Hawaii Randy's Real Estate Opinions: Is Your Real Estate Listing Accurate or Misleading?

Randy,

Good list for the most part. 

Our MLS requires the disclosure of REO listings. Short Sales cannot be disclosed in the public remarks. If disclosed (optional), the notice goes in the private remarks. While I don't agree with the policy, it is what it is.

I've also seen some older homes that are in excellent condition yet have not been updated in years. While priced accordingly, I've seen buyers feedback that states the home needs $50k in updates. Sometimes this is a subjective issue.

Tom

Hi Randy,  I usually try to preview properties before showings, especially with new clients.  It can saves a lot of time and I can talk with the Listing Agent beforehand if I have concerns.

You do have to be careful how you describe a home.  'Puffing it' isn't the right thing to do, but as Tom mentioned repairs/updates can be subjective. Someones fixer-upper is someone else's castle!

Randy...

The listing agents are doing their sellers a disservice by not bringing the right kind of buyers for the property. It is what it is so tell it like it is!

Randy, I agree. There is a fine line between puffery, misrepresentation and fraud.

Some agents are a wimps and afraid to correctly rate the property because they fear their seller's reaction !!!!

I agree that it is a fine line, and that one person's perception can and most often is different than another person's perception.  But blatant misrepresentation is ridiculous - when someone arrives at the property it is usually quite evident and becomes QUITE the embarrassment.

I wrote about this last week.  I guess we are all tired of running after listings that are either puffed, sold or just not what they say they are. 

We all have to get better at following up on the listing....meaning proofread, update and for reflect the market not the seller. 

Great points. Yesterday I was to show a property to a couple, first time buyers. On Sunday I starting lining up showing instruction via Showing Assist. All but one were confirmed within minutes. That last one, which was to be the first we would see, didn't respond. I called the LA at 9:10 and 11:55 ...voicemail, then I sent him an e-mail. I called his office...we don't have showing instructions. Fast forward to 5:30 pm, I get a response to the e-mail "It was rented", uh, the home was listed for sale, not rent! Then the best...an automated request for feedback on the property. The feedback went something like this: How can I give you feedback on something I couldn't show?

I recently showed a home that said "renovated this and renovated that" in the listing.  The home was built in 1980 and had original bathrooms and original light fixtures.  It was such a disappointment when the buyers are expecting renovated.  They might have been ok if it had said "needs updating"

Embellishing is unfair. I don't do it.

"Marked "Excellent" or "Above Average", when the home is in a state of disrepair."

You actually have a place on the MLS to give it a grade? Interesting.

Randy -

Thanks for the very appropriate concerns.  I especially agree with the comment about misrepresenting the size. 

I would just like for some agents to get their basic math right!  I've seen where some agents include the garage into the finished square footage of homes!  Sometimes, I've seen large homes listed with very little square footage.  It makes for huge mistakes when you are trying to do a CMA or show appropriate properties.

Think about all the potential buyers that they are turning away on that listing and other listings by not being honest.

Hi Randy,  I discovered a listing with 2 different square footage dimensions.  When asked the owner siad her agent had added the extra s.f. and that " ...all agents do it to help the house sell." 

Our MLS mandates all REO's and Short Sale listings are disclosed. As for the rest I have to say all this puffing bugs the heck out of me and my buyers are quick to comment on what a poor job the listing agent is doing when it is clearly not as described. They do get annoyed at wasting time.

So true!  We kind of get to know the agents that don't know the difference between a "fixer-upper" and "move-in condition", don't we?  It's deceptive and a waste of time when listing agents don't tell it like it is.  OR, include photos so that we can see for ourselves. 

There are many agents that are sloppy and lazy. Just yesterday I was showing a home and the comments said get into this great home for the NEW YEAR. The home has been on the market for 8 months and was written prior to last January!!

"They do not disclose the short sale or REO status to prevent buyers or their agents from filtering it out from their internet searches.  Some lenders are requiring their listing agent to not disclose this in their listings"

Hmmm I think (my opinion) that to NOT disclose a short sale is to not disclose a material fact... really do not care what the banks want...

