Belt Auction

Do the real estate agents pay the MLS; if so what does the MLS do for them?

also, if so, do they provide advertising for the real estate agent through real estate magazine, in other words does the MLS act as a advertising broker for the real estate broker. What does the MLA actually do?

Public Comments

1. The MLS has maintains a database for all it's members listings. They also have rules & regulations for it's members in maintaining the integrity of it's data and member's activities regarding real estate practices. The MLS may also have a public website where the general public may go to search for listings on homes. This would be the only form of advertisement. Our MLS also publishes our forms. Not all MLS's do this & some are provided by the Association of Realtors. Another function of our MLS is our keybox system. Our's leases the system from Supra. The computerized keyboxes and keycards upload info when the keycard is "sync'd" so that all showing information is available via website for all agents that used their keycard to gain entry to a listing. We can then call or email for feedback. Membership fee to my MLS is $180 semi annual. There are also yearly fees paid for the use/lease of MLS key for entry to listed homes with keyboxes.
2. Yes, it costs to be in the MLS, usually a flat monthly fee. MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service, and it does just that, lists listings. The MLS is usually governed by the local real estate association (which you also have to pay to be a member of, a lot of real estate agents are Realtors, members of the National Association of Realtors . . . they then are also members of their state Association of Realtors, and their local association) . . . and the MLS is not an advertising broker. It is basically an online database of most of the listings in a specific area (sometimes clients don't want their property in the MLS). The MLS is the most important thing for a real estate agent; it gives every agent who is a member access to valuable information for each listing. So basically when an agent gets a listing, the first they do is input it into the MLS. It is then "live" in the system and visible for others to view. When the agent has a buyer, they can then search for any number of things (area, bedrooms, baths, sq.ft, land, etc) and come up with a list of properties matching the criteria. The agent can then view detailed information (anything from construction materials to area schools . . . this is what the listing agent "inputs") about the home to see if it would be a good fit for their clients. Also, the MLS assists in research. When determining asking prices, an agent would search the system for comparable properties that have sold recently, and the property's current competition. That same research would be used to determine offering prices for properties. It is a very valuable tool.
3. The Multiple Listing Service is an organization for Realtors to post their listings on. They have an agreement with the National Association of Realtors, or Realtor.com. Yes we pay fee's to both actually. Example: Realtor.com has more than 6M hits a day, yes that is 6 million hits by people searching for homes. This is a form of advertising. And when you consider that more than 85% of folks are doing research online before getting connected with a Realtor, where would you want your listings advertised?