The MLS is the real estate industry’s favorite acronym. For those of you that know what the MLS means, congrats, but for those that don’t know what the MLS means, this article is for you! For example, if you’ve used my Boise MLS Home Search feature, then you know what I am talking about. By the way, I’ll sometimes call it the “Multiple” for short!
What is the MLS?
The MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. In Idaho, the MLS is a collection of almost all of the homes listed by Realtors. In order to directly access the MLS Database, you have to be a licensed Realtor in good standing with your local MLS Board…in my case, the Intermountain MLS. Almost every home for sale, is in the MLS and when I work with a buyer, I use the Multiple listing service to locate those homes that meet their criteria.
The multiple listing service is accessed online by Realtors, but today, some websites have their own version of the MLS. These websites make it possible for buyers to indirectly access the multiple with limited search capabilities. In the past, the general public had no way of getting those listings without the help of a Realtor. The Internet Data Exchange is the protocol that transfers certain limited data from the multiple to an agents home search tool. Whenever you search for homes on a website, you’re accessing the IDX feed, not the MLS so the information is limited.
Whats better, a Realtors website or the MLS?
Hands down, the MLS is better. As previously mentioned, when you search for a home on a Realtors website, you can only search based on limited information. For instance, you might be able to search based on quantity of bedrooms, baths and square feet, but you won’t be able to search based on school district or other specialized important information.
Today, I get a lot of requests from buyers trying to beat the tax credit deadline to find homes that AREN’T short sales (they can take months to successfully accomplish). To date, there are very few, if any Realtor websites that can search for all homes EXCLUDING short sales.
In addition to exclusive searching, I can access tax data, parcel information, listing history, and a number of other things that most buyers just can’t find on a Realtors website…including mine.
Probably the most concerning issue is that not all homes listed with the MLS show up on Realtor websites–even the big ones like Trulia and Realtor.com!!!
This doesn’t mean that a Boise Real Estate Agent’s website is unhelpful, it just means that buyers without the help of a Realtor are not accessing the entire market.
Why Bother Searching on My Agents Site?
Searching on your agents site isn’t a total waste. If you have the option of signing up and creating an account, do! This will allow your agent to get a good idea of what types of homes you like and what it is that you’re really looking for. In addition, you can set up email notifications that will get you in front of the best listings first!
If you are using a Real Estate company’s site to search, you’re not doing yourself any favors if you aren’t registering and working with an aggressive agent who knows the market. Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of work in South Boise and Southeast Boise, so I have an edge on agents who haven’t been working there recently. It makes for a valuable service to new buyers when their agent already knows of the great deals without having to look on the multiple. On the other hand, I have access to the ENTIRE Multiple Listing Service and can search any area and find deals within moments!
What MLS Tools do I provide my buyers?
I provide my buyers with 3 Boise Home Search capabilities:
- Boiserealestatesoup.com — This a free site where you can do an IDX style search. In addition, you can create an account where you can save favorite listings and search criteria and also be notified of new homes on the market as they become available.
- Listingbook — This a step up from my sites IDX. You can not only search homes, but you can schedule showings, leave feedback, make notes and create a profile that we use to communicate online about the market. A very, very powerful tool! All of my clients love it!
- Intermountain MLS — Each buyer I work with gets a one on one consultation with me where I go through the Multiple Listing Service for them. I gather all the information from you about what’s important in a home, community or whatever criteria is important to you. I then build a profile for you and anytime a home comes onto the market, gets a price change or is modified in any way, I am the first to know about it. There are many times where we go through the Multiple together and you can see what I see!
Start your homesearch NOW!!!
Related posts:
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I think it depends on what MLS you belong to. Our agent MLS search is great, but the public MLS search is horrible. There are some great agent sites out there with lots of search options. But that being said… Its always better to contact the agent and let him/her know what you’re looking for.
I’m originally from Idaho and know lots of people in Boise. Lets trade some referrals! There is a huge connection between Boise and Bend.
Thanks for explaining what MLS stood for. I’ve been wondering for a while and just happened to stumble upon your post.
A Multiple Listing Service is a suite of services that (1) enables brokers to establish contractual offers of compensation (among brokers); (2) facilitates cooperation with other broker participants; (3) accumulates and disseminates information to enable appraisals; (4) is a facility for the orderly correlation and dissemination of listing information to better serve broker’s clients, customers and the public.
And i am completely agree with Dylan that its always better to contact an agent to know more about MLS.
The benefits of an MLS are many. In the markets we operate (Central America) there is no MLS and it makes the job of buying and selling frustrating, and the market overall lacks transparency. For example it’s practically impossible to get reliable data on what houses have sold for, trends in sales price etc. Also in the absence of an MLS, open listings are the norm. This means that buyers have to trudge round with every real estate agent in their area in order to see all there is to see. We’d love this to change and for agents to have the tools that would allow the kind of one-on-one consultation that Aaron describes in the post.
I don’t think anything is more difficult to explain to consumers than how the MLS works and what it means. You did a bang up job here. One thing too is sites like yours which have a direct feed to the MLS are better to search on than sites like Trulia which will show houses for sale that actually sold weeks ago.