Randy - you've touched on a significant issue we see in the MLS as compared to the reality. It certainly is doing a disserivce to the client, although perhaps they are willing to engage in the same behaviors to try and get the home sold. It's a waste of time so often, and if you don't have time to preview it wastes the buyer's time.

The lack of status updating, especially with REOs and short sales is especially annoying.

Jeff

Love the post Randy! You are absolutely correct in saying agents should accurately describe the condition and selling circumstances (short sale, foreclosure, etc) in the MLS. It is very misleading to see a home in MLS that appears to fit a clients needs only to go and find the home in a completely different state.

It is super annoying to have them talk about the renovated house (renovated in the 80s).  No pictures is often a clue.

I appreciate this post... I recently worked on a CMA and decided to actually preview the top properties that matched the potential listing.

It was eye opening and helpful to price the home accurately. It takes longer to do this, but it is worth the effort to get the home priced right.

Great post Randy! People need to say what you mean and mean what you say.  Stop puffing and just tell it like it is. 

Randy,

You are right on the money! It wastes people's time and frustrates everyone involved. These type of tactics causes consumers to not trust (unfairly) most real estate agents.  We have the same thing on the mortgage industry. The sins of a few cast a blanket of mistrust over all of us.

Puffing should be taken out of the real estate glossory!!  Lying is lying, plain and simple.  I am furious when I get to a property and it has been misrepresented; not as much for me but for the time it wasted not only me but my clients.  I live in a beach area, and water front is something that is used all the time, and cannot be trusted. It's really sad.  Who the heck came up with this term, "PUFFING' anyway.  I understand there are so many items that are subjective.  What's clean to you doesn't always mean the same thing; therefore, we should aim to stay away from any language that is subjective.  Let's face it there isn't much room in the MLS description box anyway!  Oh hog wash on the banks, do we work for the banks.  Always disclose the truth.. if it's a short sale, there is a box on MLS that says potential short sale, and foreclosures as well can be listed separately.  Sometimes this is a plus, as some buyers are looking for "deals"!  It's impossible to misrepresent the size here in the MLS/MRIS in the Mid-Atlantic Retion, the MLS  program pulls up the sf off the tax records!! 

You go...Randy..great job. :) Gail

Pictures tell a 1000 words. And if the pics are missing it may be a sign that the house has a problem.

Randy,

In our area, we have a catagory in the MLS called AWC, which is shorthand for Active With Contingencies. Many agents use this when a home has an accepted offer so that they continue to get the Realtor.com (and most other online aggregator type sites) exposure. Much better (and used in other boards) is PWC, Pending With Contingencies. I can 100% assure you that the first conversation with online buyers should NOT be telling them that the home they saw online (on our IDX or similar) site, IS NOT AVAILABLE!! Buyers see all of us as nothing more than carny barkers for such behaviour.

Fortunately, today with so many pictures, the condition is difficult to hide. And, the agents who do, have that fact associated with their reputations.

It shows the trait of the agent doing anything other than inserting factual data into our MLS. I was reading some of the new mls rules that will be in effect...and I believe some of them are to insert the data about short sales.

I recently spent 2 weeks trying to chase down an agent for a showing on one of his (Active!) listings, only to find out that it had been foreclosed on the previous week. And it's still showing active today. Makes me crazy.

Randy, I am working with 2 buyers right now who are both looking for an over-sized garage or basement to do woodworking in.  Agents aren't putting this info in the listing and are not taking pictures of the garages or basements.  I happened on to a couple of very sweet properties that had the agent promoted that space better, may have already been sold.  You just never know what a buyer may be looking for.  Don't discount unique garage or basement spaces, they may just make the sale.

Randy: One of the big problems I have is the "short sale" listings. There is no specific designation for short sales in our MLS; rather the agent remarks are where they are supposed to be mentioned. And most of the time agents do mention it there. But, unlike REO/Foreclosure properties, you can't do a global search for short sales. Since it's about 50 percent of our market, I hope that changes.

