As an Exclusive (true) Buyer Agent since 1996, I have had to consistently deal with the false manipulation of real estate statistics by real estate agents that is often encouraged by our local real estate board and multiple listings service (MLS).  Recently the “days on the market” (DOM) statsitic has been in the news lately because multiple listing services in other parts of the country (for example, Southern California) are debating on removing DOM from reports that home buyers view.

 A quote from the SoCalMLS (Southern California Multiple Listing Service) online newsletter, “the bottom line is that you, the real estate professional are in the best position to explain to your customer-buyer or seller-what the true DOM figure is and what it means”.  Part of this quote is true, you need to use an exclusive buyer broker that you trust to help explain the pros and cons of ALL real estate statistics.  But one thing I’ve learned from being a buyer broker is that you have to be able to “read between the lines” or “filter out the garbage” when disseminating information. In my opinion,  the MLS systems and real estate boards will ALWAYS favor the Seller, and not the Buyer or the consumer in general.  The above quote from the SoCalMLS is a perfect example of what I am talking about.  It does make sense to have a qualified, experienced agent help explain the DOM statistic to a Buyer or Seller.  So, WHY hasn’t this been SoCalMLS policy from the beginning?  Isn’t it strange, that they now want to implement this change in a slow real estate market that is now cosidered a BUYERS MARKET?   In my opinion, the real estate boards feel that the depressing DOM stat is making it harder to sell homes in this slow market.  Why are their so many people out there that have their heads so far up there $%&*@#.

I agree that many times consumers are “bombarded” or overloaded with a lot of information and statistics.  Sometimes the information and statistics are meaningless.  But the solution to the problem is not to limit, delete or “hold back” information from the consumer. The best type of market for any industry is where the products, services and information are totally open and available to all consumers.  That’s my opinion!

HomeBuyer Advocate Mike
 

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