Real estate buyers and sellers have seen or heard the term 'MLS® but do you know exactly what MLS® is? Even those familiar with the term MLS® may not understand the important role it plays in the the buying and selling of real estate or how it works.
MLS® is a registered trademark owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association and stands for "Multiple Listing Service." When sellers list their property for sale with a REALTOR®, most choose to do so with an MLS® versus exclusive listing. Properties listed on the MLS® system are done so in a spirit of cooperation. With an MLS® listing, the listing Broker commits to "cooperate" with other Broker members giving them equal opportunity to show and sell the subject property. Traditionally this has benefitted the seller by given their property added exposure to all REALTORS® within a given market. With the advent of the Internet and the Canadian Real Estate Association's website http://www.mls.ca/ properties for sale on MLS® are now accessible online to potential buyers everywhere.
In Canada we are extremely fortunate to have a nation-wide MLS® system as such is not the case in the U.S. Like their banking industry, MLS® in the U.S. is very fragmented with several MLS® systems typically existing in each state. These systems are not linked thus making it difficult for today's online real estate consumer to gain full access to all properties currently listed for sale. Current estimates put the possibility of a nation-wide MLS® in the U.S. similar to what we have in canada as 3 to 5 years away. In the meantime, several 3rd party websites in the U.S. such as http://www.zillow.com/ have filled this void by accepting property listings on behalf of both licensed REALTORS® as well as For Sale By Owners.
Consumer visits to http://www.mls.ca/ typically number 2.5 to 3 million a month making http://www.mls.ca/ the most popular real estate consumer website in Canada. With this post is a survey asking: Have you ever visited http://www.mls.ca/? Please take a moment to complete the survey and if you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
MLS® is a registered trademark owned by the Canadian Real Estate Association and stands for "Multiple Listing Service." When sellers list their property for sale with a REALTOR®, most choose to do so with an MLS® versus exclusive listing. Properties listed on the MLS® system are done so in a spirit of cooperation. With an MLS® listing, the listing Broker commits to "cooperate" with other Broker members giving them equal opportunity to show and sell the subject property. Traditionally this has benefitted the seller by given their property added exposure to all REALTORS® within a given market. With the advent of the Internet and the Canadian Real Estate Association's website http://www.mls.ca/ properties for sale on MLS® are now accessible online to potential buyers everywhere.
In Canada we are extremely fortunate to have a nation-wide MLS® system as such is not the case in the U.S. Like their banking industry, MLS® in the U.S. is very fragmented with several MLS® systems typically existing in each state. These systems are not linked thus making it difficult for today's online real estate consumer to gain full access to all properties currently listed for sale. Current estimates put the possibility of a nation-wide MLS® in the U.S. similar to what we have in canada as 3 to 5 years away. In the meantime, several 3rd party websites in the U.S. such as http://www.zillow.com/ have filled this void by accepting property listings on behalf of both licensed REALTORS® as well as For Sale By Owners.
Consumer visits to http://www.mls.ca/ typically number 2.5 to 3 million a month making http://www.mls.ca/ the most popular real estate consumer website in Canada. With this post is a survey asking: Have you ever visited http://www.mls.ca/? Please take a moment to complete the survey and if you have any comments or questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
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