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#funfact: Currently, I am looking for a property to buy myself. Most of the realtors do not publish the exact address of their listed properties. I have gotten

#funfact: Currently, I am looking for a property to buy myself. Most of the realtors do not publish the exact address of their listed properties. I have gotten very good in spotting the properties and finding out the exact address by basically applying the same techniques.

lotsofpulp 7y ago
Aren’t they all visible on Redfin/trulia/Zillow anyway if they’re in the MLS data?
- true_religion 7y ago
  Not all properties are in MLS, and even when they are intended to go in it, there will be some lag time. How much lag depends on your area. MLS isn’t well coordinated.
- hyperbovine 7y ago
  You assume this person is in the US.
Chris2048 7y ago
Why do they not publish the address?
- yomly 7y ago
  I would have presumed privacy Edit: With detached houses the obfuscation is harder/less valuable, but ideally I'd rather not have images and price and exact location of my property be linked online essentially forever. Price is one thing, but internal layout and floorplan coupled with exact address is ropey.
  - dahfizz 7y ago
    Isn't all of that public record anyway?
    - PinguTS 7y ago
      Actually not in Germany. Because of privacy the register is not allowed to tell anybody who is the owner of the property. The register is only allowed to give out this information for valid reasons. Buying is not such a reason. A broken pipe would be a valid reason. Any of such request needs to be recorded and the owner needs to be informed.
    - ghaff 7y ago
      In the US, internal layout is not generally available (may vary by locale) and may not even exist on paper. Square footage/location/owner is--although, speaking for my own case, details about the house in the public record aren't necessarily accurate.
- rmu09 7y ago
  To claim commission I suppose.
  - Chris2048 7y ago
    They have a non-exclusive deal with the owner?
    - blackearl 7y ago
      There are properties that get listed by an agency and it's totally free game for who sells it. I've had a realtor tell me that I should "use her exclusively" because she would get me better deals. Don't do that, it's incredibly stupid.
    - saberdancer 7y ago
      In some countries realtors can claim that because you contacted them first about the property, that they get the comission on the property regardless if you continued to use their services or not. I guess this is to avoid situation where realtor connects the buyer with the seller only for them to decide to cut the realtor out and sell without the comission. This gives a big incentive to realtor to hide the location so you cannot contact the seller yourself, and they usually ask you to sign documents where you agree to this practice before they take you to see the property.
- a2tech 7y ago
  They want to force you to interact with them. It gives them the chance to sell you even if the property isn't what you want--they'll always offer to help you find another property, or they "have another listing that'll be just perfect" for you. Its a sales tactic. Or the OP is looking at unimproved land/lots which don't have addresses. I'm currently looking at properties for a future vacation home and at least here the electric company assigns addresses--so if the lot doesn't have electrical service it won't have a real street address. You're lucky if the realtor lists the tax ID so you can look it up in the county database.
  - eganist 7y ago
    If it's door 1: https://www.google.com/search?q=bait+and+switch https://www.google.com/search?q=bait+and+switch
  - PinguTS 7y ago
    It is the first reason. It is Germany. By law, the realtor is required to be paid, if you got first contact through them. With that they want you to require to sign the required paperwork, that they work for you. But as another poster pointed out, it costs everybody time when you need to make an appointment and then at first sight you see that this will not work out.
- pintxo 7y ago
  Makes it harder for competing realtors to contact the actual owners to also start promoting/selling the property?
- JorgeGT 7y ago
  At least in my country avoiding squatters is also a reason to not show the exact address.
mattlondon 7y ago
In London this also happens frequently. Often the "location" of the property is shown on a map. A lot of the time, this is often quite inaccurate. The cynical might observe that this often happens to suggest that the property is not immediately next to a train station/sewage works/night club etc. I don't know why the bother - I am going to find out that the property is not actually in the much-more-desirable location 250 metres away when I go see it. I'll immediately see it is next to the crematorium or whatever and immediately nope-out. It just wastes everyone's time.
- joncrane 7y ago
  It's the exact same reason people post misleading pictures on their dating profiles. Because it works some of the time, due to the sunk cost fallacy (people have already invested in something so they stick with it even after the deception is revealed).
  - blackearl 7y ago
    I've found that people lookup sites use that sunk time technique. Try going on one that's a little more shady like been verified. Once you put in a name and place, it "scans" through their databases, and it "scans" through social media, it also "scans" through criminal history, etc. It takes 10 minutes easily (I left it running out of curiosity). Then it tells you, voila! We have that info! But it'll be $19.99 to access it. You've already sat through so much, might as well go all in. Meanwhile, if you use the opt-out link, it instantly shows at least the name, location, age, etc.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

Aren’t they all visible on Redfin/trulia/Zillow anyway if they’re in the MLS data?

true_religion 7y ago
Not all properties are in MLS, and even when they are intended to go in it, there will be some lag time. How much lag depends on your area. MLS isn’t well coordinated.
hyperbovine 7y ago
You assume this person is in the US.

