Taos Real Estate

Most of us have heard the old saying "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." This applies a bit to the business of listing real estate. In particular, and in the Taos real estate market, let's look at vacant land listings. There is a great deal of "doing it the same old way."

Average days on market are more than they were a couple of years ago, inventory is up, and it's generally more difficult to get vacant land sold in today's market. This morning I was going through the MLS to pull land listings for a client to visit with me this weekend. He is a real buyer, as he's already written a purchase agreement on one property, though a deal couldn't be reached (that's another story for another day).

When I take a client to view land, I like to have the survey plat, any restrictions and the property disclosure with me. This is efficient, and it helps a buyer to form an opinion much more quickly about the viability of a purchase. This makes it even more difficult to understand why many Taos listing brokers do not place these documents online with the MLS listing. This allows the buyer broker to print them out and have them when showing the properties. 50% of the listings I will be showing this weekend had NO documents attached to the MLS listing.

True, I can call all of these companies, request that they fax me the items, and they may be able to do that. The question is whether there will be time, and how those documents will arrive after fax quality degradation. Many buyer brokers just will not bother, showing the land with just the listing data printout. The buyer, having a LOT of land to look at in a couple of days, may very well have several parcels that are acceptable to them. Their decisions could ride on the information they have in their possession this Sunday afternoon...when I'll not be able to reach most listing brokers with a question.

Almost all of the 22 properties we will view state in the listing that there are some type of restrictions or covenants. Yet, more than half of them do not have those restrictions attached to the MLS listing. We have had this technology ability in our MLS for a couple of years at least. It is a shame to see some sellers paying as much as 10% in commissions to companies that do not understand buyer motivations in a slowing market. If this buyer doesn't know if he can house his RV on one lot, but does on another, all things being equal, he'll not be waiting a few days while I try to locate that information for him.

I will serve my buyer customer to the best of my ability. However, I cannot provide what they need for decisions if it isn't where it needs to be. I have seen buyers make a decision between two desirable properties based on having full information in hand for one of them on a Sunday afternoon. Also, it's a matter of value for your money. Ask your listing broker to show you what "Associated Documents" they have attached to your listing, land or home.

Throwing it in the MLS, running an ad in the paper and waiting for the phone to ring is doing it the same old way. Using today's technology to present the property in the very best manner is no longer an option...it's a necessity if you want to sell it for your price.

photo credit: dsearls

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