AHA! I learned something new that can help homebuyers.
Recently, at an open house, I asked a woman how she had found that the house was open. This is something I do to find out where I should be advertising. The woman told me she had found it on my company web site. Great! That's one site that's working to give the people the information they need.
The woman signs up to search, and keep track of available properties, through my website using the benefit of my paid up license. Then she says, "Oh, but I check all of the companies because I want to see all of the houses." What? It had never occurred to me that people do not realize what the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is and how it works.
A long, long time ago, there were no computers. Each agent would get a "book" of flyers containing the current listings. If you wanted to show your buyers another agents listing, you would have to call that agent to make arrangements. Imagine back when there were no cell phones. The listing agent would have to make arrangements with the seller and coordinate with you and the buyer to get the home shown. Could take days or longer!
Here are the most frequently used status changes:
Pending: means that an offer has been made, the sellers have accepted the offer and we are now probably waiting on inspections.
Contingent: means that an offer has been made and accepted but we are waiting for a contingency. Perhaps the buyers need to sell their home first.
Sold: means that the home has sold and closing has occurred. MLS will have the sale recorded before the tax records are updated.
Expired: means that the home was listed for sale at one time but did not sell. Either the sellers received no offers or did not accept the offers they did receive. This home is no longer for sale. The contract between the seller(s) and the realtor listing their home expired.
BackUp: This means that the sellers have received and accepted an offer, but if someone wants the home, they can make an offer and, if the present contract fall through, the back up offer will come up next. If there is more than one, the sellers will choose the offer they perceive as being most favorable to them.
Temporarily Withdrawn: means that the home was listed for sale but has been taken off for a day or a week or whatever time the homeowner(s) have specified. This can happen with a sudden illness or accident. Also, this sometimes happens when the owners decide too repair something or get new carpet. The home will go back on MLS as Active when the situation has resolved.
Active: this means the home is listed for sale.
So, the moral of the story is that All Realtors in Kansas City put All homes for sale on MLS (with few exceptions) and Your Realtor can Show You Any Home For Sale in Kansas City! Even the ones that aren't on MLS! Checking with 10 different realtors at 10 different companies is a waste of your time when we have systems in place specifically built to save you time.
Search homes for sale in Kansas City.
Thanks for reading!
Maria Morton
