I think more transparency in the realty and mortgage industries would make for a more educated consumer, and that in turn would help people make more realistic housing and investment decisions, which would in turn help keep housing affordable as well as keeping people on an even keel financially.

Your blog and ones like it are a good step in the right direction towards sorely needed education about the process and pitfalls. Keep up the good work.

Thanks again for a nice conversation. I read lots of blogs, including Seattle Bubble and see your and other folks comments there and I know there’s a lot of anger out there. Some is justified, but I think some is aimed at people who don’t really have any control over the situation. We’re all just bozos on the same bus. Many agents in my office can’t afford their own home! If I could wave a magic wand and create more affordable housing, believe me, I would.

Thanks again.

I’m pretty confident that neither you, nor any other Realtor would want me as a client right now. Given how the market currently is, I either need to find a large bundle of cash underneath my wheelbarrow, continue saving for a couple more years, find someone willing to pay me twice what my current house is worth, or wait for the market to normalize a bit.

I’m pretty picky. I want a decent size house in a good neighborhood, with a yard that will fit my dog comfortably, not too far from the city, on a quiet street that won’t be too dangerous for my 4 cats and impending youngin’. Nothing fancy, just a short enough commute that my time is spent at home instead if I-5, and enough space that I don’t have to climb over more than 3 items when getting a drink of water.

That doesn’t seem like it should be an impossible thing to find, given we are two highly educated adults making a very good living and with a few hundy K to put down, but unfortunately it is.

The houses that start to come close to our basic wants and needs are 700-800K, and we just can’t afford that.

That doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense to me, but that’s the way it is.

I don’t think a Realtor would want to hold my hand for 2-3 years, so I am just keeping my finger on the pulse of the market to see of something changes for the better to make a move possible and find some desperately needed space for our crazy 8 oxygen breathers!

Thanks again for your time and explanations, Marlow.

Company: XXXXX Realty
Designated Broker/Branch Manager: Tom XXX
Agent: RonnieXXX

Rules Violated: Rule 1 (Listing Input Program), Rule 10 (Incomplete, Inaccurate Exclusives)
Summary of Complaint: Agent input two listings for the same property, but modified some of the information in the second listing to avoid calculation of the days-on-market and proper reporting of property history.

Penalty: $2,500 fine.

I’ve seen fines up to $10,000 for other infractions. I think those sums are high enough to discourage casual rule-breaking.

I think the reasoning behind the non-public disclosure of total ‘days on market’ is that SELLERS were our original clients and it was not necessarily in their best interest to have that just OUT THERE for everyone to see, even though we’ve always had that info available on the private MLS site.

It’s not a “deceipt”. Keybox and showing information is left out too, as is seller contact info, occupancy and other private remarks that may not be relevant, at least not relevant to the casual observer.

Again, Mr. Biliruben, another good reason to have an honest hard-working agent to give you good advice! The lure of a commission rebate may be false economy if you end up making a poor or uninformed decision. I’m not saying you can’t make yourself a good deal. I’m just saying that some agents DO bring value to a transaction, perhaps with neighborhood familiarity or with negotiation tactics or other skills.

But hey, thanks for taking the time to read my blog.

Good luck!

I had thought the definition of re-listing was listing again with a different MLS number. I thought then that total days on the market was defined by that.

I’ve heard that those with access to the MLS can look up the history of listings for a particular property, but didn’t think the entire history was added into the days on the market number across different MLS numbers. Very interesting.

So it’s not deceptive other to Realtors, just us regular schmoes who have to rely on sites like Redfin. I do see a bunch of houses with days on redfin up close to a year, but I guess you can make a listing that long.

Good info to know. Thanks again.

Oh, how big’s the fine?

I guess you’re right, it is POSSIBLE to pull a house off the market and relist it. But if there is no measurable reason for a termination and relist, and someone complains or the NWMLS notices, then that agent can get fined. And they do. Just last month, an agent who pulled a house off the market, reduced the price by a few bucks then put it back on, got fined.

On Redfin, you’re not looking at total market time. Those “days on Redfin” you see listed are not “days on market”. It’s literally just “days on Redfin”. At least days on Redfin under that listing number.

When an agent takes a listing, it’s for a time period, generally 90 days. When that listing expires, it’s necessary to re-list it. When it gets relisted, it gets a new MLS number. On the MLS website, the total number of days will show up. However on Redfin, it is only “day on Redfin WITH THAT PARTICULAR LISTING NUMBER”, not total days on market. That’s why it could look like you’re being deceived, but it’s just a technicality of the NWMLS. And, of course, this would underscore my opinion as to why you need a Realtor such as “Yours Truly”, to explain this to you! Why Redfin does not explain this on their site, I don’t know. But I’m happy to elaborate

Anyway, yes, some agents may TRY to cancel a listing and relist it. However, they cannot do it. That is, they can’t do it themselves. They can ask the seller to write a letter cancelling the listing. But the seller has to write a reason WHY it is cancelled. And then, if they relist it without SUBSTANTIAL CHANGES, it can be denied by the MLS. For instance, a simple price change would be denied. Even a BIG price change would be denied. But if someone took their house off for several weeks, remodeled the kitchen and then put it back on with a whole different description (because of the changes), then that might be ok. But it can’t be done by the agent, it must be done by the MLS and there are safeguards in place. A really dishonest person can get around them, but that’s probably the case in every field and in every venture.

Me, I choose to believe that most people are honest and most are acting in good faith. To believe otherwise would…. well, it would make my world a very unpleasant place to live.

How is it not possible? I can show you several recent examples I’ve noticed where the impossible has happened.

A realtor miracle akin to the re-incarnation of The King himself!

BTW, If you are up to the task of setting in motion some sort of official NWMLS shunning of the trasgressors (or is there actually some regulatory teeth, where Sainthood need be proven when miracles occur?), I’ll be happy to scrape up a little info for you on the particulars. They are pretty easy to find, however, and I’m surprised anyone with access to the MLS isn’t completely aware of the practice. Here’s one I noticed just today. It’s been on the market for months, but is listed on redfin as 8 days.

Perhaps “not possible” was too strong a word? Or maybe a loop-hole, like changing the price a few grand makes it suddenly “possible”?

Just a minor annoyance to me while looking for houses, but perhaps a Realtor might feel differently about the percieved ethics of their esteemed profession.

Nice idea on the Carnival, btw. Very entertaining.