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I've been getting this a lot lately. Kinda humorous and thought I'd share it.
I search MLSLI and print out about 5 to 10 houses i'm interested in looking at. When I get home from work, I call ABC Real Estate Company and leave a message asking if the house listed in Anyplace, NY with the MLS number 12345678 is still on the market and available to be seen. I have to leave a message because the office is closed by the time I get home. I call a few other RE places from those printouts inquiring about the other homes as well and of course give the town and MLS number.
They call back the next day and leave a message stating that I was asking about the house on 10 Anyplace Street and to call them back.
So I finally get a hold of them and ask them if the one they're calling me for is MLS 12345678. They tell me they don't know and they said they're calling me about 10 Anyplace Street. Trouble is I'm sitting there with a bunch of printouts with no address, just towns, and its not the listing agent that is calling me, it is someone else from that office and he can't tell me what the MLS number is.
Finally after narrowing it down I figure out which printout it is (only because 10 might interest me, but maybe 1 or 2 I REALLY want to see first).
I've been getting this a lot lately. Kinda humorous and thought I'd share it.
I search MLSLI and print out about 5 to 10 houses i'm interested in looking at. When I get home from work, I call ABC Real Estate Company and leave a message asking if the house listed in Anyplace, NY with the MLS number 12345678 is still on the market and available to be seen. I have to leave a message because the office is closed by the time I get home. I call a few other RE places from those printouts inquiring about the other homes as well and of course give the town and MLS number.
They call back the next day and leave a message stating that I was asking about the house on 10 Anyplace Street and to call them back.
So I finally get a hold of them and ask them if the one they're calling me for is MLS 12345678. They tell me they don't know and they said they're calling me about 10 Anyplace Street. Trouble is I'm sitting there with a bunch of printouts with no address, just towns, and its not the listing agent that is calling me, it is someone else from that office and he can't tell me what the MLS number is.
Finally after narrowing it down I figure out which printout it is (only because 10 might interest me, but maybe 1 or 2 I REALLY want to see first).
Quick solution to the "narrowing it down" process.... (may not be perfect) is to use the map function and note down the 2 cross streets touching the house next to the MLS number, the town/city/hamlet/whatever should already be on the listing, and last but not least note the listing office (For ex. ReMax or Coldwell etc)
If you have all this information at one place it might avoid further humorous experiences unless you are really enjoying it.
Get a Redfin.com account so you can get addresses while you search! I like their site very much. Gives you tons of data, like what the house sold for last time. Helps you make a better buying decision.
Quick solution to the "narrowing it down" process.... (may not be perfect) is to use the map function and note down the 2 cross streets touching the house next to the MLS number, the town/city/hamlet/whatever should already be on the listing, and last but not least note the listing office (For ex. ReMax or Coldwell etc)
If you have all this information at one place it might avoid further humorous experiences unless you are really enjoying it.
Thanks. It was sort of humorous after the first few times, but not so much anymore. I don't enjoy it, I just laugh at it.
Try using one agent despite whether or not they work for that agency. They will get you the info pronto. And if you really want an address ASAP you can e-mail me the listing # and I will let you know.
Try using one agent despite whether or not they work for that agency. They will get you the info pronto. And if you really want an address ASAP you can e-mail me the listing # and I will let you know.
I used to do that. I would take 10 houses and call one RE up and give them all 10 to see. They'd call back and oddly enough only their listing would be available to be seen and all others are off the market, under contract, etc.... So after a few times of this, I got suspicious and thought there is no way all of these houses are not available. So I started calling each individual office up only to find out that the houses are available to be seen.
My guess is they don't want to bother calling up another RE office or that other RE office refuses to share commission.
Have a RE Agent set you up with a listing book account - has addresses and much more info (price history) than MLSLI.
This is a great suggestion, just make sure what flavor of the account (as in access levels) are you getting, the agent can still prevent you from looking at the addresses, insist on being able to map them.
The agents should see the mls numbers along with the address. If they aren't too lazy (or computer illerate) to look them up on the computer. Most other places off LI list the address as part of the details of the house so that already know what neighborhood the house is in before you call. I wish it were the same here.
Oh, and if I were looking, I'd get a buyer's agent and work through them. If you have a good one, you should get the correct information on every mls number you give them. They work for you. The other agents are sellers agents, their job is to sell their clients house and they don't care about you at all until you make an offer.
Also, get someone who doesn't have the house you're interested in. They will be more impartial as they don't have an added incentive to have you pick their house.
surpised about "others not being available" as most RE agents will tell you, that the house you call up on is normally not the house you buy.
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