What is the MLS and I'm not talking about Major League Soccer?

In the real estate industry you will hear the professionals use acronyms in nearly every single sentence. One of the most commonly used acronyms is MLS and it is not the Major League Soccer. The MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service.  According to Realtor.org website, 

"The MLS is a tool to help listing brokers find cooperative brokers working with buyers to help sell their clients' homes. Without the collaborative incentive of the existing MLS, brokers would create their own separate systems of cooperation, fragmenting rather than consolidating property information." http://www.realtor.org/topics/nar-doj-settlement/multiple-listing-service-mls-what-is-it

What does that mean to a real estate client? It means real estate professionals, within the same privately managed MLS board agree to share information about the property for sale and other real estate professionals can access the information and share it with their clients. Of course, privacy and confidentiality are a priority in real estate transactions.  There is information that will not be shared with the public to ensure sellers, buyers and professionals are safe and secure. 

The MLS is a fantastic tool for a sellers marketing plan.  Once a listing is added to the MLS, it connects with many other websites instantaneously, thus reducing a seller’s time and/or professionals time to post to several sites. For instance, when a seller lists their home with me at RE/MAX Grand the home information will be entered into the MLS and instantly show up on sites like:

• Realtor.com
• Remax.com
• Zillow.com
• Trulia.com
• MyGrandRealty.com
• KimberlyEfta.REALTOR
• All RE/MAX Grand agents websites
• All other broker websites connected to the MLS
• All other agents websites at other companies connected to the MLS

The other benefits of the MLS include consistency and rules that all the professionals must follow. This helps with reporting and statistics that the agents can share with clients. 

The MLS in Grand Forks, ND is managed by the Grand Forks Area Association of REALTORS. The real estate professionals pay fees to keep the MLS to make it free to the public to access information. 

If you are interested in learning more about the MLS or my services, please contact me.