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Why don't listings have mandatory fields for substructure? Basement, slab, crawlspace.
I guess that we are just supposed to ASSume that if there is no basement mentioned you ASSume slab.
REA's may be thinking "what's the big deal"
Its a big deal!
Hey, I don't want to have to ASSume. I don't think I should have to try to figure it out. I won't buy a slab. Period. I would a crawlspace. I'm sick and tired of calling to find out.
Its not searceable and that's just ridiculous.
It so unprofessional that so many (most) listings just don't mention it.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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When marketing a home, a usable basement is a positive feature, they would mention it if there was one. You can assume no basement if it isn't mentioned, but that doesn't mean slab. Most people are not so picky as to avoid looking at an otherwise ideal home just because it has a slab floor, so there is little demand for your wish. If it is perceived as negative, they won't mention it anyway, just like they won't mention something like "ugly green carpet" or "moldy kitchen tile grout." If crawlspace homes were so desirable as to make a big difference, they would mention it, to attract more buyers.
You should vent in a market specific area as not all MLS's are the same. In my area, you CAN search for slab or pier and beam. Basement, since they're in 0.000000001% of homes in my area, would be a completely different search criteria.
It isn't even an optional field in my MLS. Agents would have to use "Remarks" space to state that information. Since we only have 512 characters, that space is at a premium. Also, in my area, you can tell if there is a basement in the MLS, so it is just between slab and crawl. Most houses are on a crawl here. A few builders build on slab. So most real estate agents can make a very educated guess just knowing who built the house, or even sometimes just from the subdivision. So it isn't worth using Remarks space to specify. And it isn't unprofessional not to list it in my area, since experienced agents are going to guess correctly 99% of the time.
If you are in an area where slab, crawl, and basement are all used randomly, and even someone who is 30 years in the business locally can't tell, then yes, it would be a useful field to have in MLS.
Now if you aren't an agent, and you aren't educated on builder norms in your area, yes, you are going to have trouble. But in that case, you shouldn't have access to MLS, so wouldn't have that information anyway. The "MLS searches" that are available on other websites do not have all the same fields as the actual MLS. So if you are just searching on Realtor.com or some real estate company's website, you don't know if it is an MLS field. In my area, IDX feeds (the thing that distributes to other websites) only includes maybe 3/4 of the information that agents have.
Incidentally, I agree with you about slabs. I don't like them either, and would most likely not buy a house on a slab. But then, that's why you look at a house before you make an offer. And after that, in case you missed it, you read the inspection report from the inspection you have done.
Why don't listings have mandatory fields for substructure? Basement, slab, crawlspace.
I guess that we are just supposed to ASSume that if there is no basement mentioned you ASSume slab.
REA's may be thinking "what's the big deal"
Its a big deal!
Hey, I don't want to have to ASSume. I don't think I should have to try to figure it out. I won't buy a slab. Period. I would a crawlspace. I'm sick and tired of calling to find out.
Its not searceable and that's just ridiculous.
It so unprofessional that so many (most) listings just don't mention it.
This is one of those "all real estate is local" issues.
In my market, basements are very common, though not in every house. Our MLS has a field that displays whether the house has a full basement, partial basement, crawlspace or slab.
I realized that you complained it's not a SEARCHABLE field. That's the case in my market as well, on the PUBLIC facing website. Members of the MLS have tha ability to search just about any field. The same may be true in your market. Ask your real estate agent to set up a search for you with the proper filters in place.
At their root, MLS listings are a device for sharing between brokers.
Any other use is tangential.
The frustration of the public at practices between brokers highlights one of the pitfalls of the public using to third party apps that are mere advertising platforms taking advantage of access to some MLS data.
It's searchable here too. As others said, it appears to be not searchable in your local mls. (And others) But hey that's what you pay realtors for! Let them pull the listings you want to see.
Oh I'm picky because a slab bothers my medical issues. The opposite might be true where a slab is preferred for ther medical issues. But guess that's picky too. And not all people live in the same area their whole lives, some of us move from state to state and region to region. Heaven forbid we not know whether an area usually has all basements or not.
This has been an issue for me in 3 midwestern states and I find it common in other states I've been searching in for possible retirement homes. You have a national real estate organization, can they set some standards?
It depends where you live. In south Florida I've never seen a home with a basement. Most don't have attics either. The only ones with craw spaces are mobile homes.
Generally you can tell my looking at a picture if it's on a slab or has a basement.
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