Does Your Listing Pass Our 10-Point Checkup?

Use our 10-point checkup to keep your listing information properly maintained. This improves the quality, accuracy and effectiveness of the MLS. Incorrect information can impact your productivity – and your broker’s – if sales activity is not reported. Your clients may wonder why their home is still active on REALTOR.com because they thought they had a contract in place.

Did you:

1. Add Compensation Under Brokerage Information – Your listing should show the level of compensation offered to the selling agent, so there are no surprises. Remember, compensation can’t be conditional and must be based on gross sales price (not net sales price); a flat dollar amount; or a combination.



2. Use Complete Address Information – Make certain you enter the proper address for your listing. If another agent wants to schedule a showing for a client, they are going to need to know how to get there. (Not using the complete and correct address will result in the listing not be found in map-based searches, and plotted on the map.)



3. Select the Right Type, Design or Style – Entering the wrong information for a property hurts everyone: sellers may question your industry knowledge, and buyers may wonder why their agent is sending incorrect information. Additionally, different agents have different names for types, design and styles, so use our handy help to be certain you’re using the right terminology.



4. Follow Proper Guidelines When Entering Public Remarks – Information about you, your broker or office, commissions, showing instructions, HTML links or settlement companies should not appear in Public Remarks.



5. Get Permission Before Copying Listing Photos – The listing information - including photos – you enter into the MLS belongs to you, so no one can use it without your permission. At the same time, you can’t use another agent’s information without their permission.



6. Update Status – Make sure your listing’s status and price are current. Imagine the frustration of agents who try to show, or make calls or offers on a property which really isn’t active. Listing updates should be reported within 3 business days.



7. Enter a Listing Only Once (No Duplicate Listings!) – If you make a mistake, fix the existing listing instead of creating a new one.



8. Disclose a Potential Short Sale – Sellers will likely want to know if a property is a short sale, so TREND rules require you to disclose this information as soon as reasonably known by using the appropriate field in the MLS. The disclosure of short sale information is also required at settlement.



9. Check Your Agreement of Sale for Contingencies – When entering the agreement of sale information, have your agreement of sale handy. Your answers to questions posed by the MLS system when updating the listing should be based on what the seller can do today, and not what could happen in a month due to home inspections, financing issues, etc.



10. Report Settled Information – Your productivity, including year-end awards, is measured by the sales activity documented in the MLS, so it’s important to enter it accurately, including date, price and seller assist information. Make sure it’s right the first time to save yourself the time of correcting it later.

As you can see, you play an important role in the TREND community. By putting your listings through our 10-Point Checkup, you can ensure complete, accurate and timely real estate information is delivered to other members. It all starts with one person, you.