I assisted my broker this week with a BPO. It was very frustrating looking up some of the information for the listed comparables. Very few agents listed the listing date, information that was required for this BPO. We were able to get all the other information through the local tax accessor and the MLS.
Have any of you ran into the same problem with vital information being left off the multiple listing?

Our MLS won't allow us to input the listing until all the required fields are entered.

In my market, the listing date must appear in the listing; however, sq ft, age, tax id number, can all be left blank (some agents put 999 as the age). It makes bpo work go slower than it might because all info for all listings needs to be cross-referenced against other sources. Room counts are frequently innacurate in multiple-unit buildings also. And many agents don't put rent amounts on rented units...or state rents for vacant units. There are a lot of lazy people out there.

There was a lawsuit here a few years ago over an incorrect square footage and acreage in the MLS listing. Ever since then you have to look that information up in the tax records.

Additionaly, our wonderful MLS hides listed date and DOM for active listings.

Our MLS as well requires all of the info in the original post, and is actually fairly accurate.

As far as no listing date or DOM, that would suck. Ours even show Cumulative DOM once it has gone under contract.

If agents put in all the information, then someone might know about their listing! Shhh!!!!! Top secret!!! Same reason they don't put signs in the yard sometimes.

Oldsouth, Since I am in Georgia, too I guess that is the problem. It doesn't make sense to hide the DOM for active listings. Oh well, I guess it is just a small hurdle in completing the BPOs.

Our MLS automatically caluculates DOM and includes the list date. My biggest pet peeve regarding this topic is when agents put "Owner of Record" in the Owner section. No crap! Do they really think that their well guarded "secret" is a secret at all? In this area most of the tax records are online. It takes ten seconds to determine who "Owner of Record" is.

Learning...most REO Brokers use "Owner of Record" in the Owner field here. I just helped a buyer with a foreclosure and had to send an addendum because the lender said I had to put the banks name on the contract. The listing agent didn't know what I was talking about and just accepted the addendum...

It is interesting that only seasoned REO realtors put "Owner of Record" in the Owner field here in our area.
I dealt with dozen REO listings i got in past and always put info in there.
If I do not know who bank is I put asset company who assigned it to me.

I think it's a mix of lazy agents and bad MLS systems that keep the agents from filling out the entire thing. The MLS I use more regularly in Northern Colorado is very easy to use and most agents fill everything in. Some don't, but most do. The Denver Metro MLS is the one that is terrible to use and when searching half the info is usually missing on each listing. Plus they don't have DOM and ownership right on the listing. I just used it today to find comps the other one didn't have and it just made me angry. And whatever you do don't BPO angry.