Praise the MLS
Anyone who has ever looked for a property online, whether it be a home, condominium or apartment listing, has probably at one point done so through the multiple listing service (MLS).
The MLS compiles all properties for sale throughout the country and enters them into a convenient web service.
The September 1, 2006 article, “National MLS Created One Listing At A Time” located in Realty Times and written by M. Anthony Carr, explores the development of this savior tool for real estate agents.
“The latest buyer survey by the National Association of Realtors® revealed that 80 percent of all buyers now begin their search online for real estate. That's quite a surge in just a few years, when the number of cyber surfers for real estate was at about 7 percent of all buyers when real estate and the Internet met. If any industry benefits the consumer online, it's the real estate industry. Millions of houses advertised online for buyers to peruse, read over, view floor plans, and watch video tours. It's all there, it's free, but we really take for granted what it takes to create such a system.”
The electronic MLS system originally started years ago on paper. Virtually every Realtor across the country would turn in their personal listings with a picture, to the processing manager. Associations would then print up a book or cards and distribute them to every Realtor, either once or twice a week.
The purpose of the MLS was to keep Realtors informed of other properties on the market, to get an idea of prices, condition and etc.
“The electronic MLS system starts and ends with these licensees. Without the licensees of the state, belonging to brokerages, who gather millions of data and pay billions in fees, programming costs, etc., there would be no Realtor.com, Homesdatabase.com, homes.com, or any other internet-based real estate database for that matter.”
People can individually advertise their property for sale over the Internet or any other entity but it would not be in a national database where both buyer and seller have the opportunity to see what thousands of properties for sale cost and look like.
The MLS is so successful that other web services have been noted for copying and downright stealing MLS listings and placing them on their personal page.
NAR's Center for Realtor Technology has had to implement security programs designed to prevent theft and piracy.
“When I read articles about how the Realtors have the MLS locked up and should just open it free to all consumers (i.e., private sellers who want access, other web sites who want to draw buyers and sellers, etc.), I'm reminded of the little red hen, who once having gathered the wheat, ground it up into flour, made the cakes, and baked them, asked, ‘And who would like to eat the cakes?’ The Cat, the Dog, and the Duck all said, ‘I will, I will.’”
“‘No, No.’ said the Little Red Hen. ‘I will do that.’ And she did.”
The MLS started with one listing and has developed into the largest real estate database over the Internet.