"Coming soon" and "Exclusive" listings: who really benefits?
You may be noticing more and more listings coming out with
either a “Coming Soon” flag or sign on them or the qualifier that they are “exclusive
listings, ie “…so don’t miss out and
call me right away!” Do these types of
listings really benefit the seller, the buyers, the market place or the listing
agent?
“Coming Soon”:
A pre-MLS® listing announcement flagged when a seller and
listing agent wish to pre-announce that the property will be for sale soon and
if buyers are shopping the area they may wish to hold off on a purchasing
decision until they get a chance to consider their pending listing. Often, sellers are busily getting ready to
list and hope to be listing in a short period of time. Unfortunately, there are no rules around this
type of listing and we have seen “Coming Soon” signs on listings that don’t go
to MLS® for 3 or 4 weeks which certainly does not qualify as “coming soon” in
our definition.
Exclusive listing: valid approach or simply “call me
first-don’t lose out FUD”?
There are some valid reasons for using an exclusive listing
but most often we believe it is used in an attempt to generate some FUD (fear-uncertainty
and doubt) in buyer prospects where they do not want to miss out on a “hot new
listing”. Many agents will give the
impression that they have a whole lot of these hot new listings and you should be
signing up with them or your run the risk on “missing out.” Advertising or promoting these “pocket
listings” or “exclusive listings” is primarily for the benefit of the listing
agent and or helps them secure the listing in the first place. See our previous blogpost here on the
subject: http://www.oasisrealtyottawa.com/Exclusive_Listings_vs_MLS_Listings/page_2506349.html
Availability and Access is a big criterion:
If a Realtor is using the approaches above, they may simply
be controlling access to the listing and trying to generate buyer prospects
themselves. Is this really for the
benefit of the seller or the listing agent? (principal duty to client
obligations would suggest not but pretty much anything an agent can convince
their client of, is OK, legally…)
A listing agent who denies the public and other Realtors
access to a listing while they try to sell it themselves to their own customers,
is definitely not working in their seller’s best interest, in our opinion. No matter how active the neighbourhood Realtor
may be, they have a tiny, tiny portion of the buyers who are represented by the
other 3,100 Realtors in our Board and this is one of the many strengths of the
MLS® system.
Nabbed!
A few years ago we had a situation like this where a “For
Sale” sign was posted but when we called to book an appointment for a buyer
client we were told that showings did not start for several days. Independently, our buyer called to inquire
about the property and was booked to see the listing the same day we had
requested! When we called the brokerage
manager for the listing sales person, he closed ranks and said his agent had
done “nothing wrong”, knowing full well his listing agent had broken both the
MLS® rules and ethics rules by dealing with a client of another Realtor and
also by allowing preferential treatment to his own buyers over those of other
MLS® buyer representatives by controlling access to an MLS® listing.
While there are valid reasons for using both of this listing
tactics, there are just as many using them to generate more Realtor business and
try to create scarcity and fear of losing out which most Realtors on MLS® do
not do. The widest exposure and access
always yields the most buyers and the best demand and is therefore best for the
seller. This is one of the cornerstones
of MLS® after all.
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Gord McCormick, Broker of Record
Dawn Davey, Broker
Oasis Realty Brokerage
613-435-4692 oasisrealty@rogers.com
www.oasisrealtyottawa.com
@oasisrealtyOTT
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