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| Anatomy of a Listing |
There are no hard and fast "rules" to which agents adhere when they are writing listings for inclusion in the MLS or for a property's flyer. Nevertheless, there is a sort of recipe of informational ingredients you should expect to see when you pick up a flyer or see a listing. Generally, the listing agent's description of the property will include the following basic information:
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A photo and/or a map. (Some agents don't manage to get a photo onto the listing. This may dissuade you from seeing it, but if it otherwise meets your criteria, ask your agent to check it out for you. Some of the best deals I've gotten for clients were in cases where the lack of a picture kept the competition down.);
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The property address;
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The list price (the price the seller is asking);
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The property type (see below);
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The number of bedrooms and bathrooms;
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The building's size and the lot size, both expressed in square feet;
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Major, unusual terms - good and bad (e.g., Seller needs to stay in the property for two months after close of escrow, Seller will include all appliances);
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Major, unusual disclosures (e.g., a $50,000 termite repair estimate, a recent death on the property);
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A general description of the property's amenities and features - in most areas, the MLS will require that agents complete fields relating to certain features in an effort to guarantee some minimum level of information across the board. These will differ by area, though, and some agents still manage to check "Other" or "None" for every field! When they do, the listing will look like a whole bunch of nothing, and if you want to learn about it, your agent will have to call and get the details from the listing agent by telephone;
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Selling points, or anything that the listing agent knows will make the property more attractive to buyers, including:
- Upgrades and updating that have been done to the property's roof, flooring, paint, climate control, plumbing or electrical systems, kitchen or bathrooms (these are so reliably included in the description that you can generally assume that they don't exist if they are not listed);
- Neighborhood or community amenities (e.g., near public transportation, near popular shopping district, school district is top-rated, etc.);
- Favorable lot characteristics (e.g., views, yard size, etc.);
- Whether property is in a homeowners' association (HOA)or other planned unit development, and applicable dues, if any.
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