This is unreal!

We’re barely two weeks into the busy fall real estate calendar, and every day, I see dozens of brutal mistakes on MLS listings.

I picked a few – just from browsing MLS on Monday, to try and highlight just how a simple mistake on MLS can completely handcuff an otherwise hot listing…

Some of you may be quick to point out that not all MLS listings are uploaded by Realtors, as some of them are uploaded by office administators or assistants.

Well, I’ll be quick to fire back that whenever I load an MLS listing, I always have my admin save the listing as a worksheet, print a copy, and give it to me for editing.

I mean, isn’t that, you know – MY JOB?

Every day in a busy market, I peruse at least 200 listings, both new and old.  And every day, I see dozens of mistakes on MLS listings, some small, some big, and some that are pathetically obvious, but yet go uncorrected.

I’ll share a few of them with you – and these are just from Monday, when this blog post came to mind.

Remember that I have to black out the addresses and names for REBBA & Privacy Act reasons…

1) Square Footage

Have a look at this listing below, which is for a 1-bed-plus-den, 2-bathroom unit, about 700 square feet:

What did you notice?

Well for starters, they only listed three rooms!  Where’s the measurement for the dining room?  The two bathrooms?  The foyer?  The terrace?  Why not show the space of this condo?

But more importantly, the person who uploaded this listing clearly can’t use a calculator, and somehow messed up metres and feet.

Unless, of course, the living room happens to be 2,637 square feet…

2) “Levels, Jerry, Levels!”

Free coffee if you can tell me what that quote is from…

I see this all the time – condos are completely mislabelled as something they’re not:

This says “Multi-Level,” even though it’s all on one floor.

I see “2-Storey” and “3-Storey” as well when it’s just one-storey, run-of-the-mill condo.

It’s such a ridiculous mistake, and this property, which has been on the market for 67 days, has yet to be corrected…

3) Condo or Co-Op?

This is a major, major, MAJOR faux-pas!

It might be tough enough to sell your condo with all the other mistakes above and below, but what if your condo isn’t listed as a condo?

Here’s a screen-shot for results that showed up after searching “Co-Op,” but you’ll plainly see that two condos are listed – 85 East Liberty Street, and 80 John Street:

Buyers searching for condos on MLS will never find these condos, as they’re listed under “co-ops,” an thus won’t come up in the search results.

The agents who listed these condos just guaranteed that these units won’t get any showings.

The wrong click of a mouse, and suddenly you’ve shot yourself in the foot.

4) One’s and Zero’s

This is brutal.

Just like we saw above, where people searching for condos won’t find those two units, since they’re listed incorrectly under co-ops, the person who listed this house – with a 1-car garage, has put “0” under “parking spaces”:

Any MLS-searcher who insists on having a parking space will put “1” in the “min” field for parking, and since the person who uploaded this listing put “0,” this listing won’t come up as a result.

I shudder to think about the poor seller who is wondering why people don’t see the value in the home, when all the while, it’s because the listing agent has short-changed the property by about $30-$40K.

5) Camera Not Available

Does anybody still have the Nokia 5165?

This was my very first phone in 1998:

That phone did NOT have a camera.

But you know which phones DO have cameras?  ANY GODDAM PHONES ON THE MARKET TODAY!

So why then do properties get listed on MLS with no photos?

Have a look below, and let me know if you get the point I’m trying to make:

Okay, fine, the point was spelled out…..er, circled in red…

Do you think there’s a correlation between the 238 days on market for this property, and the lack of any photographs of the property for sale?

This is pathetic.  They could have at least uploaded a photo of two monkeys tickling each other or something.  I just don’t understand.

The next time you think about listing your condo with a company that charges $1, well…anyways…

6) “Panoramic” Is Not 90-Degrees

Panoramic is 360-degrees, by definition, right?

I had a chuckle at the photo for this listing, which said: “Magnificently Clear Panoramic Ocean Views.”

I see the following issues:

1) That view is not magnificent.  It’s a glimpse of the water, over a highway, through two other buildings.

2) The view isn’t clear.  See #1.

3) That’s not panoramic.  Panoramic would be a condo with north-west-east-south views in a condo that would have to comprise the entire floor of a building.

4) If you can see the ocean from this condo, I’d be really, really impressed…

.

Come on, folks!  Can’t we do better than this?

Ugh.  And this was just Monday…