Garbage In, Garbage Out

November 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

In the last couple weeks I have been searching our local MLS for a couple different clients and find myself frustrated by the lack of information provided.  Too many agents today still seem to get away with putting up a photo or two and the barest minimum of information.  This makes it terribly difficult to locate properties for my clients in the first place and discard those that are not viable in the second.

Unfortunately there is no way to force agents to provide more than the bare minimum other than the clients of these agents.  Until clients demand better work product from their agents, the bare minimum is all that will be provided by some.  Grr!

Filed Under: MLS Compliment & Criticism, Opinion, Personal Experiences

MLS Misinformation

August 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

One of the sayings that I retain from my years in the technology is one that is applicable in so many things every day: “garbage in, garbage out.”  In this circumstance, I speaking about some of the data that is input by real estate agents into our local MLS.

It seems almost any time I’m searching for properties for a client, I come across one or more listings that either have inaccurate or incomplete information that affects the marketability of the property.  Oftentimes my clients will read something and assume it is gospel (when I know better) or will note that there is a lot of missing information.  Some of the most common issues I see and why they matter:

Lack of photos

  • If we can’t tell what the house is like on the inside or out, we often put it towards the bottom of the list – there are a lot of homes for sale and we don’t want to waste time on a house we didn’t view first online

Poor photos

  • If all I can see is the flooring or if the room is very dark or the shot is a light bouncing off a mirror, there’s no way to tell what the house is really like.

Missing association info

  • If it is a condo or townhome, it is important we know what the fees are and what it covers.  Also vitally important: pet restrictions.  Some associations ban dogs or put breed and weight limit restrictions in place… this affects many homeowners.

Missing room dimensions

  • I see too many listings that have no room dimensions – this makes it very difficult to gauge room sizes and some buyers have particular needs.

Old tax information

  • While it is easy for me to pull current property tax data for my clients, agents often have the prior year’s tax info online for 6-9 months into the new year and this information is displayed on consumer web sites and used in mortgage calculators.  In a time where property values are fluctuating wildly and property tax rates are climbing, there can be $100′s difference between one year and the next.
No extra details
  • Agents can put in details about the roof, the tree coverage, exterior finishes, hardwood floors, number of bedrooms on one floor, accessibility, basement description, etc.  For clients looking for something particular, unless we go through each listing by hand we will certainly miss many of the homes that would work for them.
While MLS data is by far the most accurate and comprehensive property data we have, it is incumbent on the agents who enter listings to ensure that the data is as correct and complete as possible.
Filed Under: Community Issues, MLS Compliment & Criticism, Opinion, Personal Experiences

Dangers of Non-MLS Listing Sites

June 14, 2010 By 6 Comments

Today a great example of one of the biggest issues with real estate web sites that allow the public at large to list properties for sale: the controls to prevent misinformation, misuse or abuse are very limited, making disinformation quite likely.

Today’s example: NBC Washington reports that 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is for sale.

Apparently Redfin imported this listing from Owners.com, a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) company, to their site.  While Redfin no longer lists The White House for sale, Owners.com still does.  Apparently this is a demo of their listing features but you have to read into the details to know that.  Many of these type of sites allow practically anyone to advertise any property for sale or rent without verifying that the person posting advertisement has the authority to advertise it.

So what’s the big deal?  MLS’s have specific rules and regulations for all listings in their database and all listings are inputted only by authorized users of the MLS.  This closed system allows them to maintain the accuracy of the system through enforcement actions against violators.  If the violations are egregious enough, the MLS’s can actually ban users from the system.  Public listing web sites are nowhere near as well monitored or controlled.  When I hear people say that Google or others are going to take over as the primary source of real estate listings I laugh a little; until a non-MLS entity finds a way to ensure reliable, consistent, and current information, their listings will continue to be met with some suspicion.  While many agents (myself included) are posting our listings out to web sites such as Google, Craigslist and others, my MLS is still the only authority I check when I want accurate information.


What are your thoughts on MLS and non-MLS systems/sites?

Filed Under: Ethics, MLS Compliment & Criticism, Opinion

How Much Commission is Too Much?

February 23, 2010 By 2 Comments

Today I received an email from DR Horton offering 5% commission on select homes closing in the next 40 days:

What I’m wondering is at what point do commissions get so lucrative that it can severely influence an agent’s actions in representing their buyer?  Since discussing “usual” or “typical” commissions in a public forum can lead to antitrust issues, I won’t discuss numbers but I will say that 5% is above any buyer cooperative commission (buy-side only) that I’ve ever received.

For as long as I’ve been in the business (on my 8th year now!) I’ve heard grumblings of suspicion that some agents working with buyers put a bias towards listings that pay them higher commissions.  In many ways it makes sense – most agents are paid on commission only so selling a higher-priced listing or one with a higher payout does directly affect what they earn.  While it may make sense, steering a client based off of compensation reasons is unethical and violates Agency laws in Minnesota (and likely most other states too).  Needless to say, the influence is there and I have no doubt that some agents practice this, though I truly believe that most agents are true to their clients and don’t let a fatter commission check affect their representation of their client.

What concerns me here is that at some point the commission dollars get to be big enough that it becomes a much bigger enticement and therefore the chances of agent influence become higher.  Even if there is no true influence, the mere appearance of a conflict of interest becomes apparent.

On the flip side, this is a great marketing tool by DR Horton – they attract lots of interested agents to see if DR Horton has a house that fits their buyer’s needs since it would be a big fat payout for the agent.  DR Horton only has to pay that commission on closed sales that meet their rules, so a penney isn’t spent unless there is a result.  Also, since this is only for inventory/spec homes, what they’re doing is putting them on a kind of clearance sales so that they don’t have to keep paying the carrying costs for a vacant completed home.  Smart.

There are two sides to this – I’m curious on what anyone else may think about this.  Please comment!

Filed Under: Info for Buyers, Info for Sellers, Market Stats, MLS Compliment & Criticism, New Construction, Opinion, Personal Experiences Tagged With:
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