Understanding an MLS (Multiple Listing Service)
Odds are you’ve spent a little time online searching for homes.
After all, most home searches begin online. You may have even used a broker’s
website or a site like Trulia or Zillow to help you browse listings.
But where does listing information come from?
Way back in the day, prior to the Information Age revolution,
brokers used to gather and exchange information about their properties. The
idea was fairly straightforward: I’ll help you sell your properties if you help
me sell mine. It’s a “private offer of cooperation and compensation.”
Cooperation meant the real estate industry could thrive and buyers and sellers
could enjoy smoother transactions.
This spirit of cooperation gave rise to Multiple Listing
Service(s) (MLS). By consolidating information about housing inventory in an
MLS, listing brokers and buyers’ brokers can easily share up-to-date
information about homes on the market. Though an MLS is typically a private
database available to brokers, much of the information is syndicated to outside
sites in the interest of casting wider net for buyers and sellers.
As an MLS is the primary source of information about a property,
it tends to be the most accurate. It may also contain private information for
use by brokers only, such as times the home is available for showings and
seller contact information.
There are upwards of 850 MLS databases in the U.S. alone, and to a
certain extent, there is market pressure to centralize these into a national
MLS database. We’re sure to see changes in how Multiple Listing Services are
used in the future, but the core benefits to home sellers and buyers is sure to
remain.
Jim Armstrong
Armstrong Field Real Estate
www.armstrongfield.com
978-394-6736
