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Question for the realtors here
The most recent house to sell on my block (last summer) was a 3 bedroom house that was listed on MLS as a 4 bedroom house. (The house has 3 legal bedrooms upstairs. The sellers put a bed in the basement and called it a bedroom. There was no egress window, no defining walls, no closet, just a bed sitting in the middle of a basement)
The house next door to us was just listed as a 3 bedroom house. But it is a 2 bedroom house. It used to be a 3 bedroom house, but it was recently flipped and they knocked down one of the walls of one of the bedrooms to open it up to the living room. So, the '3rd' bedroom only has 2.5 walls. It can't be functional as a bedroom without some remodeling.
This is SO frustrating to me. We would like to sell at some point, but it is hard when the comps are destroying the market even worse than it already is. The house that sold last summer has the EXACT same floor plan as us yet on MLS, it looks like a 'more desirable' house than ours, because MLS says it sold as a 4 bedroom.
Are there standards for what gets listed on MLS? Any sort of code of ethics or anything? I could understand if the listing said that the house had X bedrooms with an additional non-conforming bedroom, but to flat-out lie as to the number of bedrooms just seems wrong.
The house that is currently listed was flipped by the same person/entity who now has the house listed. (Agent's name is same as the broker name and we met him while he was doing the work.) I tried to call him about the listing with no luck. I have exhausted google looking for an e-mail/website for either the agent or broker name. No luck.
I tried e-mailing Northstar MLS to ask about standards for listing (and provided them the property I was asking about, as well as a number of items in the listing that are flat out lies) but never got a response.
Do we have any recourse at all? It seems to be becoming the pattern in our neighborhood that the info on MLS is significantly over exaggerated. (1 bathroom homes listed as 2, 1 car garage listed as 2 car, etc, etc.) When it comes time to try and sell our home, am I crazy in thinking that the misstatements on MLS will affect what we are able to realistically ask for on our home?
That got long, but I would appreciate any thoughts that anyone has!
Re: Question for the realtors here
I would go to the next open house and complain. Well, ok, be the rude neighbor and point out that the bedrooms aren't listed properly, etc...
But think of the buyers going in there for a showing and finding out that the "2nd bathroom" is just a toilet in the middle of the basement. That's kind of a shock, isn't it? That happened to us when we were house hunting... I don't know how many times we were laughing because of surprises we got from the listing description to the actual house.
Our RE would email the listing agent back with our comments, suggestions and point out those particular issues in their listing description compared to the house.
I wouldn't know who to report that stuff to if there's some code of RE ethics violations though. I guess they have to have a license so there must be some committee??? Well, unless the person isn't an agent then I don't know.
There is a board that you can complain to and the main place that us as agents have to answer to is the Department of Commerce. However, if its a MLS violation then there is a way for it to get reported, but I think its only agents who can report it.
With that being said there is the "public" area of the MLS (what you and everyone else sees) and there is the "agent" MLS (which is an area that only licensed agents see). It is possible that they're making those remarks that its "non-conforming" in the agent remarks (I'd be interested to know an address so I could look it up).
Also, there's a difference between blatant lying on the MLS and "puffing" which is allowed. For example if they're really saying 2-car garage when it is in fact a 1-car garage then that's a lie, but if its a 1 1/2 car and they say "oversized garage" that is puffing...because its a gentle way of saying its bigger then a 1-car but smaller then a 2-car...
The MN Board is VERY Strict so I'd be interested to see these listings and see what they really say because if they are lying they could get in serious trouble and get a serious fine. You won't get anywhere with the listing agents broker either because they'll protect their agent.
On a final note, there is more that goes into a comp then just the houses around you. Yes they'll compare you to other 2 bedroom 2 bath homes, but they'll go out as far as a mile or two radius around your house, and more importantly they'll look for homes with similar square footage. So even though they've knocked down walls to make more "livable space" if they haven't physicaly added onto the house then you're still batting in the same ballpark.
Thanks for the responses
Janell, I was hoping you would chime in.
I totally get the 'puffing' - we would do the same thing if we listed our house. But there is a big difference (imho) between a puff and a lie.
I heard back from MLS today. They contacted the agent, and he insists that the house is 3 bedrooms (as listed) and not 2 bedrooms (actual). He is also apparently quite upset that I went to MLS and not him directly. MLS gave me his cell-phone number, which is different than the last number I tried for him. I'll call him tomorrow, but I'm not looking forward to the conversation. I don't want to be a trouble-maker, but I am sick and tired of flippers coming into our neighborhood and exaggerating their listings
Janell, I'll PM you the listing.
A Little Bird and a Monkey Butt
I'm glad you got somewhere with the MLS, because I know that they police the site pretty closely, and they'll call you on anything but sometimes they can't be everywhere all the time so they do rely on people reporting things.
As an example we're not allowed to post exterior photos with the for sale sign in them so if they see that its stern warning and then a fine if you do it again.
Let me know how the conversation goes with the agent because flippers and agents who do that can really be tools sometimes and no one ever likes to get their hands slapped.
Off to check the PM and see what these homes look like.