Thursday, May 22, 2008

Ruffling a Few Feathers

Apparently I have ruffled a few feathers over on Trulia when I asked if their heatmap data was based on RMLS (inflated) figures, or on assessor data (more accurate IMO).

The thread is here if you'd care to join in.

Frankly I'm tired of having to keep portlandmaps.com up whenever I see a house listing, to get the true picture of the size of the house. I heard from a Realtor that RMLS requires Realtors to input the total size of a house (including unfinished basements and attics) not just livable space.

I realize that the assessor data can be wrong, but I feel that it's more accurate than the size data that RMLS posts. I'd like to see them change this policy, what do you think?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hear, hear!

Anonymous said...

You pwned that guy with comment #13.

Anonymous said...

They used to only list finished sq ft but RMLS changed the rules about 5 years ago. It is a tough question. Remember, RMLS is not as much about sold data as "for sale" data. Plus, it is data "for Realtors, by Realtors" not for us looking in.

Square footage measurements at the County are usually pretty inaccurate. RMLS numbers are often off too but Realtors sometimes get sued for inaccurate numbers so they have more incentive to get it right or at least have a source to blame (appraisal, plans, the County)

PDX Outsider said...

Ron Rogers is now my new favorite agent. He spouts nothing but generalities and misinformation, and must be taking a cue from the NAR's Lawrence Yun.

I give him credit for persistence, but he loses points for accuracy and touch with reality.

Maybe he's right, and maybe Klamath Falls is the next hot-spot, after all they saw 1.5% growth last year!