Flippers: A perfect example of my earlier point
Flippers: A Perfect Example Of My Earlier Point OfferPad Incentivizes Realtors On May 7th, I wrote a post to help Sellers understand the pitfalls, THE
©2023 Home Sell And Save | All Rights Reserved
I’ve been licensed since 2003, but it wasn’t until I first volunteered to serve on the MLS Committee at my local Realtor Association, that I began to take notice of the errors Realtors are making when placing your home (the details of your home) into the MLS system.
Remember, the MLS is the first step in the marketing process. Once entered, your home is first available to the members of the MLS; which in South Florida is over 100,000 Realtors.
Many of those Realtors will then send your listing to their buyers and investors, for consideration.
Then, within just a few minutes, the MLS will share your listing with a long, very long, list of websites, such as Realtor.com, Zillow, Homes.com and virtually every Brokerage website. These sharing agreements ensure that your home will be available to virtually anyone and everyone in the WORLD, within just minutes. A huge audience.
So its vitally important that your home is not only presented in its best light, through professional photos, but that the listing is accurate; otherwise, you have the potential of losing an interested buyer who, but not for the error, would otherwise be interested in your home.
Think about it! All buyers have certain wants and needs. In computer talk, these are called Criteria, and every Real Estate website has a list of Criteria that a buyer can select when setting a search and alert notifications.
A family of 4 will likely choose only to be notified of homes with at least 4 bedrooms. But if an error is made, and the listing is only showing 3 bedrooms, this buyer will not see your home. In a slow market, this could cause a long gap between showings of your home.
Recently, in my own neighborhood, a home listed for $1.4m had significant errors regarding the square footage of the Guest House. A feature of the home that offered something unique to the right buyer. When the Realtor entered just 1088 sq ft, instead of the correct 2570sq ft, its unknown if this error led to the home selling for 26% below the starting price.
Or a home presently listed having just a 1 car garage, when it really has 2.
Its difficult if not impossible to fully understand the harm that such errors make. If someone wants a guest house for family or to generate additional income, the difference in size may cause 1 buyer to discount the house because it’s too small or the other because it won’t generate sufficient income.
The same holds true for home buyers. If the house doesn’t fit their criteria, they will move on to continue their search and there is NO way you’ll ever know how many buyers you lost. Well, unless you start questioning the worlds population in an effort to find such buyers.
As I said to start this post, there are over 200 fields that a Realtor has available to tell buyers about your home. Some are required, like the # of beds and baths, while others are suggested, like Window Treatments. Some are simple Y or N, while others, like Amenities in a Condo, provide a list of choices to select from.
Regardless if required or not, its best to try and enter some value, the correct value, in every field. The more information provided, the better chance your home is found in a search. And honestly, it just looks better when a listing is complete and comprehensive.
When I developed the various listing plans for Home Sell and Save, LLC., I wanted to make sure to include a Listing Consultation. Unlike most if not all other Flat Fee Services, we do not offer an online form for Sellers to input the details of their home.
Instead, the Seller will be given a few days to gather the required information. I will then spend the time, on the phone, entering the listing live, as I review with the Seller. Each field will be explained and completed with the assistance of the Seller to ensure its accuracy.
Its too important and too costly to play with such important information.
Seeing your listing as it appears in the MLS, is not enough. The 2 examples I mentioned above, of homes in my neighborhood, are both listed on an MLS system which requires the Seller to sign the data input form, or the Listing itself. But obviously, this did nothing but relieve the Broker from liability. The sellers signed off on the listing as being acceptable, and I assume accurate, but neither are.
Its important that you, as the Seller, are educated, or these mistakes will happen. And to repeat myself, it may cost you $$$.
YES! Absolutely!
While sites like Realtor.com and Zillow are locked, meaning the information displayed is obtained through a direct feed from the MLS, these sites themselves make mistakes.
In fact, I recently notified Zillow that anyone entering the address of a nearby home, using the full spelling TRAIL would find the house is NOT for Sale. However, using just TRL, would find that the house is for sale.
In another example, somehow, Realtor.com was using the wrong Subdivision Name for my clients home. We had to get that changed.
So while the chances are slim, its very much worth your time to review your listing on various sites. And that includes looking the photos, to ensure, if northing else, that the photos are loaded in a logical manner; taking the online visitors on a walking tour of your home.
When I hire Virtuals1 to photograph my listings, the photos are delivered in such an order; making it easy and quick to load the photos to your listing.
Flippers: A Perfect Example Of My Earlier Point OfferPad Incentivizes Realtors On May 7th, I wrote a post to help Sellers understand the pitfalls, THE
Does Fractional Homeownership Work? Fractional homeownership – or co-buying – isn’t anything new, but today it’s aimed at wealthier people looking to buy a second
7 Types of Tax-Deductible Home Improvements With Tax Day approaching, make sure your clients are taking all the home deductions for which they may qualify.
The Florida As-Is Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase The “As-Is” is the most widely used Contract used in South Florida, if not the entire
©2023 Home Sell And Save | All Rights Reserved