Dear Listing Agent: Hi there, I'm one of the 20,000 or so agents in the Chicagoland area. I list and sell homes in St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia and Wayne. I have a new buyer who might like your listing in Mill Creek, Geneva. 

So why I am writing to you today? My buyer sent me a list of homes to see this weekend, as well as a description of a yellow house in a particular neighborhood they saw when they were out driving around. It couldn't find it in the mls so I drove over there to solve this mystery. I found the house, so I pulled out my Droid phone to bookmark it on the bairdwarner.com mobile app and....nope, no house there. Pulled out my iPad and checked on the Realtor.com mobile app...nothing there, either. 

I wrote down the address and headed back to the office. I pulled up the house on a regular pc. Found it! The house looks pretty nice and isn't priced too bad, but it's been on the market over 300 days. How have I missed this house, I wonder? I write regular market reports on this community!

Then it dawns on me. To pull listings in this neighborhood I use a saved search that I created with the rubber band mapping feature. Subdivision name is not a mandatory field for our mls, so most agents use this map feature when they pull up listings. Your listing, Mr. Listing Agent, is geo-coded to show up over 20 miles away in Arlington Heights. Any real estate site that presents it's search with a mapping feature shows houses based on it's geo code. A mobile device will not show the house even if the buyer is sitting right in front of the house. 

Over 30% of all real estate searches are now being done using a mobile app. The Droid and iOS apps for Zillow.com, Realtor.com and Trulia.com all present listings on a gps-based search. On a PC or Mac, most real estate sites present listings on a map. 

It's too bad for your seller. There they sit, all dressed up and ready to sell, but a whole bunch of buyers can't find the house.  I found this helpful info in the mls. Take a look, it's in a link right on the front page: Why Your Listing Is Not Displaying On Map Searches. For those not in our mls, the instructions are very clear that the listing agent is responsible for making sure that the house maps correctly.

So Mr. Listing Agent, best of luck in selling this Mill Creek, Geneva home that the real estate world thinks is in Arlington Heights.

This post was written by Leslie Ebersole of Baird & Warner Real Estate.
Use or reproduction of the material published on this site is expressly prohibited
without the express written permission of the author.

 

FOX VALLEY LIVING

 

My Email leslie.ebersole@bairdwarner.com

My Mobile (630)945-7935

 

89 Comments on Dear Listing Agent: Your Listing is in The Wrong Town

20 Most Recent Comments Displayed Show All

FEB
22
2012
106,027 Points Outside Blog

I've seen the wrong photo on a listing, but never the wrong address.  
8:39am • #70
587,503 Points 106 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

First, the number of techie devices you listed made my head swim. I'm glad I write for a living and don't have to have/use all those things - because I'd probably have to hire a tech assistant to accompany me everywhere.

Maybe that poor home seller will get lucky this week-end - and your buyers will decide that yellow house is the one for them. Wouldn't that be nice, after sitting for nearly a year without being noticed?

 
8:51am • #71
507,697 Points 57 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp Called Shot Master

I called an agent on this very thing the other day. (Well that, and their gross mis-advertising that there is a tenant in place in the condo producing positive cash flow...and leasing permits DO NOT TRANSFER WITH A SALE) But, she also had it listed about 8 miles from where it should be, based on the Area Number. I like you have searches set up by price, building, etc, etc. and this never showed up.

GET THIS....now she is hounding me about my Buyer and sending me emails. Good Grief!

But, remember, WE ARE professionals!

 
8:55am • #72

Makes sense. Whenever posting something - even a modest response on ActiveRain - by all means, test it.
9:28am • #73
Attended Rain Camp

Our MLS just updated its platform and now there's a much more useful mapping feature. However, it also shows just how many listings are incorrectly mapped and show up miles and miles away from where they really are. Just goes to show you that you really do need a level of technical expertise in the modern market.
10:35am • #74

That happens here a lot, too - wrong or missing geocode, so the house on the market across from your listing just doesn't show up.  Reflects poorly on real estate "professionals".

