Real Estate Update

Posts Tagged ‘Them’

With the current housing market making it much more difficult for owners to sell their property, some realtors have been creatively resetting the “days on market” meter for their clients on their local multiple listing service (MLS). Though many have done so out of good intentions, perhaps not realizing that this is a violation of many multiple listing services, buyers should beware and ask their realtor to take steps to ensure the home they are interested in is not a relisted property.
The targeted homes usually have sat on the market for several months, no longer attracting potential buyers. There are many reasons a home may sit on the market too long. Generally, the reason has nothing to do with the value of the home to a potential buyer. Here are just a few reasons:
• There are currently so many homes on the market across the nation. The competition and falling home prices are making it difficult to sell homes, regardless of price and value offered;
• Most realtors show clients the new listings first. That means that a truly good home will not get the same attention as it did when newly listed, making selling it even more difficult; and
• New listings can command higher prices. Once a home has been on the market for a while, many buyers and their realtors make lowball offers. Seldom do owners accept these too-low offers, leaving the home on the market even longer.
Some realtors, wishing to help their clients sell their homes, have come up with ways to manipulate their multiple listing service’s computerized tracking features. By pulling the home off the multiple listing service and immediately relisting it, these realtors do several things:
• They reset the “days on market” tracking to zero, obscuring how long it has been for sale;
• Realtors, who also zero out the property ID and tweak the address a bit, ensure that the database cannot track the home as a relisted property;
• Even if the days on market continue to track, many multiple listing services put newly listed (including relisted) properties on their “hot sheets”, making them appear new;
• They can disguise that the previous listing was at a higher price, alleviating the perceived sign of seller weakness by buyers and their realtors;
• Relisting means a seller may not need to lower their asking price, since new listings command higher selling prices; and
• The realtor is ensuring the seller gets another run at competing in the market on a level playing field, since new listings get higher prices and most of the attention of potential buyers.
All of these factors are in the best interest of the seller. Unfortunately, a false sales history puts the buyer on an unequal playing field.
The days on market alerts the buyer and his/her realtor to possible problems with the property. Though many reasons for market longevity have nothing to do with the property, some homes have flaws and issues that make them unattractive to potential buyers. It is easier for realtors to show newly listed homes than to research homes for problems that have been on the market for some time.
To protect yourself, ensure your realtor digs a little deeper when researching the newly listed homes. The agent should investigate the sales history of each home before showing it to you. A diligent and experienced realtor will know what to look for and can spot relisted homes.

How do HomeGain, Realtor.com, Service Magic and other companies like this make money? These companies are called lead generation companies. They spend vast amounts of money advertising on TV, the Internet, radio, and in print so that you’ll go to their website to find information about real estate. When you click on a property and request information the company then either sells the lead at a fee ranging from $20-$50 for an unqualified lead or up to a 35% referral fee for leads that are more valuable.What does the company do for the fee charged? The answer might be pretty surprising. They don’t do anything, but forward the lead to a service provider. Yep, that’s right. You can search the MLS on any number of free websites so the website they provide is little more than a mechanism to get your information. Some people think agents, contractors, or other service providers are overpaid for what they do. Take a look at these companies and ask yourself if forwarding an email is worth $1500 (That’s the commission split they would receive on the sale of a $150,000 home.).Who pays the fees that these companies charge? For the most part, the Realtor, mortgage broker or other service provider pays for these leads. The laws of business provide that you can’t get something for nothing. This is very true. So by adding no value to the transaction and taking up to 35% of the payment for service, the middle-man is taking value from both the consumer and the service provider.Why is this bad for consumers? In real estate like many other service industries, the best Realtors obtain their business through referrals. The weaker, newer, less experienced agents typically buy leads from sources such as these. The next time you visit a site like these lead generators, think twice about giving them your information and go directly to the source. You’ll cut out the middle-man and get a better agent for your hard earned dollar.