The Statuses in the Massachusetts MLS (multiple Listing Service)
Update: Naturally, I finally get around to writing this only to find out that the MLS is suspending the active status flag option. This will inflate all the scores across the towns for the coming months/years, so we will see significant improvement for some time in the scores.
There are several status in the MLS. They are:
NEW--New
ACT--Active
UAG--Under Agreement
BOM--Back on Market
SLD--Sold
There are some others (rented, withdrawn, expired) that aren't all that important for home seekers. But there is one status that is important: Active Flagged. Let's look at the list again.
NEW--New
ACT--Active
ACT--Active Flagged
UAG--Under Agreement
BOM--Back on Market
SLD--Sold
Notice, that the 3 letter "key" to the status is the same for active, and active flagged. That's a problem. Let's look at what it's supposed to mean/operate, and what it actually does.
NEW--New - Home is "new" to the market.
ACT--Active - Home is active and for sale
ACT--Active Flagged - Home has an accepted offer and is pending, but is still accepting back up offers.
UAG--Under Agreement - Home has an accepted offer and is pending, but is no longer looking for back up offers.
BOM--Back on Market - Home was pending, but the deal did not stay together, and the house is back on the market.
SLD--Sold - Buyer and Seller have finalized the transaction (closed).
OK, so let's get to the heart of the matter.
Q: Can I see a house that is active flagged an buy it?
A: No. You may be able to see it (but not often). You can write an offer on it. But the seller can NOT accept your offer until their original deal has fallen apart. Typically, this doesn't happen often, so there is not much point to even seeing a home that has been flagged. Scheduling showings on these homes is often difficult (not always, but often) as the sellers are no longer motivated to sell their home. Generally, it makes little sense to write a back-up offer - in my opinion - as all it really does is limit the buyer's flexibility.
Q: How can I tell if a house has been flagged?
A: Well, you need to know where to look. Most MLS's across the country are the same, but to my knowledge, only MA has the active status flag. The problem with that is that the NATIONAL websites of listings - Trulia.com, Zillow.com, and Realtor.com (among others), do not have a way to display the flag. So properties that have been flagged show up as Active. This is VERY Confusing to buyers!! You can tell if you have access to a system that is designed to work specifically with MLS, like the one we have at Heisler & Mattson, as they are designed to handle the flag. It's handled differently in different systems, but if you are looking in MA, I strongly suggest using one of them, because so many properties (up to 50% in some towns) are active flagged, and not active.
Thanks for reading!
