sitetruth
05-09-2008, 11:57 PM
"Yahoo Real Estate" has a connection to the Realtors' Multiple Listing Service, from which Yahoo obtains house-for-sale information. The selling broker and MLS ID number are given by Yahoo.
But the system has recently started reviving house-for-sale ads from several years ago. I followed up one of the ads and found the house was last listed in 2004, and isn't currently in MLS. Contacting the Realtor, I found that it's a known, and large, problem. They're very upset about this, since they're getting calls for houses they're not selling, or worse, getting calls from owners blaming them for trying to sell a house they're not authorized to sell.
Yahoo is putting current dates on these old listings. Something is badly broken.
Friendfinder got in trouble for doing something similar with dating ads; some ads stayed up for years after the subscriber had cancelled, to create the illusion that Friendfinder had more members than they really did. For real estate, it makes the housing crash look bigger than it is.
But the system has recently started reviving house-for-sale ads from several years ago. I followed up one of the ads and found the house was last listed in 2004, and isn't currently in MLS. Contacting the Realtor, I found that it's a known, and large, problem. They're very upset about this, since they're getting calls for houses they're not selling, or worse, getting calls from owners blaming them for trying to sell a house they're not authorized to sell.
Yahoo is putting current dates on these old listings. Something is badly broken.
Friendfinder got in trouble for doing something similar with dating ads; some ads stayed up for years after the subscriber had cancelled, to create the illusion that Friendfinder had more members than they really did. For real estate, it makes the housing crash look bigger than it is.