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What’s different about Phoenix real estate?
By: Michael Wurzer,
flexmls.com
Posted: Monday, October 8th, 2007, 11:55 am MST
Category: Conversion
I know there are lots of questions about the flexmls Web system, but we have a few questions, too. We have a rule of thumb called the 90-10 rule at FBS, which says that focusing on 10% of the data fields or functions in a conversion will solve 90% of the problems or concerns of users, if we choose the right 10%. So, with that in mind, we wonder what is interesting or different about Phoenix real estate that you can share with us?
Here are some examples of what we mean. When we converted the MLS in the Florida Keys, we learned that one of the most important fields for them is mile marker. Anyone want to venture a guess why? In certain places, square footage is a great way to compare properties. However, our client in Santa Barbara has no use for square footage at all. Rather, one of the key indicators of value in Santa Barbara is the type and extent of the view of the ocean.
So, what are the key fields in the Phoenix market? Other than the obvious (property type, status, price, bedrooms, bathrooms, etc.), what are the key search fields? What are the key fields for searching by location? What are the most important fields for making comparisons on CMAs for residential properties? What about the other property types? Again, these questions are designed to fill us in on what’s different about the Phoenix area that wouldn’t be obvious or apparent to an outsider.
October 8th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I can think of two:
Horse Property
Pool
The second is probably obvious, but perhaps the first isn’t.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
What a great question to get started with! We have a Scottsdale Area MLS Committee meeting tomorrow, and I KNOW that there will be input on this question. I can tell you the answers will vary quite a bit between residential, multiple units, commercial, and land, as we have already had some significant and spirited discusssions, and have agreed to defer until the vendor solution was determined.
October 8th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Thank you, Michael, for asking. But now I’m feeling kinda guilty coz no one but Steve Belt has jumped on your gracious offer with any answer at all. I’m having no problem coming up with a wish list for functions, but since I’ve never seen any MLS other than the one we have, I can’t think of fields in our database that are unique to our area. I’ll keep the question in mind as I create searches… And will get back to you with my wish list once we’ve had a peek at what you already offer. The mapping functions that Gary described makes it feel like Christmas in October!
October 9th, 2007 at 7:56 am
First of all, thanks to Dru for alerting me to this site!
As to changes I would love to see:
Lotsize
Upgrades
Community Facilities
Lotsize - although a searchable field, we have subdivisions with varying density. If you search a subdivision, or a geographic area, that has everying from 7,500 sf lots to .9 Acre lots, there is no distinction as to lotsize in the CMA. Inexperienced agents and their clients are poorly served, and larger lot properties priced right suffer.
Upgrades - don’t know how to get around this one. But once again, the price per sq foot on a CMA is useless(a stunning remodel on 3/4 acre as opposed to an ‘as is’ on small lot). OK, I’m not asking you to do ALL my work, just think there should be a column to alert as to a remodel or updating.
Community Facilities - second/vacation home sales is a viable market here and always will be - we need a search function to accomodate that niche - maybe like something hotel rating books do with the icons! Wow.
Thanks for listening!
October 9th, 2007 at 8:34 am
Throughout the past months of new system discussions, one of my main concerns has been the data migration plan for prospects and custom reports. As much as possible, as invisibly as possible, please.
October 9th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Dru, you raise a great question and concern. Converting prospects usually is relatively straight-forward. Converting the saved searches related to those prospects, however, usually is not, the reason being that the saved searches typically are not provided by the outgoing vendor and, even if they were, they typically are stored in a proprietary format that isn’t easily interpreted without a translation table from the existing vendor. The same would be true of custom reports, if not more so.
October 9th, 2007 at 11:30 am
Some search fields that may be more prominent in the Phoenix area than elsewhere might be (in addition to Steve’s input):
Golf course lots
Golf course subdivisions
Age restricted (55+) communities
Breaking down Steve’s “Pool” further: diving pool, play pool,lap pool, spa, even plaster and pebble-tec would be quite helpful.
With the abundance of HOAs here, it would be nice if we could search by HOA features such as: community pool, tennis, clubhouse, exercise facilities, hiking/biking trails, parks, etc (in addition to standard HOA items such as pets, fees, front landscaping, etc)
October 9th, 2007 at 11:44 am
Building on Steve and Jay’s pool comments, it would also be helpful to easily search for a private or a community pool in a single step.
