I have five buyers right now all looking for something similar.  Each buyer has their own little ticklers which makes them a little different from the other, but the MLS search is the same.  I’ll look at each new property that goes out to them and think “Oh they won’t like this one but Bob and Sue will”.  And vice versa.  One wants it move in ready, one wants medium work, one wants it barely standing, one needs a big kitchen, one is sensitive to mold issues and one wants room in the back to play with the children.

There are 96 homes on the market right now that fit their criteria.  I’ve probably seen 70 of them.  The rest are on busy streets (no one wants that) or impossible to show.  You know the one, show W or F 3-4pm only, 24 hour notice required, call LA for appt. and they never call back.  I haven’t seen those, which gets me to my point.

If I can’t find your home and I can’t see your home, I can’t sell your home.  And trust me, your home isn’t special enough for me to jump through all of those hoops.

This morning I had an email from a client.  They saw something on Redfin, could I show it to them.  It wasn’t on the MLS.  I went onto Redfin and there it was, with an MLS number that was foreign to me.  I wondered where it was listed.  After noodling around for about 15 minutes I found it.  It was in the Santa Clara MLS.  The Santa Clara county line is 50 miles south of this property!  The property had been on the market for 75 days and I doubt anyone from our area has seen it.  What a disservice to that client!  Can you imagine what they are saying about real estate agents?  The market?  I can hear it now “The market is terrible, no one has come by to see our home!”  And the time is ticking on their short sale.  It’s darned near criminal.  Imagine what they’re saying about real estate agents.  ”My house has been on the market for almost three months and no one has come to see it and now they want to reduce the price!

Before you list your property BE SURE that the agent is going to list your property in the local MLS so the maximum amount of potential buyers can see your home.  How can anyone buy your home if they don’t know it’s for sale?