Puffing listings is an ethica violation and should be reported.  In the meantime, the easiest way to ensure no suprises is to preview whatever properties you are recommending your clients see.  If I've already seen a property and can point out a few things not in the listing, my clients appreciate me more.

Thanks, Randy. You're absolutely right - I can't believe how many agents put misleading information into the MLS of all places - and then I get to the house with my clients and it's not at all what we pictured.  C'mon agents, we're better than this!

Aloha Randy!

You know, despite explaining things to them, many buyers still think it is US who is sending them inaccurate info about a property, not understanding that that the MLS reports our system sends them are on the most part, inputted by OTHER agents.

'Makes us look bad :(

Excellent post.

Randy, my favorite is when they say "move in ready" when it requires new carpeting, paint, fumugation, etc. Fortunately, our MLS is very picky about accuracy in listings and we also have buyer's agents who are not afraid to tell the listing agent that they property does not quite match up to the description. Feedback is great!

Another issue, noted in our local paper today, is if there are changes and/or improvements which have not been properly noted even on the assessor's listings.  Then the comparables, aren't.

I couldn't agree more!  It is a waste of everyone's time when a listing is not correct.  Just give the facts...the good, the bad, the ugly and let the client decide if it is what they are looking for.  And by all means, update the status.  I shouldn't have to call to find out if the seller has selected an offer.

Randy...that tick usually backfires. When a buyer goes into a home with a preconceived idea of what the place is nad it turns out less, not much will change their minds.

I always wanted a second job at MLSLI going through listings and reporting them. So many are inaccurate, false or just misleading. Not to mention all the listings that violate Fair Housing.

The case I mentioned was really bad.  I was asked the day before to show the home.  It took me almost 24 hours to get the agent to respond, leaving me no opportunity to preview it.  At over $1.5 million you would expect a certain level of expertise (professionalism) from the agent.  It is not amateur night in the price range.

The ceilings were falling down, there was holes in the walls, broken windows and severedamage to the exterior from the ocean air.  Not subjective, flat out misrepresenting.  I do not believe it will be easy to even get financing on this property.

Our MLS has check boxes for short sales, etc.  Many agents are not checking the box. 

I currently have a listing in a condo complex.  There are 5 large complexes in the valley, all built by the same developer.  All 2 bedroom / 2 bath units have exactly the same square footage.  About 1/3 of the listings for the last 8 years have shown larger square footage.  It angers my clients, because it makes their units look smaller when they are exactly the same.  A buyer may have legal recourse against the listing agent and the seller later, if they bought the property and find out they were lied to.

So true!

Patrick - love your comment about carny barkers. See my post about agents who will not return calls: http://activerain.com/blogsview/1828777/why-won-t-some-agents-return-phone-calls-  Same sort of issue - they make us look bad to the buyers who think we are hiding something when we can't get showing instructions for a house they see on the internet.

Happens all the time in our market area. Some agents just dont get it. There are alot of great listings out there, but some agents embellish their listings like they are the best homes for sale on the market.

My biggest pet peave is "great investment". Ok prove it. Show me why? Show me data. Show me financials. Tell me what justifies it as a great investment? You would not believe the confused looks I get from other agents when I ask them that. Then they just stutter and refuse to answer my question commenting about everything but thier claim.

Our market area is by and large mature- new builds are exceptionally rare, and spot built at that. SO- everything is 20, 40 or 100 years old. The accuracy of the descriptions varies widely, and you really have to check the photos or preview to make sure you aren't wasting the buyer's time. It is maddening to walk into a "renovated" bath and see one new vanity and the original 60-year old tile in desperate need of grout. 

One of my favorite listings I wrote said "Rehab it from top to bottom or tear it down!"

I have a current situation where, sadly, a Seller passed away the day before the repairs and fix up were to begin. I have a couple of weeks while the legal paperwork is beign completed where there is no mention of fix up because the fix up is to be remedied if current plan stays in place.

