4 Bdrm 4 bath 4,400 sq./ft. hillside home on 4 plus acres, 7 min. from Middleton. Master suite with whirlpool and deck. Fieldstone fireplace, wraparound porch, storm/wine cellar, spectacular room to grow marijuana, open floor plan, elevator and handicap accessible with in-law suite. 2 1/2 car garage with lower level shop. Separate 40′ x 60′ commercial grade shop with loft, office and 3/4 bath. Perfect for toys or animals. Middleton-Cross Plains schools. $675,000
So say the MLS remarks of this listing. Don’t believe me? Here it is on the MLS itself, along with the contact info for the listing agent and the seller, who appears to be representing himself.
How on earth is this possible? Well, based on what I can see, this broker seems to allow sellers to enter their own listings into the MLS, a horrifying thought. The other option is that this was input by the listing agent… which seems more horrifying than the seller doing it. In case the property details have been changed by the time you read this, here is a PDF of the marijuana house (2).
I occasionally see comments from the public saying things like: REALTORS are worthless, the MLS is a monopoly that needs to be forced to allow anyone to publish to it, MLS data should be public, and that Google/Trulia/Zillow/Craigslist make the MLS a thing of the past. My counter to those comments is now clearer than ever: just look at this listing.
However this listing was posted to the MLS, the content of it is not permitted. Because the MLS is controlled by a professional organization (the REALTORS), there will most certainly be a correction made and it is highly likely (hopefully) that some kind of penalty will be issued to the agent. When it comes to accurate information about homes for sale or those that have sold, the MLS is in a field of its own. While there are problems that do arise occasionally (this is an extreme example) this data is far more consistent and accurate than public options because it is a controlled system.
REALTORS are no longer the gatekeepers to the listings of homes for sale, but when it comes to ensuring the data is reliable, we still play the key role. Most of the sites consumers use online to find homes for sale use data that originally came from the REALTOR and/or MLS. I spend a lot of time helping buyers find the right house and helping sellers find a buyer, but I’d spend a whole lot more time if I didn’t have a reliable resource to use.
Because I have reliable information, even though finding the right house may take a lot of time, it is by far the easiest part of my job – its everything that happens after the right house is found that takes all of my skill, experience and knowledge. Every day this job takes more to do right, something that runs counter to what you’d expect in an industry in the midst of a technology shift. The problem is that no matter what new gadgets, software and web sites may be made, real estate is very complex and variable. Though there are certainly both good and bad agents, this job would be practically impossible without the systems we REALTORS have in place.
