Changes to Listing Information in Sacramento

by Redfin Blogger | 16 Comments

Due to recent changes in the rules set out by the Sacramento Metrolist MLS, we’re required to make some changes to the information we display in our listings. We’ve got good news, and we’ve got bad news.

Bad news first: We can no longer show information for the number of days a listing has been on Redfin. We’re also no longer permitted to show the price per square foot for Sacramento listings.

The good news is that we can now show you sold homes with photos.

If you have any questions about these changes, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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  • Waterdogs

    Terrible trade off. I know it's not Redfin's doing. But how does this make sense? How does anyone think that restricting information will work in shifting the balance of power back to brokers? Dinosaurs.

  • Hsteinbeck

    This seems a bit petty of Sacramento MLS. The information is still there we just have to calculate it now. As a convenience do you guys think you could add a button to do the calculation for us? Free markets work best with an informed consumer. The catastrophic condition the real estate industry is in now will not be solved by keeping buyers in the dark. In fact, I would argue that’s what got us here in the first place.

  • Art

    - So THREE bad news…
    1. The site becomes much less useful, making it more difficult for buyers and wasting their precious time, forcing them to get the previous offered information by contacting the agents, and going back and forth.
    2. Another waste of time to calculate the sq. footage.
    3. As well, the recent “rule” intrudes and violates the privacy of the buyer after purchasing a house, displaying the floor plan and other details for plunders on a silver plate.

    Long live the system and those making the rules!

  • Patrick

    I keep old asking prices on my site patrick.net in the Addresses forum:

    http://patrick.net/forum/addre…/

    I just get prices that were advertised on pages that were already indexed by the search engines (allowed via robots.txt) so it seems to me that no one can force me to suppress these. These old asking prices are facts, and the first ammendment definitely covers facts.

    I'd be willing to share with Redfin in some kind of deal if they'd just ask me! p@patrick.net

    • guest

      Patrick is awesome!

  • Guest

    Hey Patrick,

    When are you going to have information about Sacramento rents and sales on your site? I definitely haven't seen any.

  • Ukillumwechillum

    now those who never thought about ppf or listing days will be zeroing in on “why is it so important they want to hide…..”. keep posting something in website that says”not allowed by Sac MLS”. if enough people jam listing agents with the request – maybe they will get tired of having to spend time to respond and tell MLS to get over it.

  • Klaus in Dana

    Redfin has been the Wikileaks of real estate – somewhere to turn to for the truth. Because, we've all had realtors (oops real estate agents) lie to us, banks lie to us, and have been burdened with the task of sifting through government red tape for property records. This is all public and free information. For a site such as Redfin to assemble it all in a one-stop location is a blessing. However, leave it to legal shenanigans to resrict and prevent access in order to protect an aged and failing business model for selling homes. By limiting knowledge to the comsumer, the “industry” maintains the advantage to control its cash cow.

  • drago

    A self-inflicted wound by Sac MLS. Potential buyers who like to do their homework will be less likely to jump in if the information on the state of their target market is fuzzy or hard to gauge. Buyers like that trust hard data, not agents' assurances that “it's a steal at this price.”

  • Reggie

    I have been studying the relationship between MLS association services and Realtors and have concluded that the main objective of these services is to promote the selling of houses, and at the highest possible prices. There are several noteworthy discoveries. If you examine the NAR code of ethics Article 1 -Standard of practice 1-3 “…shall not deliberately mislead the owner as to market value. If you hide the price per square foot you give a selective advantage to the seller. Article 2- ….shall avoid exaggeration, misrepresentation, or concealment of pertinent facts relating to the property or the transaction. I think they need to look up the words “estate”, “charmer” . In many associations there is NO restriction on using photoshop and similar programs to add rooms where there are none, clean up neighborhood eyesores, like junk cars in the front yards, chage the landscaping by adding or deleting trees, shrubbery, fences, roof style, windows, and even putting creating houses that do not exist on level land which is actually a ditch.

    Standard of Practice 2-1 …shall only be obligated to discover and disclose adverse factors reasonably apparent …
    Presumably this promotes sales of houses in known gang territories, recent drug manufacturing in the houses…I know nothing about the white powder on the floors looks like plaster from “upgrades”?

    And the LIST goes on….

    I call these standards of obfuscation and deceit. There are TWO types of lies: Lies of commission…and the con-artists specialty Lies of OMMISSION. The lie of omission is hidden in legal speak. I know nothing —and want to stay conspicuously uninformed. For a large PROFIT? One more disgruntled buyer leads to one more listing in the future and 6% more off the top?

  • JCH2

    What government agency might have influence over MetroList? I know I am not the only person who would jump at the chance to send correspondce to shine a light on this unethical and inexcusable concealment of data.

    Hiding the price per sq ft is an inane request on the MLS’s part, anyone with ½ a brain and a calculator can get it. At real point are the days on market and the price change history. This is the information that allows buyers to recognize fair market value of any given property.

    I for one am extremely unhappy (other choice words are actually running through my mind) that I am being deprived of such materially important data and intend to be vocal about it.

  • Tlaquep

    Fuck MLS, Fuck the Realtor concealment of information.

    This is a really bad tradeoff !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • http://www.infowars.com Infowars.com wake up!

    The only way this will change is if people realize that they are running a racketeering business and prosecute them, they are part of the problems we have in America with high housing costs.

  • Mark in SF

    Everybody involved in the RE industry is no better than a blood sucking vampire.

    • Reggie

      Even blood sucking vampires have a value. The only value that Realtors have is to their puny self-esteem. But there is a silver lining in all this. At the height of the housing bubble a typical Realtor averaged 5 sales per month with a profit of 1.5% on each sale (the listing broker got 1.5%, and the buyers agent and broker split the other 3%). As house prices decline and as sales decline, more and more Realtors are actually forced to compete for less and less money. Ahhh to watch the sharks eating their own young! So the numbers of these miscerants will have to decline as they join the welfare rolls and breadlines. But who will remain? The biggest liars and cheats? Thats a scary thought! Perhaps we need to build more prisons for financial criminals?

    • watcher

      Hmmmm Redfin is involved in the RE industry. Are you calling my favorite Redfin Agent a blood sucking vampire?