By Robert J. Morrow

In recent weeks there has been discussion on several boards about whether to include square footage as a mandatory field on MLS listings.

There are lots of reasons why boards would want it included; there are lots of reasons why our clients would want to see it; and there are lots of reasons why sales reps feel they should have the choice to include it or not.

But perhaps the most interesting point was raised by a homeowner who had failed to sell privately and was now contemplating going with a Realtor. His sales rep had advertised online that he would put houses on the MLS for $199. The sales rep contacted the seller when he learned he was using a well-known private sale franchise. This particular franchise didn’t offer local MLS listings as a service but the homeowner was savvy enough to know he had to be on the MLS to get maximum exposure.

He signed up with the legitimate real estate salesperson and was shown his listing promptly on realtor.ca. All was well with the world – until the seller noticed that no local agents were viewing his home with their buyers. This was strange, because he had been told by friends in the business that if he included the term “will offer buyer agents 2.5 per cent” on his listing, the local agents wouldn’t have a problem bringing their buyers in to view his home, despite it being a private sale.

So why weren’t they coming?

I explained to him that his listing was, indeed, active on realtor.ca. But the agent he had signed on with via a website was actually located in Ottawa and was a member of that regional board. Therefore, all the 2,200+ agents in our area (Hamilton/Burlington) didn’t see it in our daily listing notifications. “We aren’t part of the Ottawa board, and even if we were, we wouldn’t go looking at Ottawa sites for Hamilton listings,” I told him.

The seller was flabbergasted. What a waste of money! How could he ensure that this didn’t happen to other unsuspecting sellers?

This seller is an avid reader of online blogs, magazines and ezines and followed general real estate trends regularly. He read the blog from the local board about making square footage mandatory and had an epiphany: If agents are required to physically measure square footage, wouldn’t that eliminate an out-of-town agent from listing a house? He would have to physically come here or at least hire someone to come out and measure the house. The cost of doing that would make it unlikely he’d make any money.

By making square footage a mandatory field on listings, it virtually ensures that only local brokerages are involved in placing local listings on the local board’s MLS system. It still gets on realtor.ca but this would ensure that local agents would see the listings – even if they were private seller/MLS combo listings.

Many boards across the country make square footage mandatory. But some still don’t. Perhaps this is an angle that should be considered along with all the other political aspects.

Robert J. Morrow is former marketing executive, corporate publisher, newspaper editor, and tae-kwon do instructor. He is currently editor of www.HamiltonHomeReview.com