The Disparity Between MLS & Realtor.ca There are two major issues that are on my mind, and as usual, one of these can be directly attributed to the questionable ethics of a fraction of Realtors out there…
Every day. Every single day, I receive at least one email from a client saying, “How about this listing – C102985,” or the client has provided a link to a property they’ve found on www.realtor.ca (formerly www.mls.ca), and the property turns out to be sold. Why? Because when you search on www.realtor.ca, you have access to the “public” website which is far from the same as the database that we as Realtors have access to every day. Sure, www.realtor.ca is essentially fed from our database at www.torontomls.net, but they aren’t in synch and this causes countless headaches. When a property is sold conditionally, it is updated on our MLS system to reflect this. But the same can’t be said for the public website where thousands and thousands of eager buyers search on a daily basis. Shrewd marketing on behalf of the Toronto Real Estate Board might say, “This is why you need a Realtor working on your behalf!” But personally, I’m wondering why we can’t do something to solve this ongoing problem.
It has to be somewhat frustrating and discouraging for buyers to surf www.realtor.ca and bookmark properties they are interested in, only to find out that they are all sold! Consider this – when a property is sold conditionally on financing and inspection of the status certificate, it is often conditional for almost two weeks. That means that a listing could come onto the market on Monday, be uploaded to the www.realtor.ca website, on Tuesday (it takes a day to get it up on the public site), be sold on Wednesday, yet remain as “available” on www.realtor.ca for another fourteen days. Notice that four out of the seven listings say “SC” for sold conditionally. I have access to this information, but the public doesn’t. I know, each day that I see these same listings on the MLS system, that these properties aren’t available. But the public just sees seven condominium listings, all “available for sale.” Most of my buyers are incredibly discouraged and saying “Everything is selling! Everything is sold!” I don’t know how I can blame them, given the current system we work under… But I have an even bigger problem right now with underhanded tactics used by shady agents out there. Here is my complaint… I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to book a showing for a property available for lease, and the receptionist at the listing brokerage either says, “That property has been leased,” or “Sorry, no more showings on that property.” I often check back a week or two weeks later, and the properties are still up on the MLS system. Why? And just what is my conspiracy theory? Picture the following: You’re a Realtor – a very poor one. You have very little business, and you want to drum up some clients fast! You list a property for lease, and once you successfully lease it, you simply leave the listing on MLS. Leaving the property on MLS means it stays on www.realtor.ca, and this will generate plenty of inquiring phone calls from the general public. When you receive these cold calls from the general public, you’ve got the conversation down to an art form: “Which property? Oh, I’m sorry, but that unit has been leased…..what are you looking for….how can I help?” Bam! Instant client!
You tell the inquiring person on the other end of the line that the property she’s calling about has been leased, but you tell her about four more similar properties within the same building. The next day, you take her to see these properties, and you lease her one. You make some money, and think “I’m gonna keep doing what works!” I suspect that this is very common amongst a certain group of our 28,000 Realtors in the GTA. I know which type of person they are, and which brokerages they generally work for. But I have to stop short of disclosing that… I honestly can’t tell you how many properties I see on the MLS system that have been there for 122 days. Try and book a showing for the property, and the answer will be “Sorry, no more showings on that property.” What does that mean? No more showings. If there are no more showings, then take the damn thing off MLS! The other day, I tried to make an appointment for a townhouse at 3 Everson Drive at Yonge/Sheppard, and the receptionist told me “Sorry, no more showings.” I asked her to please page the listing agent so I could speak with him. The listing agent called me, and I asked him why the property is still on MLS when there are no showings allowed. He answered my question with a question: “Why the hell do you care?” I told him that I obviously had a client interested in 3 Everson Drive, and I wanted to know why his MLS listing was on MLS if it wasn’t available to show. He simply said, “You can’t show it. It’s not available to show. That’s all I can tell you.” So I challenged him – I said, “Then take it off MLS, now!” He said, “Thanks for the advice,” and hung up. There is no doubt in my mind that this agent is fully intent on leaving this listing up on MLS indefinitely, and soliciting cold calls from the general public as they view the property on www.realtor.ca. This tactic is providing the agent with a steady stream of leads that he can try and turn into buyers. He’s getting clients! Take this a step further, and there are the properties on MLS that actually state in the Broker’s Remarks “No More Showings.” These properties are listed for sale on the MLS system, but they say “No More Showings.” Man, I wish I could say who this is! But I can’t…
The Active Listings Real Estate Board actually has rules in place regarding showings, and listing a property on the MLS system and not allowing showings is vehemently against the rules! In fact, if you were to suspend showings over Easter weekend for a period of three days, the rules dictate that you actually have to remove the listing from MLS! Try telling this to the hoards of agents who have what I call “fake listings” on MLS for a half-year at a time. As Realtors, we are encouraged to rat out our colleagues by emailing dis@trebnet.com, but I honestly don’t see the point. There are too many shady agents using too many underhanded tactics to ever start cracking down on them. It’s times like this that I see the comparison of the Realtor to the used car salesman. Shady, untrustworthy, gleamy-eyed, and just looking for the next sale; the next fix…..like some sort of addict. The key to success in this industry is to build your business for the long term. Realtors who are always looking for a quick buck from an unsuspecting buyer or lessee will never have a steady business, and will ultimately fail. But where those Realtors fail, there are hundreds waiting to take their places…