Some Rules Need to Be Broken!

I'm basically a law abiding citizen.  I stop for stop signs.  I yield when it says yield.  I abide by the MLS rules and regulations . . . but that doesn't mean I have to like the rules!  There's a new St. Paul listing coming my way which is a unique property near Como Lake.  It's been very nicely updated, is in a high demand geographic location, and sits on 1.5 city lots.  The dilemma is this property's best use is as an owner occupied property, but it's a legal duplex and must be listed in the duplex category of the MLS, not the single family category. 

Before the technological age, one could duplicate a listing like this, one listing in the single family and one in the duplex category.  It would never be found.   Today, that is not only against the rules, but it will be caught.  Programming has been established by the MLS to ferret out properties whose listing categories do not match their tax records description.  When the conflict is discovered, the listing agent can be fined if they do not immediately remove the listing from the wrong category.

In this case, the listing will be placed in the duplex category thereby narrowing the pool of buyers significantly.  Buyers who might love this house as a single family home will not even see it because it will not be in with other single family homes.  Not only will that extend the time on the market significantly, but it will also increase the time and monetary cost of advertising using other means.  Flyers will have to be distributed to each listing company with a catchy headline that will encourage agents to bring single family buyers; mailings will have to be done; more paper ads will need to be generated; more open houses held; more internet exposure; and more creativity will have to be expended.  It will be like the good ol' days when listings were sold by word of mouth!

Comments

[Norm Fisher]

Is it okay to list a condo or a mobile home as a single family home, so that more people will see it? I understand your challenge but I really wish my board was better at this. I'm a stats nut and it drives me crazy and takes a long time to straighten out the stuff that's improperly categorized. :)