A friend of mine and his family are moving back into the West Chicago suburbs after living elsewhere for a few years. He had a comment about a field that he feels the Multiple Listing Service needs:
They need a new field/attribute for broadband availability, so I don’t have to call 3 or 4 companies every time I consider a property. Also they should include area code and exchange in MLS listings to check DSL.
Yes, he is a geek, but he’s a full time work-at-home geek. As internet connectively is becoming more and more important in our lives for everything from telecommuting to entertainment delivery, this will start to be something that more and more people consider when they are looking. 4 years ago when my wife and I were looking for a house, one of the things on our checklist was this connectivity issue, but I had forgotten about it until the comment today.
This leaves me with a question or two: Are any MLS’s starting to include information like this? I haven’t heard of it, but its something I might not hear often. If they aren’t, what are they waiting for?
[Update 2/9: Robbie over at Rain City Guide has expanded on this with some additional data ideas.]
I just emailed our MLS administrator asking how difficult it would be to have this added as a required field. It certainly is a requirement for 98% of all of my clients.
It is happening and some MLSes have even needed to adjust to the speed of technology upgrades. Anybody interested in a 128k ISDN line?
From http://www.ires-net.com/library/Residential_Input_Form.pdf
OTHER FEATURES:
*Utilities_______________
1. Natural Gas
2. Electric
3. Propane
4. Wood/Coal
5. Solar-Active
6. Solar-Passive
7. Oil
8. No Utilities
9. Other Utilities
10. Cable TV Available
27. DSL Available
28. Cable Modem Available
29. Satellite Available
What a great idea! I never thought of that before. Technology has really changed the way agents market, and the resources are in place for potential home buyers to search the Internet and find the perfect home, so why not take it a step further?
All due respect to the more tech minded of us, I think this issue is really something that isn’t necessarily in the Realtor’s purview.
Granted there are plenty of ‘amenities’ options on our local MLS (MLSNI) to choke a horse, but the various forms of Broadband connectivity can be confusing to many people and like a satellite or cable account, the availability really depends on the companies which service the area. Consumers cannot ‘expect’ Realtors to know which companies do or do not provide services to a home in a certain area.
Sure…we can ‘one more thing’ ourselves to death with yet another box to check or not on an input form, but most broadband savvy homebuyers these days know how to pick up the phone or check the internet for broadband providers. And believe me, if a Realtor accidentally checks a box indicating that broadband is available ….and the home falls just outside of the service area, its a E&O nightmare waiting to happen. Realtors sell property, not DSL, Cable, etc.
“Consumers cannot ‘expect’ Realtors to know which companies do or do not provide services to a home in a certain area.” Isn’t is the realtor’s job to be knowledgeable about the area they serve in order to be able to explain the pros and cons of neighborhoods and villages to their clients? If I am going to pay $12,000 for a realtor to just drive me around and show me houses I expect him or her to know the information on housing that is important to me and increasingly important to everyone else as well.