What Are Amenities in Real Estate?
On the MLS system, amenities are additional items of interest that may make a property more desirable. They are indicated on a real estate listing and are often abbreviated. Because so many items have been added to the list recently, the Edmonton Real Estate Board has changed the field to be called amenities/features.
Real Estate Agent Explains Amenities
Anything actually on or included in the property could be an amenity. Things that are not located on the property would instead usually fall under site influences.
| Amenity | MLS® Abbreviation |
| Air Conditioning – Central | ACCEN |
| Full Air Conditioned | ACFUL |
| Part. Air Conditioned | ACPRT |
| Window Air Conditioned | ACWIN |
| Appliances Included | APPIN |
| Assisted Living | ASTLV |
| Balconies | BALCO |
| Beach Access | BEACH |
| Boating | BOAT |
| Cable TV Connection | CABTV |
| Club House | CLUBH |
| Car Wash | CWASH |
| Daycare Centre | DAYCR |
| Elevator Freight | ELEVF |
| Elevator Passenger | ELEVP |
| Exercise Room | EXERC |
| Fenced | FENCE |
| Fireplaces | FIREP |
| Private Fishing | FISHN |
| Gazebo | GAZEB |
| Guest Suite | GUEST |
| Handicap Access | HCAP |
| Handicap Interior Accessories | HCAPI |
| Intercom | INTER |
| Lake Privileges | LAKEP |
| Laundry Coin-Op | LAUNC |
| Laundry Common | LAUNCM |
| Laundry In-Suite | LAUNS |
| Laundry Same-Floor | LAUSF |
| None | NONE |
| Party Room | PARTY |
| Picnic Area | PICNC |
| Playground | PLAYG |
| Pool Indoor | POOLI |
| Pool Outdoor | POOLO |
| Private Park Access | PPARK |
| Parking Extra | PRKEX |
| Parking Plug-Ins | PRKPG |
| Parking – Visitor | PRKVI |
| Racquet Courts | RACQT |
| Recreation Room/Centre | RECRM |
| See Remarks | REMKS |
| R.V. Storage | RVSTG |
| Satellite TV Connection | SATTV |
| Sauna | SAUNA |
| Security Door | SECDR |
| Secured Parking | SECPK |
| Security Personnel | SECPS |
| Skating | SKATE |
| Social Rooms | SOCAL |
| Sauna/Swirlpool/Steam Room | SSS |
| Storage In-Suite | STGIN |
| Storage – Locker Room | STGLK |
| Swimming | SWIM |
| Swirlpool Bath (Jacuzzi) | SWIRL |
| Tennis Courts | TENCT |
| Tobogganing | TOBOG |
| Workshop | WRKSP |
Of course there may be other items that are of importance, but the above amenities are those that the Edmonton Real Estate Board has included in searchable MLS field. And they have a lot of what would be important included. Many of these items are included because they would be important in a condominium. That is, a condominium may have a security guard or racquet courts that the owners may use. Of course some private residences have racquet courts, too – it’s just rare this side of Graceland.
Why Does It Matter?
Amenities can make a huge difference in the ability to sell a property; they’re also important considerations for most buyers. For example, if you are looking for a condo, but you just absolutely want in-suite-laundry, there may be no point in looking at properties that do not have this arrangement. By the same token, to attract buyers who want this amenity, a listing real estate agent would surely want to mention it. And just mentioning it in a description may not be adequate. Amenities can be searched in the MLS system by a buyer’s agent so that all searches either include or exclude this particular amenity.