Chris2048 7y ago

Why do they not publish the address?

yomly 7y ago
I would have presumed privacy Edit: With detached houses the obfuscation is harder/less valuable, but ideally I'd rather not have images and price and exact location of my property be linked online essentially forever. Price is one thing, but internal layout and floorplan coupled with exact address is ropey.
- dahfizz 7y ago
  Isn't all of that public record anyway?
  - PinguTS 7y ago
    Actually not in Germany. Because of privacy the register is not allowed to tell anybody who is the owner of the property. The register is only allowed to give out this information for valid reasons. Buying is not such a reason. A broken pipe would be a valid reason. Any of such request needs to be recorded and the owner needs to be informed.
  - ghaff 7y ago
    In the US, internal layout is not generally available (may vary by locale) and may not even exist on paper. Square footage/location/owner is--although, speaking for my own case, details about the house in the public record aren't necessarily accurate.
rmu09 7y ago
To claim commission I suppose.
- Chris2048 7y ago
  They have a non-exclusive deal with the owner?
  - blackearl 7y ago
    There are properties that get listed by an agency and it's totally free game for who sells it. I've had a realtor tell me that I should "use her exclusively" because she would get me better deals. Don't do that, it's incredibly stupid.
  - saberdancer 7y ago
    In some countries realtors can claim that because you contacted them first about the property, that they get the comission on the property regardless if you continued to use their services or not. I guess this is to avoid situation where realtor connects the buyer with the seller only for them to decide to cut the realtor out and sell without the comission. This gives a big incentive to realtor to hide the location so you cannot contact the seller yourself, and they usually ask you to sign documents where you agree to this practice before they take you to see the property.
a2tech 7y ago
They want to force you to interact with them. It gives them the chance to sell you even if the property isn't what you want--they'll always offer to help you find another property, or they "have another listing that'll be just perfect" for you. Its a sales tactic. Or the OP is looking at unimproved land/lots which don't have addresses. I'm currently looking at properties for a future vacation home and at least here the electric company assigns addresses--so if the lot doesn't have electrical service it won't have a real street address. You're lucky if the realtor lists the tax ID so you can look it up in the county database.
- eganist 7y ago
  If it's door 1: https://www.google.com/search?q=bait+and+switch https://www.google.com/search?q=bait+and+switch
- PinguTS 7y ago
  It is the first reason. It is Germany. By law, the realtor is required to be paid, if you got first contact through them. With that they want you to require to sign the required paperwork, that they work for you. But as another poster pointed out, it costs everybody time when you need to make an appointment and then at first sight you see that this will not work out.
pintxo 7y ago
Makes it harder for competing realtors to contact the actual owners to also start promoting/selling the property?
JorgeGT 7y ago
At least in my country avoiding squatters is also a reason to not show the exact address.

mattlondon 7y ago

In London this also happens frequently. Often the "location" of the property is shown on a map. A lot of the time, this is often quite inaccurate. The cynical might observe that this often happens to suggest that the property is not immediately next to a train station/sewage works/night club etc. I don't know why the bother - I am going to find out that the property is not actually in the much-more-desirable location 250 metres away when I go see it. I'll immediately see it is next to the crematorium or whatever and immediately nope-out. It just wastes everyone's time.

joncrane 7y ago
It's the exact same reason people post misleading pictures on their dating profiles. Because it works some of the time, due to the sunk cost fallacy (people have already invested in something so they stick with it even after the deception is revealed).
- blackearl 7y ago
  I've found that people lookup sites use that sunk time technique. Try going on one that's a little more shady like been verified. Once you put in a name and place, it "scans" through their databases, and it "scans" through social media, it also "scans" through criminal history, etc. It takes 10 minutes easily (I left it running out of curiosity). Then it tells you, voila! We have that info! But it'll be $19.99 to access it. You've already sat through so much, might as well go all in. Meanwhile, if you use the opt-out link, it instantly shows at least the name, location, age, etc.