Comments on: MLS Data Accuracy – Should We Care?

By: Listing Square Footage — How hard can it be? | Seattle Real Estate ~ Rain City Guide

Tue, 27 May 2008 20:26:07 +0000

[...] footage thing, though, just isn’t that simple. It’s been talked about before (like here, and here), but today we were listing a new townhome, and as I evaluated the active comparables, I found that [...]

By: Jeff Brown

Jeff Brown — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 18:31:25 +0000

When the data is omitted it’s almost always because the agent is either lazy, incompetent, or just plain stoopid — with the 1% exception, human error.

>If the listing agent is doing his job, the photos will tell the story.

Kris, you have the uncanny knack for bringing out the dinosaur in me. If the listing agent is doing his job, and the assessor doesn’t list the square footage, HOW ‘BOUT THE #%$^&*@ AGENT MEASURING THE DANG THING HIMSELF!!

He can still say the most coveted word in all of real estate, ‘estimated’.

Here comes what I’ve feared putting in writing since I heard Dad say it last. “Why doesn’t the listing agent just do his job, and shut up.”

Good stuff, John.

By: John Lowe

John Lowe — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 17:37:50 +0000

Kris, thanks for highlighting a source for determining lot size, when not posted in the assessor’s records. The parcel maps have been my “source” for adding lot size data to my downloads. Irregular shaped lots are quite a challenge, I have to dust off my geometry books to perform some of the calculations! Good point on the need for human intervention and participation in the whole process, it is a definite opportunity for a value-added contribution.

By: Kris Berg

Kris Berg — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:27:03 +0000

Bravo, with one caveat. The square footage is not always available in the Assessor’s records. Here in Scripps, the neighborhoods of Tiempo and San Angelo fall victim to this omission. As a listing agent, I can have the title company do an estimated take-off from the parcel map, but it is just that – An estimate. If the listing agent is doing his job, the photos will tell the story. Searching by lot size, other than the broader categories (such as “more than .25 acres”) is inherently risky.

Regarding the neighborhood/complex name omissions, I am right there with you. It makes me nuts. Ditto with the property square footage. With number of sales being down significantly, one closed listing which omits square footage can throw off the price/sq. ft. statistics measurably.

Your post (perhaps inadvertantly) underscores the continuing need for a real, breathing individual in the transaction to help interpret. Total reliance on the “data” absent human intervention won’t always give you the real picture. It is great to set our clients up on auto-feeds, but that alone is not enough.