But hey, now that YOU know you can bring buyers and maybe get a better price out of the seller because they've been on the market for so long?  Or would that be a violation of the code of ethics - not letting them know their agent is a ^*&% (fill in the blank yourself, based on the kind of day you're having)?
11:22am • #75
136,046 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Funny story Leslie.  I had that happen to me once and it was the agent's own home!
12:20pm • #76
548,816 Points 9 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Leslie:

Our MLS has this feature.  If out of town agents are not familiar with the features they can easily click on the entry site which will show a map with associated codes.  We also have a correction button on the MLS which agents can click to tell the MLS they think there is incorrect information on the listing.  I am constantly clicking the correction button when I find listings entered into the wrong area.  I do it because it affects the comps I use to price a new listing.
1:42pm • #77
702,682 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

I saw that notice the other day, so I guess people are just not getting it. Sellers are the ones that are paying the price of ignorance.
3:33pm • #78
166,997 Points 1 Featured Post Attended Rain Camp

Our MLS has a violation button for just about ANYTHING Wrong with a Listing.  I declare myself QUEEN of the WRONG BUTTON!!!

Houses with a picture that is not the house! Wrong AREA MLS Code.  Wrong Zip.  Wrong City.  Some of my favorites are wrong Agent phone number and to top it, Agent Voice mail full and CANNOT ACCEPT MESSAGES.

YET - I am REQUIRED TO SPEAK TO YOU/AGENT To Show - Said Listing!  

I think I need a VACATION since my "ABLE TO TOLERATE LEVEL" is waning!  Joy
6:02pm • #79
413,712 Points 88 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master

I thought this was a problem with a couple of our suburbs in the far western reaches of the Chicago area, and dodn't know that this might be a problem in other areas. I think we all need to "raise the bar" on the quality and integrity of our listing data.
7:52pm • #80
FEB
23
2012
293,052 Points 3 Featured Posts Outside Blog Attended Rain Camp

Wow, I haven't seen that yet, what a sad story for the seller. over 300 days and not even in the right town! This agent must not have sent a copy of the marketing material to the seller. That's a huge disservice.
5:37am • #81
413,712 Points 88 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog Called Shot Master

I made a call to our mls help desk yesterday and was reminded that we have a "Report a Violation" flag. I thought that was for more issues that were intended to be deceptive....like room count or using another agent's photos. I suppose any incorrect info is a violation, I just hadn't thought of it that way,
6:30am • #82
179,682 Points 1 Featured Post Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Leslie, Wow! I haven't seen this one before. Although I have seen the houses placed on the wrong place on the map. That can be an issues since many of us use those maps to put our showings in order or sometimes homes look closer to roads than they are. Fortunately, I don't see a ton of those issues.
9:08am • #83
499,366 Points 13 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Hi Leslie, I see wrong town, wrong subdivision and wrong County!  Don't get me started on directions! lol
3:42pm • #84
FEB
24
2012
 Great reminder I always find misplaced houses. I have recently seen reminders on our mls.
7:39pm • #85
FEB
25
2012
485,014 Points 5 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Called Shot Master

I hope you used the report violations button. It's a really quick way to help the seller out, even if the agent doesn't. I often use it. I believe it's anonymous too.
1:20pm • #86
FEB
26
2012
187,180 Points 7 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Okay, I will admit to not being kind.  I drove past a house in a neighborhood and it had not come up on the MLS during my area search.  I went back to the office and sure enough, it came up on a radius search but was listed in a subdivsion about 10 miles away with a similar name.  It had been on the market for about 12 days and there had been no interest.  I showed it to my buyers and we went to contract and closed.  Never did say anything to the other agent.  Who knows what location she will list her next home in.
8:55am • #87
MAR
19
2012
237,419 Points 9 Featured Posts Outside Blog Called Shot Master

Oh wow.  That is so unfortunate for those sellers!  What a bummer. -Kasey
8:36pm • #88
OCT
23
237,916 Points 5 Featured Posts Called Shot Master

I was doing comps on a house and there was a house just down the street. I could not find it in the MLS. Of course there were no flyers to get a ML#. After quite a bit of research I found that the map coordinates were wrong. I let the present listing agent know. The house had been for sale for over a year and a half. She, and the Realtor before here had just copied the original information. After she changed the map coordinates, the house sold in 2 months!
2:17pm • #89

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