I  was working with a buyer recently who needed a certain size master bedroom for their nice furniture, and a lot of master bedrooms aren't that big around here. Several times we walked into a room that was listed on the MLS as being 13' x 13', plenty big, but those measurements didn't account for a protruding wall (due to a closet or utilities) that would take up 2' x 4', making the USABLE size of the room much smaller. Frustrating, and a complete waste of time for my clients.

Shannon Lewis wrote:

"Several times we walked into a room that was listed on the MLS as being 13' x 13', plenty big, but those measurements didn't account for a protruding wall (due to a closet or utilities) that would take up 2' x 4', making the USABLE size of the room much smaller."

I think that is frustrating but probably not misrepresentation by an agent.  Floor plans would help... but they are cost prohibitive... in many cases.

I had a buyer who needed the basement in a particular configuration.  I looked at the county record footprint but we still had to run down to the basement FIRST.  Even with correct measurements we could not tell where the furnace was.  I tried calling agents. Turned out it was easier to look. 

First market I worked in had room measurements in MLS. Current  market does not, want room measurements, show the house.  You kiss a lot of frogs looking for master bedrooms where a buyers furniture will fit... or living rooms where a large sectional or wall unit will fit in some price ranges.

Preaching to the choir here! Drives me nuts! and my favorite is the giant waste of time for my ocean view clients who end up standing on the roof to see the ocean.

Amen.  Early in my career I had a really awful listing, but felt I would be hurting my client by saying so.  Had to learn the hard way. 

Randy, thanks for the post.  I completely agree! In addition to entering the accurate information on the property, I would love to see only recent, untouched up, photos of the property.    

I recently had a similar concern about a listing.  A sign rider indicated the home had a 'lake view" when clearly it did not.  Could not for any reason figure out why an agent would so blatantly mislead.  The rider only lasted a week and has been taken down, but why put it up?  Just relects poorly on the agent.  Spoke to several neighbors and they all just laughed at it, but all said the same thing.  Makes that agent look bad.  As far as the REO, that is a fineable offense in our MLS if not indicated.

I couldn't agree with you more!  Why waste my time and my clients time when you know the house needs a total rehab?  Please be truthful in your listings and you will attract the right investor and same me and my client a load of time!

I see a lot of this.  I tell my clients if it sounds to good to be true it probaby is not true.

You know what else kills me, is that with IL broker reciprocity solutions, from my website, if another real estate agent puffs the listing or fails to disclose something, it makes ME look bad.  If want to look better than the listing agent, I have to come forward with the truth about the listing and the listing agents exaggeration.

It's not that different than the seller who wants to overprice their property when all they end up doing is making the properly price property look even better...

Food for thought...

Several more great thoughts.  They idea that we should preview before showing homes is a good thought, but not always possible.  I do it often, but think it is a sad state of affairs that I have to run interference from bad agent practices.

Some people will always game the system. I've been noticing how many do it with the improper use of the word Realtor too.

Randy,

I am an investor / agent, we list all of our own properties.

1.  Agents should put as many pics on MLS as it will allow

2.  then link to a virtual tour or online photo album with pics that show all areas of the house, the basement, the garage, the furnace, the neighorhood pool

We sell a ton of fixer uppers that go to both owner occupants who want a good fixer upper and to investors.

Those owner occupant buyers love it when we tell them right up front:  needs paint and carpet and updating, needs roof and furnace - and oh by the way, any repairs you can't do or need done before financing, we can negotiate into the price of the home . . when priced right we sell these houses in under a week.  They want a good deal, but only want to do the repairs that they can do themselvs and usually want the more expensive repairs completed first before they buy - so do their lenders.

For the investor buyers, we want them to come back again and again and if we waste their time saying a house needs less in repairs than it actually does, they will not come back and look at the next listing.

Puffing up the listing just makes the listing agent look bad in the market place and if they do it enough the other listing agents may discount their listings and just stop showing them as they never live up to the MLS listing hype.

