Reading Between the Lines of an MLS Listing

Do you remember the first MLS listing your agent gave you? Was it somewhat confusing? There's a lot  of information on those data sheets. Realtors are accustomed to looking at them, but when you begin to look at houses, those MLS sheets look like a lot of gobbledy-gook. There are a few things to take note of right away, and you learn where that information is on the sheet pretty quickly, but there is also lots of information that almost seems hidden if you don't know what you are looking for, or should be looking at.

The first thing your eyes will be drawn to is the picture, of course. Then you'll see the price, and some particulars on the house, such as total number of rooms, how many bedrooms, and how many baths. Lesser known information that is on the MLS home sheet is the annual property taxes, property assessment, school information, and room features, besides the biggie, which is how long the home has been on the market. In our area, hidden in plain sight on the listing sheet  is  "MT 145", and unless your agent told you where it was, and what that meant, you probably wouldn't know. It means The Market Time on that house is 145 days.

Another very important thing to look at is the listing agent remarks. There are MANY subliminal messages here, and they ring true the vast majority of the time.

I'm going to ask you to look at the remarks on that listing in a different way. Think of yourself as an agent, and if you know that these remarks are  THAT important to help sell the house, it would behoove you to point our the finer features of the home in this section.

I don't care how lazy an agent might be, or how busy that agent might be, they still want to sell that house.  There are only so many alphabetic characters that an agent is allowed in this section, so its important that nothing is redundant. As a real estate agent, you would want to make sure that you have everything covered, right? Of course, you would.  So when you look at the remarks section of a listing, and there is redundancy, what should that indicate? There may not be any great things to say about that house, because the agent could't even fill up a small area of advertising space with anything other than what's already on the listing.  And another thing while we're on the remarks section- if all the MLS says is how great the neighborhood is,and nothing about the interior of the house, you can pretty much expect that the house may need some cosmetics.

Yes, I think you can tell I am passionate about my work.  I want the very best for my clients, whether they be buyers, or sellers.  Even the most seemingly minor details to someon else are very important to you when it comes to your  biggest investment. I'm always happy to share my knowledge, and help my clients  in the very best way that I know how. So when you're ready to buy or sell  real estate in Fairfield County, CT , I'm honored to help you, and eager to assist. :)