Appraisers Look to NorthstarMLS for Madeline Island & Bayfield Comps
A well-known area appraiser contacted us last summer to learn more about recent home sales by Madeline Island Realty in LaPointe, Wisconsin.
The purpose of his contact email was to gather comparable sales for an appraisal in the Bayfield, Wisconsin area. He'd been searching on the SAAR (Superior Area Association of Realtors) MLS for sales in the immediate area and couldn't find enough suitable comparable sales there in order to support an appraisal.
I informed him that we upload our listings to NorthstarMLS in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, rather than using the Northwest Wisconsin MLS or SAAR. He asked why, and I told him that we found it made more sense to market and syndicate listings where our buyers come from.
As a point of reference, you may wish to read our blog post entitled "Not all Multiple Listing Services are Created Equal". I'm not saying that all Multiple Listing Services (MLS) do or do not offer the same features. Some are just a better choice than others when it comes to providing sellers with an advantage in the marketplace.
After I discussed our reasons for choosing NorthstarMLS with the appraiser, he asked me to add his appraisal company to our email list, and he requested that we send him information, including an MLS Data Sheet, for each sale that we have closed. And for the past four months, I have provided this appraiser with regular reports on our closed sales in the 54850 zip code area.
Comparable sales (referred to as "comparables" or "comps" by an appraiser, mortgage lender or real estate professional) are the lifeblood of the real estate appraisal business. Without suitable recent comparable sales data, an appraiser cannot reliably establish the marked value of homes and properties. Ask any lender and he/she will tell you that without comparables, there won't be any mortgage lending. This is especially true with mortgage loans that are purchased by secondary market lending institutions (FannieMae, FredieMac, and so forth). If a real estate deal hinges on an appraisal and there are no comps available, it doesn't take much effort to figure out if the deal will fly or not.
"No mortgage lending" may mean "no closed real estate sales". Without suitable comparable sales data, a lender probably won't make home equity loans, either. And if a seller needs to establish the market value of their home for estate purposes or divorce, that won't happen either without comparables.
Would you agree that the availability of comparable sales data is important? We think so.
If your appraiser (or another real estate agent) is stumbling around in the dark, looking at incomplete or insufficient data in an effort to come up with a market value for your home or property, maybe they're just looking in the wrong place.
So, if an appraiser or lender or consumer was searching for the most complete and accurate sales data available on Madeline Island, where might they be most likely to find that information? Our reply would be NorthstarMLS.
And which real estate brokerage firm in Ashland and Bayfield Counties is the only brokerage that publishes and syndicates all its property listings via NorthstarMLS?
If you want to speak with a real estate professional who has fingertip access to the most accurate and detailed market information on recent Madeline Island real estate sales, call us at 612.670.2539 or email MadelineIsland@Gmail.com.
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