I particularly love the ones that have "newer carpet" and "newer paint" and when you visit the home it's the original paint and carpet from when the home was built 10 years ago.

These agents often help me win buyer clients and their loyalty. We get many "hits" on our website on properties listed with other agents that have misleading photos and/or descriptions.  Once prospects realize that we are going to help them sort through both the dogs dressed up as gems, and the overlooked gems that did not get the description or photos they deserved, we've added value and gained trust.  Of course, I work in a small enough market that between our agents in different areas, we pretty much know the entire inventory which helps us waste less time.

My MLS allows us to flag violatins of rules which may result in a fine to the listing agent. I routinely flag violators. It is bad enought that the general public reargds Realtors on the same level as car dealers! I recently emailed a listing to a client for a property listed at $325K as a short sale. I called listing agent to check on status of offers. He indicated the bank had approved the short sale at $415K yet he still hasn't changed the listing. He got flagged!

Randy,

I have ran into this situation A TON OF TIMES and I feel your pain and agree, if it acts like a duck, quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, IT IS A DUCK! Thanks for the post, hopefully some of these agents doing this read your post and decided to change their ways!

Hi Randy - It drives me nuts when "short sales" aren't disclosed in top part of MLS sheet and only in private remarks.  I know they can be difficult to sell but geez this isn't helping anybody! Plus MLS rules are supposed to dictate where the info appears on the sheet...not the banks...or am I wrong?

Be accurate. Document your source (i.e sf taken from public records). Take good photos, and lots of them.  Put your best foot forward, but dpn't mislead.

How hard is this standard of reasonableness?

You have to be straightforward and above all honest. Call a fixer upper a fixer upper.

I think some real estate writers of listings are frustrated back seat fiction writers!

TY

Thanks for that post, I totally agree. Having bought 8 properties in 4 different cities over the years, I've experienced all of what you describe as a potential buyer.

I also love when agents include "steps to (insert popular destination/beach/school here)", when it's in fact miles away!

I can say as a buyer when an agent has done that to me once, I never trust what their listings say again. I've also refused to list my home with agents who do business this way.

While working with my clients (ALL BUYERS) I find myself frequently, it seems, explaining what the listing agent actually meant in his listing.

We have to careful because of our code of ethics, but biting my tongue gets painful after a while.

Do listing agents that write misleading statements actually expect us on the other side to bail them out?

Just askin'

More great points.  Putting as many pictures as possible and quality ones would help a lot.  That way buyers could get a an idea oif the home.  Many of the agents with the phony condition are the same ones without pictures or old or misleading pictures.

I also see many with pictures of the beach instead of the home.  If the home were on the beach that may not be so bad.

My favorite picture is the one of the toilet with the seat up.  I am still not sure what that tells a buyer about the home.

Randy,

Great advice. I have a client that is only interested in Contemporary homes. I have him on automatic notice and you wouldn't believe the amount of homes he and I are sent that are Traditional style homes. Almost none of the homes we are sent are listed properly. 

How any realtor could think a Dallas or Traditional style home is contemporary I don't know. I have had to take him off of automatic notice and go through all the homes in his search one by one before I can send him any.

I think the one I love the most is when REO agents say that the home is move in ready, bring your pickiest client and everything is missing including the kitchen sink!

Valerie - I have also had to not use the automated search for several clients to filter out the bad information.

Monica - When the market changes, some of those agents will not do so well.

I can't imagine a "fixer-upper" in HI, to be honest.  Here, inclement weather is what really kills neglected homes.

Because we don't have bad weather, many older homes were not built well.  We also have termites that can literally bring down a home.

Ah, I forgot about the termites.  Are they big & bad on the islands?

Termites are small and wild.  It has gotten much better the last few years with all the colony elimination systems around the island.

"It's a wreck, but what the heck,"  that is my favorite line for a 'fixer-upper.' 

Congrats on featured post.

Mary - There are buyers looking for those.  Why hide it?