October 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
It would be nice to have a search field for casitas, ones w/seperate entrances, full kitchens, laundry facilities, Bed and bath only, etc. I have more clients ask me to search for homes with casitas and this would be most helpful to narrow the search down rather than looking through the comments.
The other search field that would help immensely is views: Mtn, Desert, City lights, water, golf course.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
And building on Jean’s comment about views:
Lake Lot
Lake Subdivision
October 10th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
A whole new idea for the Phoneix market, but long overdue: separate categories for short term/seasonal rentals vs. standard/long term rentals. We have a huge seasonal rental market, but no method to differentiate these properties. The listings are left Active in the MLS, yet the property may have been rented for a week, a month or more. The only way we can tell is if the listing agent is concientious and puts the “already rented” information in the Realtor Remarks section, or if we call the listing agent before showing. This is difficult if you are using the Client Gateway to send clients new listings or e-mailing them available properties before showing.
October 10th, 2007 at 4:28 pm
Just re-read Michael’s question, and have another one to add: with Land/Lot listings, the zoning is critical to the value proposition.
October 15th, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Something that would help us a LOT - but would not make much difference for most members: because I have a large number of people who need to get into MLS under my name to enter listings, edit listings, change status, price, etc., knowing who is in MLS in my name is a bit of a problem. What happens now is if someone is in under my name doing something and someone else logs in the first person is simply kicked off.
Is there ANY way to have it “locked” for the person who is in? Where anyone else attempting to log in would not be able to get in, until the person who was already in was logged out?
October 17th, 2007 at 6:38 am
Russell’s comments raise the whole issue of teams and the management of information within a team and within the MLS. Are there other FBS users who have defined “rules” for team functionality that we could use to help shape our environment? Some examples of issues that arise frequently:
- There is no function to identify a team as the listing agent; therefore no way for any team member other than Listing Agent #1 to modify the data or be the contact point for information.
- If a second agent is listed as Listing Agent 2 for a property (in the current MLS system), that agent cannot modify the data under their own User ID (even though they are also responsible for the listing).
- Assistants must use the User ID and password of the listing agent to make changes (see Russell’s comments about being logged out if someone else logs on with your User ID).
This actually perpetuates far beyond the MLS - most third party vendors (virtual tour companies, print media, contact management software,on-line template-driven programs, etc.) don’t provide for a team concept either. If the functionality were available in the MLS, it would drive change throughout the industry.
October 17th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Russell and Sheila, flexmls Web includes quite a bit of functionality to help teams. Russell, your case is covered — each team member can have their own login and then be granted privileges to edit your listings and the history will reflect their name and not yours to preserve the audit trail. Sheila, your case is handled by creating a special “team” login that multiple agents can join. The “team” login is then the listing agent and each team member can access and edit the team listings from their own login and they also can have their own listings that the other team members cannot edit. In other words, team members can have both their own listings and team listings and the team listings are tracked under the team login, which can have it’s own contact profile.
October 22nd, 2007 at 7:22 am
That’s great! How do team listings get handled during upload to Realtor.com? For example, if my partner has Realtor.com expanded/enhanced listings, she must be listed as Listing Agent #1 for the listing to get uploaded to her expanded Realtor.com function. If she is shown as Listing Agent #2, the listing gets uploaded as a standard (unenhanced) listing. There are times when I have had the personal contact with the client and would prefer to get the calls, but we don’t want to have to pay for 2 enhanced Realtor.com sites, as we list everything together. We can “cheat” the system by putting my partner in as LA #1 for the first few days, then changing it after the upload, but this is a pain! In flexmls, how do the team listings (team login) get handled vis-a-vis Realtor.com?
October 22nd, 2007 at 9:54 am
I would love to be able to search on the following: Gated, Guarded, Golf Lot, Golf Community, View Fence vs. Block Fence, Adjacent NAOS, Community Center/Pool, 55+.
October 22nd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
Sheila, the team login is its own entity and so you could have the “enhanced” account on that login instead of the individual one. That being said, I’ll have someone check with Realtor.com to see if there is a better way for us to relate team listings to individual enhanced accounts.
November 3rd, 2007 at 4:15 am
How about adding a field and search capability for Pool View in town house, patio home, and condo searches?
January 12th, 2008 at 5:22 am
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