Short Sighted Real Estate Practice Will Ruin This Market
October 14th, 2008 categories: opinion
Our local MLS (the online housing directory) is a service provided to Realtors and home buyers to help them see what homes are for sale and what homes are NOT for sale. When a home is no longer “for sale” yet still has an active status in front of it, this service is no longer a service but a hastle since you homes are not accurate in their description.
This is exactly what is taking place in our current real estate market and what is causing much of the housing issues. Homes classified as SHORT SALES are homes that a seller is seeking to sell for less than they owe the mortgage holder. To do this, they many times need a contract first to convince the mortgage holder to accept less than it’s value. The problem is that many Realtors are recieving offers on properties that home owner agrees to, yet leaves the MLS status as ACTIVE in the computer. Under a traditional sale the home would be considered UNDER CONTRACT so that potential buyers do not waste their time viewing the home while it is not available.
For example; Jan and Will have the money to purchase a home and want to be in to one in a couple months. They begin their home search online but find that many of the homes are under a SHORT SALE status but still appear available. They speak with their Realtor and plan a trip to visit 5 homes on a Saturday. After viewing the homes the come back and decide that they want to purchase home #3 which is a short sale. They send in a contract and begin the waiting process. They understand that the bank will take some time to respond so they hold their breath. After a month of waiting they get a call from their Realtor who tells them that their home has been beat out by another offer that came in. They wonder what happened only to find out that the listing agent never stopped marketing the property for sale and now they have wasted a month and only have 1 month left to find a home.
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