Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall
I agree that the MLS has issues this way, but we have a spot to indicate a bonus or office and it's not hard to just scroll down. Many agents in the private remarks section will also state 4th bedroom has no closet, which I appreciate. Then I know it is a 3 with an office. If someone wants a 3 with office I search 3's and 4's. I know that when agents misrepresent the listing, I think their ethics are compromised. Maybe that's just me.
If I had to preview every home on the market, I would be broke from the cost of gas and have no time to do anything else. While I agree that previewing is good practice, there is reality.
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Of course agents can search for 3 BR plus office, but the issue is that most buyers don't have direct access to MLS level search capabilities. When information gets syndicated out to Realtor.com, etc., then all you really have to go on is number of bedrooms. If you've got a home that's huge with lots of different "bonus" rooms, then the only way to convey that on consumer portals is by number of bedrooms. There's a tremendous lack of precision in the way the information is structured on MLS software. There's also no real conformity with the way agents define different features. What exactly constitutes an "office" for example? And most agents will check multiple room descriptions for individual rooms -- this could be a "family room" or a "great room" or an "office" or an "exercise room", etc. So how is a consumer going to know that all those descriptors are being used to apply to a single room?
Personally, I think the only way to correct it is for MLS software to define each home in the house. For instance:
This home has 8 rooms:
Living room
Dining room
Kitchen
Separate den or office
Master bedroom with private full bath
2nd bedroom
3rd bedroom
2nd full bathroom
Unless you can define individual rooms (and potentially offer alternate definitions for individual rooms, such as "den or office or playroom or exercise room") then there's no real way to convey the actual features of the house.
As far as previewing, who says you need to preview "every home on the market"? But I don't take a buyer out to a home I haven't previewed except in highly unusual situations. That's what I'm getting paid for. To make the home search as quick and efficient for the buyer as possible.
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