Real Estate Blog - This is Real Estate not a Magic Show

Home : Blogs : Charlottesville Real Estate - Your Trusted Broker Charles McDonald : Charlottesville Real Estate Blog - Charles McDonald

This is Real Estate not a Magic Show

Magicians often hide things and make them disappear. This is certainly fun and exciting to watch. But with Real Estate if agents are hiding things it can be misleading to the public and even other agents.

Here is a quote from our Code of Conduct:

REALTOR Code of Conduct, Standard of Practice 12-10

... Prohibits REALTORS from manipulating listing content in any way that produces a deceptive or misleading result...

Here is the issue, In our local MLS we have a few agents who are “manipulating” listings to make them show up as a new listing.

One such technique is by withdrawing a listing and adding it back “cloning” with a slightly different address.

Magic tricks are great for Magicians, but REALTORS are Professionals and this is just “gaming the system”

Let's all agree to act like the professionals that we are!

Charles McDonald

Associate BROKER at RE/MAX Assured Properties, Licensed to sell Real Estate in Virginia

(main) 434-515-1585 (cell) 434-981-1585 (fax) 866-527-9526

Brought to you by that guy who sells Charlottesville VA Real Estate

Search for Charlottesville Real Estate 22901 or Search for Crozet Real Estate 22932 in one great place!

Posted by Charlottesville Real Estate - Your Trusted Broker Charles McDonald on 07/13/2009 07:51 AM

Comments (20)

Code of Conduct in the ActiveRain Channel

real estate code of conduct

Originally posted at: Charlottesville Real Estate: This is Real Estate not a Magic Show

This post has been included in Virginia Information
Post is included in group: RE/MAX Active Rain Bloggers
Post is included in group: Realtors®
Post is included in group: Diary of a Realtor
Post is included in group: America's Best Agents
Post is included in group: Addicted to Active Rain

20 Comments on This is Real Estate not a Magic Show

JUL

MRIS, the regional MLS in my area, makes this pretty difficult because much of the information is auto-populated from the tax record. (Not that it can't be done.) One way to start over the count of DOM in MRIS is to take it off the market and out of MRIS for 90 days, and I have recommended that to sellers over the winter months if their property has been on the market all spring and summer. But even then, we can run a history of the property and it will show up there.

MRIS is a little more stringent than CAAR. CAAR allows a over-ride of some of the data. We are certainly working toward stopping this but it would be nice if agents did not try to manipulate the system...

Yes, there are way to many agents out there gaming the system. Most all see right through it though.

Hi Charles! Unfortunately, that is a wide-spread issue--anything to get those DOM tickers to start over, they'll do it. Just as John said, we always check the archives anyway on a property that a buyer is remotely serious--this brings the playing field back to level when we do this!

Have a great week...

The other issue is that the "statistics" for a market are not correct and this can mislead on a greater scale than just one home...

Your local MLS needs to make it a finable offense! It mucks up the stats and gives that false information to the general public (which is an offense in itself.) Our MLS sent up, with our service provider, the use of "CDOM," cumulative days on market, so that it looks like this 75/225, which is DOM/CDOM if there has not been a 90 day lapse between listings.

I have seen an agent gaming the system here to get the house to come up as a new listing, they drop the price every 3 or 4 days... sometimes only $25. The DOM do not reset here until the 91st day... but as Debe said, the History shows all the activity for the past several years anyway.

wow that is pretty brave of them. Well I am sure what goes around - comes around. They will probably get caught eventually

Never mind the magic, Charles, I just need that rabbit's foot...

Charles, I can't stand when agents do that! I am in the same MLS area as Margaret and I have done the removal for 90 days as well. That is, therefore, a valid new listing. I have had to report SO many agents, though, for putting things in the wrong zip code on purpose to either 1) come up as a new listing or 2) because that zip code is "more desirable" or "sells faster" than the ACTUAL zip code. They just get a "you have a violation" notice and it is fixed. Supposedly after one they will get fined, but as these same people continue to do it, they must not be following through with it! GRRRRR!!!!! I'm with you! We have a CODE OF ETHICS for a REASON!

Well put, Charles. Lets leave the tricks for the magicians and do what we promised to do. We vowed to protect the public and not to mislead. Thanks, Jim

I am just going to say it...some agents just have the balls to do whatever THEY want to do. They are not honest and definitekly have no integrity. What gives?

Charles that rabbit may be helpful in the Announcing the "Nature & Marketing" contest

Charles Here in Northern Virginia our MLS has a system that minmizes an agent's ability to play that game, Karen

Charles,

There are always a few that must try to game the system no matter what...!!! Thanks, Fran

Our MLS is set up to avoid that but the other games they play are so unprofessional.

A great post, and very relevant for today's market. This is occurring more and more frequently.

Hi Charles, our MLS takes the address off the tax record so, they seem to have a better handle on tracking the days on the market. However, the listing agent may still end up putting the home in the wrong MLS area (perhaps choosing a more popular area). I think it is fair for a buyer to know the recent listing history -- most of my buyers ask with out any prompting from me. Thanks! John

JUL

Charles - Integrity, not everyone has it. Crazy the games that are played by some! Frustrating, isn't it?

Charles - I love that comment by John (Alexander-Slocum) about tracking the days on the market via the tax record. And I also agree with you, about professionalism. While some of these antics may be legal, they can be little more than trickery at times.

This blog does not allow anonymous comments