The Realtor Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the database of homes for sale maintained or controlled by Realtor organizations around the United States and Canada. The Multiple Listing Service database contains all of the homes for sale listed by real estate agents and brokers in the metropolitan area and surrounding counties.

A recent survey by the National Association of REALTOR®s (NAR) showed that over 75% of home buyers purchased their home through a real estate agent using the Multiple Listing Service. That makes the MLS the "de facto" marketplace for real estate.

A properly priced home in the Mutliple Listing Service virtually guarantees a sale for the home owner. If the NAR studies are correct, that the MLS is responsible for over three quarters of home sales nationwide, then nothing else even comes close. Newspaper Classified Ads, Open Houses, Direct Mailings and all other forms of marketing and advertising combined do not even approach the efficacy of the MLS.

Why is the MLS so powerful? One reason is that most buyers prefer to use Realtors when purchasing a home. Along with access to the MLSs information about which properties are available for sale, a buyer's agent typically provides a convenient array of services that make the home buying process easier. And the buyer agent, by tradition, is compensated by the Seller, so the buyer doesn't come out of pocket for the use of their services.

Secondly, REALTOR®s tend to only show homes that are listed in the Multiple Listing Service because an MLS listing carries with it an offer of guaranteed compensation for the buyer's agent. Each home owner who has listed their home in the MLS has agreed, in advance, to pay a commission, usually a percentage of the sales price, to the buyer agent who brings them a ready, willing and able buyer. For Sale By Owner's (FSBOs) do not implicitly carry this same guarantee.

Further, the information in the MLS database makes it convenient for the agent to easily determine an available listing of homes currently available for sale that they may show their buyer clients. Since there is usually a ready supply of inventory in the MLS within any given price range and area for the REALTOR® to show, there is little incentive to look elsewhere. Unless a buyer asks specifically about a home not listed in the MLS, there is very little chance that the agent will show it.

These factors create a situation where a listing in the Multiple Listing Service has become a practical neccesity for obtaining the highest possible price and selling in the least amount of time. It is the "de facto" market for real estate, much like the New York Stock Exchange is the market for major U.S. stocks.

To order a listing in the Multiple Listing Service for a low, one-time flat fee, CLICK HERE.