Imagine what house hunting would be like if you had to visit each agency in order to see their listings?

Multiple Listing Service® (MLS) is a cooperative system which allows participating Realtors® to share information, to show one anotherʼs listings, and to split commissions. Thanks to MLS, you do not have to visit many offices to get access to all the listed properties: Any MLS member can get you into properties listed by any of the couple of hundred real estate agencies throughout the state.

Eighteenth Century Roots

“On certain appointed days, the Members of the Board of Realtors® gathered at the Board offices and ʻexchangedʼ information about their listings. They, in effect, carried on an auction as they frequently came prepared to purchase certain property desired by their principals, but listed by another broker. This practice was common in the 1880s and 1890s. Shortly after the end of the nineteenth century, the term ʻmultiple listingʼ was in use” [National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Handbook on MLS Policy, 2003]

At one time MLS gave Realtors® a near monopoly of access to for-sale homes. These days, the internet and anti-trust pressure from the Federal Trade Commission has given consumers the ability to conduct their own property searches.

But MLS is more than a search modality. MLS provides greater detail about property, including online documents, such as deeds, maps, and Sellerʼs Property Information Reports. And a Realtor® can set up automatic email notification, which sends you a link to each new listing fitting your criteria the instant that property is listed.

But being gatekeepers of MLS is not enough. Our clients need real-world insight into fair market value, warnings about red flags, the ability to build confidence between parties, build trust, close gaps, and bring transactions to a successful conclusion.