When the Arizona Regional MLS announced last fall that flexmls would be the new MLS provider there was dancing in the cyberstreets. We admittedly knew little about flexmls but we knew enough about the Tempo/Marketlinx platform to know anything would be an improvement.

Shortly after the announcement, Odysseus purchased the domain name and started the Phoenix Real Estate Technology Exchange blog. This was designed to be a by-user, for-user platform to help those working through the transition.

That effort essentially has become moot.

ARMLS itself has unveiled its own blog for the transition … NewARMLS.com may not be the most exciting name, but the possibilities at which it hints truly are exciting. An organization which has been mostly reactive now is taking the fore in reaching out to its membership to communicate details of the changes. Considerable kudos goes to CEO Bob Bemis and his staff for changing the philosophy at Priest and Rio Salado.

As I met with members of ARMLS last week to discuss final tweaks to the blog theme, I cast my vote for adding a by-user, for-user form to NewARMLS.com. Over the last few weeks, the Real Estate Technology Exchange started turning into a soapbox for some of the same issues that have been raised in the past. Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but I’d rather not be along for a ride for which I never signed up.

We’ll see if that forum is added. In the interim, the initial articles have been posted. I’ll be jumping in to work on some of the formatting tonight … that’s part of the learning curve with the platform.

If you’re a local agent, or even a not-so-local agent wondering what other MLS groups are doing, it’s well worth a look.

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And we’re not referring to the former home of the greatly-missed Bear Country Jamboree at Disneyland. (Tangent warning: Pooh Corner sucks. Bring back Big Al. End of tangent.)

No, today we’re talking about the one critter that seems to be dreaded more than any other even though treatment and elimination is relatively straight-forward. We give you … the termite.

Want to see one? Theoretically there’s one in the photograph below. (Note: I never did see a thing, though my termite and home inspectors were very excited. After about 30 seconds I had a hunch I was watching a flea circus, but that’s another story.)

When a termite inspector goes out to a house, it’s not the actual termites they’re trying to find. Instead it is the termite tubes that are the giveaway. Most are small and only can be found if you’re trying to find them. Others are not.

Termites can be eliminated fairly reliably if a full house treatment is conducted. Almost all new homes comes with some sort of termite warranty. All that is asked is that the pest company come out once a year to check for tubes and make sure all is well.

Repeat problems take place when homeowners go for the quick (and cheaper) fix and decide to treat only the area in which the termites are found. Being fairly resilient little buggers, the termites simply move to another are and continue on building tubes.

Here’s a little-known fact … did you know that the cracks in your driveway and garage separating the slab into quadrants are almost never treated? Wanna know what the result looks like?

There’s a perception that a home with termites is about to collapse unto itself. After all, unlike crickets and roaches and scorpions, the termites are eating the house itself. If left unchecked, they can do a decent amount of damage. But it’s not at all what you grew up watching in the old Tom and Jerry cartoons when a single termite eats an entire home in about 12 seconds.

And speaking of cartoons and termites, and at the risk of sounding like Larry Cragun on a “Don’t Bug Me Saturday,” did you know that Warner Bros.’ old cartoon studio, the home of Looney Tunes and Bugs Bunny, was known as “Termite Terrace”? Neither did I.

In any event, if you have the critters get the treatment. And I’d say to spend the extra couple hundred bucks and get the whole treatment. If the termites are going to have to relocate, you may as well send them all the way to your neighbor’s yard.

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