• 24 Hours= search for changes over the previous 24 hours.
• 3 days= search for changes over the past 3 calendar days.
• 7 days= search for changes over the past 7 calendar days.
• Days Back= choose a number of days between 1 and 30.
• Date Range= search for changes over a specific date range.

Note: It is important to set your timeframe correctly before clicking on the desired Hot Sheet. This timeframe will override any timeframe you used when you first created the saved Hot Sheet.

However, if you forget to set the correct timeframe before running the Hot Sheet, you will still have the ability to change the timeframe after you run a Hot Sheet (from the Filters section on the left side of the screen).

Clicking the Customize button in the top right corner of the Hot Sheets widget opens a new screen that allows you to adjust the widget to better suit your workflow:

1. If there are any hot sheets that you don't use, use their respective check box to select them and then click Delete Selected to completely remove them from your Hot Sheets widget.
   
   
2. You can set the order of the searches within the Hot Sheets widget by using the up/down arrows, using the numbered boxes or by drag & drop.
   
   
3. Click Rename to give the Hot Sheet search a different, more useful name. 
   
   
4. Click Restore Defaults to cancel your changes and bring the widget back to its default configuration.
   Note: if you have created your own hot sheet searches (in addition to the searches that appear in the widget by default), clicking Restore Defaults will delete them completely. 

Configuring the default Hot Sheet searches

By default, when you first click on any of the property types, it will search the entire MLS for any status changes for that category over the given time period. Your first step in working with the Hot Sheets widget is to set up your default search criteria (County, Cities, etc.) for each of the property types (they must be configured individually).

Let's start with the Single Family & Condo property type.

Clicking Single Family & Condo will open a screen where your search filters will appear in a column on the far left and any matching properties will appear on the right side. Since we have not yet configured this hot sheet search yet, it will include the entire MLS and there will be a lot of matching listings.

Use the search fields on the left side to customize your Hot Sheet search to only include your desired criteria. Once you are all set, click the gear icon at the top of the column of search fields, then click Save Current as My Default:

Click OK on the popup window to finish the process:

To double check your work, go back to the connectMLS home page and click on the Single Family & Condo category within the Hot Sheets widget. It should now open up and only display those listings that match the criteria you entered while configuring the search. Going forward, every time you run this same property type hot sheet, it will only return listings that match this default criteria and have changed over the given timeframe.

Note: Before starting any Hot Sheet search, make sure to set your timeframe before you select your desired property type.

***Repeat this process for each property type that you'll be using for your Hot Sheet searches. ***

Adding additional Hot Sheet searches to the widget

In addition to the default searches within the Hot Sheets widget, you may need to create even more Hot Sheet searches for yourself or for clients that you are working with. connectMLS makes this process simple.

For instance, let's create another Single Family & Condo Hot Sheet, this time for specific neighborhoods within a certain town. Start the process by clicking on Single Family & Condo again.

Your default Single Family & Condo Hot Sheet will open up, displaying your current criteria on the left and any matching listings on the right. All you have to do is use the fields on the left to set up your new search, then go up to the top right corner and click the floppy disk icon:

The Save Search window appears:

1. You have the option to assign this saved Hot Sheet search to a Client (this is not required).
2. Give the search a name.
3. Click Save.

After saving the Hot Sheet, you get the following window, allowing you to either continue working with the results of this search or start a new search:

Regardless of your choice, if you click the My MLS icon to get back to the home page, your new search should appear in the Hot Sheet widget:

Note: any new/custom Hot Sheets you create will automatically appear at the bottom of the Hot Sheets widget (underneath the system default Hot Sheets). If you'd like, you can click the Customize button and rearrange them to your preferred order. 

*****************

You can also start the process of creating a new/additional Hot Sheet widget search by going to Search> Hot Sheet:

Use the Search Type field at the top of the search to select the specific property type you would like to use for this search. Then simply fill out the desired search criteria and click the Save Search button in the upper right:

You will then get the same Save Search screen we saw earlier in this article:

Complete as necessary and click Save.