Why agents like to hide their sellers

We have a statewide MLS System here in New Hampshire called NNEREN which stands for Northern New England Real Estate Network. We were the first statewide MLS in the country. Rah Rah.

Part of our rules and regulations say our sellers can opt in or opt out of having their names printed in the “owners” section of the MLS. That’s all well and good for the right to privacy.

What really gets me is that many agents leave the name of the seller out on purpose because they fear if the listing expires then their competitor will have an easy time contacting their seller to try and get the listing. They actually think they are outsmarting the competition by hiding the sellers name!

What the listing agent forgets is that the Book and Page of the Deed is also a required field. So, if you say you are protecting the privacy of the owner then I wonder if you really are? Anyone can find out who the owner is by tracking the book and page number of the deed.

In New Hampshire most of the counties Registry of Deeds are online now and some towns are too. You can search town records by address, how easy is that? Real easy.

It cracks me up to see Owners name “on file” then go click on the on-line required sellers disclosures that are signed by guess who…the sellers! Yet the Owners name is “on file”. The arrow below is where we upload disclosures, deeds, tax bills etc…