The term MLS comes up often when you are searching for real estate in Naples Florida or elsewhere online. MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service or Multiple Listing System. The Naples MLS, or others around the US, are online listing databases that allow members to efficiently and effectively market properties for sale to other brokers and, through additional syndication and data feeds, to the public around the world.
The MLS gathers data on home, land and even rental sales. Through it’s rules and regulations for inputting information and disseminating information, it facilitates cooperation amongst brokers, allows for more accurate property appraisals and has begun to standardize the marketplace for real estate information.
MLS Secret #1
Although my colleagues may not like that I’m releasing this cat-out-of-the-bag, the MLS is far from perfect. Too often mistakes are made by Realtors who incorrectly enter the data or intentionally attempt to break the rules to their benefit—and your detriment.
One way real estate agents intentionally break the rules is to remove a property from the system and immediately re-list it. They do this, deceptively, to show less days on the market (DOM) and to make it appear that it’s a new listing.
These re-listed homes go out to the hot-list (a compilation of new homes, pending and properties that have changed their price) to other agents and the public (through sites like Listingbook.com and others) as newly listed homes when that is far from the case. This trick is easy to catch in the “listing history” of a property and shows the names and office of the offending agent. Your Realtor can provide you the listing history of any property, but it is not something you will find available on any public website.
“Help me sell my inventory & I’ll help you sell yours.”
– This principle gave birth to the first MLS in the late 1800′s when real estate brokers first gathered to share information and agreed to compensate other brokers who helped sell their properties.
MLS Secret #2
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has set policies that permit brokers to show limited MLS information on their websites under a system known as IDX or Internet Data Exchange. NAR has an ownership interest in Move Inc., the company which operates a website that has been given exclusive rights to display significant MLS information. That site is Realtor.com.
MLS Secret #3
As in any proper database, each property listed on the MLS is given a different and specific MLS number at the time it is entered into the system. This number is the same regardless if you are viewing the property on Realtor.com, Trulia.com or on a real estate agent’s website.
In Naples, the MLS numbers are 9 digits long and use part of the year listed along with a sequential listing number to differentiate them from thousands of other listings in the area. For example homes listed this year in 2011 will start with ’21100′ then four numbers. The fifth home listed in 2011 will have a listing number of 211000005 and so on.
Brokers and their Realtors use the MLS to look up detailed information on properties listed in the area their real estate board services. For example, our local board in Naples, Florida is the Naples Area Board of Realtors (NABOR) and our MLS is Sunshine MLS. Sunshine MLS is a collaborative project put together by the REALTOR® Boards of Southwest Florida so that members can share local real estate information. Only members in good standing, with proper licensing, have access to the system. System access is online through the Internet.
MLS Secret #4
Realtors can search the MLS database in many ways that the general public does not have access to. We provide many of these extras to our clients on our website. We allow searches for foreclosures, short sales and even the days on the market (DOM). Still, there are some items, like a properties listing history, that we are not allowed to provide on our website. A Realtor can provide these items to you, if you ask.
Most, (scratch that, virtually all) real estate companies give you a little taste of the MLS data to hook you and then want you to come to them for the rest of the pie.
At White Sands Realty, we look at it differently. If we are allowed to provide the information freely on our website, we will. Buyers and sellers today are more educated than ever. They want all the information in one place. We are confident enough in our local knowledge, strong negotiation skills and ability to protect our clients’ best interests that we know you will appreciate the value we provide when you’re ready to purchase.
MLS Secret #5
Additionally, in the spirit of full disclosure, the MLS is where we Realtors find out how much commission they will be paid if the property is sold to their client. The listing agent offers a different percentage of the purchase price to the buyer’s broker depending on their contractual agreement with the seller. This information is only visible to Realtors. In Naples, this percentage can range from around 2% up to 4%. Lower and higher commissions are out there but this is the range for the majority of real estate listed for sale on the MLS in Naples.
Other important information that can be accessed though the MLS is general data such as square footage, number of rooms, flooring, views of the waterfront or lake, Gulf access and, most importantly, photos of the property.
For a seller, the main point having your home listed in the MLS is to expand your sales force exponentially. Your property is accessible to Realtors locally and throughout Florida through the Florida Association of Realtors. Instead of having just one agent working for you, you have thousands of agents and thousands of websites (if your Realtor sets up the syndication process correctly) where potential buyers can find your home.
The MLS is a wonderful tool when you know the potential pitfalls and are able to ask the right questions (e.g. Will you please show me the property listing history?). Now that you know the secrets, mistakes and trickery that can go on behind the scenes, hopefully you will be better prepared the next time you see MLS data displayed on websites across the Internet.
Mark Weber is the Broker & President of White Sands Realty. He is a 33+ year resident of Naples and sought-after expert on local real estate. If you have a question about this article please call 239-417-1115 or email. Follow Mark on Twitter, Pinterest and/or on Google at +Mark Weber.
