Thursday, March 27, 2008

Another Sign of the Times

Went to do my normal screen scrape today on the http://www.metrolistmls.com/ site, and found some very interesting changes. In the "status" column which used to just tell if it was pending, or if there was a release clause.......we now have an expanded list of terminology:

  • AR indicating the property is Active w/Release Clause ,
  • AS indicating the property is Active and a Short Sale,
  • ASC indicating the property is Active and a Short Sale with a Contingency,
  • AC indicating the property is Active with a Court Approval requirement and
  • ACC indicating the property is Active with a Court Approval requirement with a Contingency.
  • PSB indicating the property is Pending and accepting back-up offers.

One other positive development, they have stopped indicating that someone is using a discount agent. (Really, why should it matter to a prospective buyer what agent a seller is using. I think its was just the Realtors way of discriminating against those who threatened their lucrative business model).

Another note on the screen scrape.....I have stopped tracking all but the basic statistics these days. With over 150 listings, I don't have the time or desire to keept track of the details anymore.

16 comments:

AgentBubble said...

They made quite a few changes to our MLS...All are good in my opinion. My personal favorite is cumulative days on market...They're also making it easier to track REOs and short sales.

As for the discount agent thing, can you tell me what you are referring to?

Buying Time said...

I think Metrolist used the terms like "limited service" or "MLS listing only" to indicate that sellers were not using a traditional agent.

DOJ filed a lawsuit a while back because many of the local listing services would not take discount broker listings. I believe it is still ongoing in some locations.

AgentBubble said...

Oh, that...That actually is not a discount agent reference. It's defining the type of listing that exists. It's still being used, but under a different name. It's now called Level of Service. We used to have Limited Service and MLS Entry only as you pointed out, which was very confusing to a lot of people. Now, it's just Limited Service, Restricted, or None of the Above.

Now, as for why it doesn't refer to a discounted brokerage being used. At times, some sellers only want a broker to put a sign up and enter the listing into MLS, and they will handle the rest. Or the sellers will not want any open houses, advertising, etc. This is what is referred to as a Limited Service listing. I've seen top producing agents working for top producing offices take these listings. At the same time, I've seen Joe Bloe Realty take them as well. It does not imply that the agent representing the sellers works for a discount brokerage. It's just means the sellers/agent have an agreement where the sellers are taking on some of the duties the agent would typically do, and in return, the agent is reducing his/her share of the commission. So in this case, he/she is discounting the commission, but is not a discount brokerage...Clear as mud right?

G Spot1 said...

This rocks. I love the short sale designation. Now I can stop scratching my head saying "Why hasn't that home gone pending yet at that price?"

smf said...

Well, just like I said. Now there is more proof of what is happening.

Check this out:

MLS #80030125

Used to be for sale at $595K. Then it was foreclosed.

Last I saw, it was sold for $505K just a month ago.

Now back on MLS at $554K.

Here we have those 'savvy' investors at it again.

Buying Time said...

Agent Bubble -

Could you provide more info on what a contingency would be?

AgentBubble said...

Good question BT, as I had to call and find out myself because I was unclear as well. We have the following active statuses now:

[b]Active[/b] - Normal listing.

[b]Active Release Clause[/b] - it's active, but awaiting a release clause from a prior deal

[b]Active Short Sale[/b] - Short Sale with approval from the bank at a certain price/terms.

[b]Active Short Sale Cont[/b] - Short Sale without approval from bank, so it's contingent on bank approving purchase price and terms.

[b]Active Court Appr[/b] - Court approved sale (probate for example)

[b]Active Court Cont[/b] - Sale that will is contingent on court approval.

Now for some bad news...In order for a short sale to show up as a short sale, the listing agent must first enter the house as an "Active" listing, then go back in and modify the listing to "Active Short Sale" or "Active Short Sale Cont". I've seen several new short sale listings in MLS today that are not listed correctly (they just show active). This is going to affect the true number of short sales in MLS. We do have a new field called REO, which is nice...Again, the GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) principle applies...

Anonymous said...

can someone like me who is not a realtor get access to the metrolist mls?

... said...

public site:
www.metrolistmls.com

Same data through sacbee.com, reformated.

many of the others use this data directly and reformat it...trulia, zip, etc.

Buying Time said...

Thanks AB.

Sorry Sactia, my bad. I typed in the link wrong. Refresh your screen and try the new one.

If it doesn't work....try

www.metrolistmls.com

Anonymous said...

Thanks! I've been using a collection of lousy sites.

Anonymous said...

So if a listing is "AS" that means what? The reason I ask, is that I made an offer on one that is now showing up as "AS", and I'd like to know to a certain extent what to expect.

Jacob said...

It means it's a short sale.

Not many close. The bank must approve and since most people have a 80/20, the second lender must approve. And since the house is likely selling for more than 20% off the second lender gets nothing so no incentive for them to approve the deal.

AgentBubble said...

Well, the incentive is that if the home is foreclosed, the second lienholder will get nothing. Most 1st lienholders are offering something to the second, although it's often 10% or less. But, that's almost always better than the alternative.

... said...

Said that in not so many words before.

So the short sale effectively is not really inventory as it is not ready for market..... got to pay or let it go to foreclosure - 6-12 months before being sold as REO typically.

In places like Antelope and ELk Grove, could be 1/3 of the inventory..... but its not really accessible..... so the # months inventory is effectively less than you think... by 1/3.

erin@erinstumpf.com said...

Hmm...looked at 80030125. According to the tax records, a Trustee's Deed was recorded a month ago at $505,800 (went back to the bank). It is now on the market as an REO. Not listed by a flipper.