A few months ago, MRIS tried to deal with problem that the “# of Levels” field in the MLS wasn’t being filled in consistently by agents; some agents were including the number of above-ground levels, while others were including the total number of levels including below-ground levels. Their solution was to follow the lead of most county assessors and change the field to become “# of Levels, excluding basement”. Based on agent feedback, as of Friday 6/26/09 they’ve changed the field again, to “# of Levels, including basement”. The change makes it easier to do some types of searches and harder to do other types, so it’s kind of a wash, but it’s the new law in town, so make sure you remember it.

If you’ve got current listings, make sure that their # of Levels info is correct using the new definition, and for the next few months, double-check the details on a listing if your client does care about the number of above-/below-ground levels, since many agents probably won’t learn about this change for a while, and since some agents are never particularly good at entering accurate data into the MLS anyway…

Possibly related posts (automatically generated):

1. MRIS makes many changes emailed listings
2. Odd Listing: So The Dog Doesn’t Convey?
3. Great Resource For Landlords With Basement Apartments in DC

The Ethical Homes WikiMLS Property Search is one of the most advanced search tools available for properties in the Metro DC area, with cutting edge features such as Walkability scoring as well as Wiki-style editability that allows agents to post comments and photos about listings, so that active buyer agents can fill in the gaps that the official listing info might leave.

(If you’re looking in a different area, let us know, and we’d be glad to direct you to sites that focus on those areas.)

Possibly related posts (automatically generated):

1. Critique from A. C.
2. Foreclosure Listings Temporarily On Hold
3. Find A Buyer Agent