Bearcat Bri
Freshman Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2004
- Professional Status
- Certified Residential Appraiser
- State
- Ohio
As many may know and many may not, Cincinnati MLS system (Rappatoni) was one of the victims of the August cyber attacks. The powers that be decided to put their stock into Perchwell which was a total disaster. The members of the Cincinnati MLS petitioned to force a vote and subsequently forced the leadership to switch back to Rapattoni which was just restored to functionality as the main operating system as of 02/20/2024. As a result of this debacle and a partial exodus of Realtors away from the Cincinnati MLS to Dayton MLS the Cincinnati MLS leadership has recently allowed agents to migrate Dayton sales too the Cincinnati MLS system and add pocket sales that were not put into the Perchwell system between August 2023 and March 2024. In theory this is a good idea. In reality, it is a whole other problem. As a result of the desire to get sales into the system, there has been a relaxing of regulations and a disregard for data integrity. The users of the system are faced with a large quantity of knowingly erroneous data and wildly incorrect market data. Days on market for many sales are being reported as negative values. Original list prices and price change information are not available, etc. This information is then being propagated into online third party data feeds.
As an example: On a single search including 360 total sales, 116 are reported in the system with negative days on market. (csv file is attached if you are curious)
Upon conveying concerns to the COO of the Cincinnati MLS, i was provided with this response.....
Thank you for your email and for sharing your concerns about the accuracy of certain data in our MLS system. We understand the importance of accurate information for market analysis and appreciate your feedback.
While we strive to maintain high standards for data quality, it's important to note that the purpose of entering information into the MLS goes beyond just analytics. The primary focus is to provide a comprehensive database that serves the needs of all our subscribers, including providing comparable sales data.
While these “Sold Before Sent” listings may result in inaccurate data for certain fields such as Days on Market (DOM) and Sales Price/List Price (SP/LP) ratio, many/most of our subscribers find value in having access to this information, even if it's not fully accurate – including other Appraisers. This is also why we require them to be “flagged” with Sold Before Sent. While it would be best to have a field to indicate this so you can exclude these types of listings in your analytics, our primary goal has been to get back to Rapattoni. We had accounted for this in Perchwell with OMS (Off MLS Sales).
It's also worth noting that DOM and SP/LP ratios have historically been challenging to maintain accuracy in MLS data due to various factors such as data entry errors, incomplete information, and intentional manipulation. As such, they may not always be the most reliable indicators for market conditions. We have always permitted Sold Before Sent and a significant number of listings have always been Sold Before Sent, but our current initiative right now is trying to improve the overall property sales data in our database since many sales were not entered in our MLS due to issues with Perchwell. Once we get caught up, it will go back to the “normal” amount we have had in the past.
We are continuously working to improve data quality and provide tools and resources to help our subscribers make informed decisions. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we will take it into consideration.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Bottom line is that if you are a Cincinnati appraiser, verify verify verify. And do not utilize "sold before sent" sales in your marketing time/exposure time research unless you can get a full listing history from the listing agent. The leadership at MLS apparently does not care if the data is corrupt, complete or erroneous.
As an example: On a single search including 360 total sales, 116 are reported in the system with negative days on market. (csv file is attached if you are curious)
Upon conveying concerns to the COO of the Cincinnati MLS, i was provided with this response.....
Thank you for your email and for sharing your concerns about the accuracy of certain data in our MLS system. We understand the importance of accurate information for market analysis and appreciate your feedback.
While we strive to maintain high standards for data quality, it's important to note that the purpose of entering information into the MLS goes beyond just analytics. The primary focus is to provide a comprehensive database that serves the needs of all our subscribers, including providing comparable sales data.
While these “Sold Before Sent” listings may result in inaccurate data for certain fields such as Days on Market (DOM) and Sales Price/List Price (SP/LP) ratio, many/most of our subscribers find value in having access to this information, even if it's not fully accurate – including other Appraisers. This is also why we require them to be “flagged” with Sold Before Sent. While it would be best to have a field to indicate this so you can exclude these types of listings in your analytics, our primary goal has been to get back to Rapattoni. We had accounted for this in Perchwell with OMS (Off MLS Sales).
It's also worth noting that DOM and SP/LP ratios have historically been challenging to maintain accuracy in MLS data due to various factors such as data entry errors, incomplete information, and intentional manipulation. As such, they may not always be the most reliable indicators for market conditions. We have always permitted Sold Before Sent and a significant number of listings have always been Sold Before Sent, but our current initiative right now is trying to improve the overall property sales data in our database since many sales were not entered in our MLS due to issues with Perchwell. Once we get caught up, it will go back to the “normal” amount we have had in the past.
We are continuously working to improve data quality and provide tools and resources to help our subscribers make informed decisions. Your feedback is valuable to us, and we will take it into consideration.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out.
Bottom line is that if you are a Cincinnati appraiser, verify verify verify. And do not utilize "sold before sent" sales in your marketing time/exposure time research unless you can get a full listing history from the listing agent. The leadership at MLS apparently does not care if the data is corrupt, complete or erroneous.
