When you’re interviewing brokers about listing your home or land, don’t overlook asking them what documents and information they’ll be gathering to market your property. Again today, one of my buyers had a common and logical question before making an offer on a land parcel. The listing broker, even though the property has been on the market for many months, had no idea who owned an adjoining land parcel, or what could be built there.

It can be argued that it is my job as the buyer’s representative to get this information, and I will. The point is that buyers usually have more than one property under consideration. When unknown factors make one appear to be a riskier purchase, they can just purchase another. This is true in slow or fast markets. When it’s slow, buyers are more picky, perceiving that they have more bargaining ability. In fast markets, they feel pressure to lock up their desired purchase. Either way, incomplete information that they need is a negative. This is the type of information that should be readily available along with the survey plat and attached to the listing in the MLS. Making it easy on buyers is part of the job of the listing broker. Putting obstacles and unanswered questions in front of a buyer is unnecessary and can cause them to move on.

When I list a property, it is important to me to leave no likely questions unanswered in the listing documentation. I want the buyer and their broker to have access to this information 24/7, whether I’m available or not. And, the question of adjoining property ownership is asked every time I take a buyer to a property, particularly land. A vacant piece of land in Taos could end up with a variety of structure types, as it may be totally unrestricted, even when next to a property with excellent restrictions and covenants.

Something sellers rarely do would help to avoid this problem. Once your property is listed, have the broker give you access to the listing as a full detail display with associated documents in the MLS. If you don’t see information there that a prudent buyer would want, then they aren’t doing their job. Unless there is a significant discount of commission, you should expect a complete and detailed listing.

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