A Consumer's Guide to the Multiple Listing Service
Anyone who has had a passing brush with real estate has seen or heard the term MLS but few consumers know exactly what MLS is, or understand the importance it plays in the real estate industry.
The MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is a complex information-sharing network created by Realtors to help the public buy and sell homes. When a Realtor lists a property for sale, he or she completes a detailed data sheet describing the home and submits the information to Real Estate Boards which manage the MLS. Board staff input the information into a central MLS computer databank, accessible only to other Realtors.
The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) operates the MLS locally, while most of the other eleven Boards around BC operate their own regional MLS systems. Although managed separately, the systems are linked in order that Realtors can access listings in most other areas.
MLS makes the real estate industry unique by allowing and encouraging a high degree of cooperation among Realtors - much more so than in any other industry. For example, if you are shopping for a car and you visit a local dealer, the salesperson's goal is to sell you a car from his lot. He will not provide you with the information on cars available at other competing dealerships; you would have to visit those on your own.
In the real estate industry, the opposite is true. MLS allows for cooperation between all Realtors, no matter what real estate company they work for. Using the computerized MLS system, your Realtor will enter the criteria you want in a home and generate a list of all the homes that meet your needs. These homes might be listed by other Realtors from many other companies - to your Realtor it does not matter. Only properties not listed with a Realtor (For Sale By Owner) are not accessible on MLS.
Before the computer era, the MLS system was managed manually through an immense amount of paperwork with Real Estate Boards printing daily "listing sheets". While these catalogues still exist, they have largely been replaced by a high speed computer program that allows Realtors to check up-to-the-minute information on every current listing.
This program provides Lower Maianland Realtors with access to much more detailed information, such as room size and measurements and specifics on the property condition, renovations, appliances, property zoning, and they can access the sales history of a home in order to see how many times it has changed hands and at what price.
Using the detailed profile available for every MLS listing, supplemented by their own in-depth knowledge of the neighbourhood and current market conditions, your Realtor can help you make a wise purchasing decision. And, when it comes time to sell your home, the MLS is your Realtor's indispensable tool!