Home sellers can’t post their home directly to the MLS, because access to this database is limited to licensed agents and brokers who pay for membership. Once they have a client selling a home, they gather the necessary details such as the square footage, number of bedrooms, and other noteworthy attributes-as well as photos-then post a complete (and hopefully eye-catching) listing on their client’s behalf. OK, we’re done!) How the multiple listing service works Over 90% of “For Sale” listings are refreshed at least every 15 minutes, which can come in handy in a fast-paced housing market, where every second can count. (And to further toot our own horn: Our listings are also the most accurate and up to date. While numerous websites aggregate home listings through highly condensed versions of MLS listings, ® is by far the most comprehensive, with 99% of all MLS-listed “for sale” properties in the U.S. In general, only one MLS has the keys, both figuratively and literally, to any one home. There is a growing trend in which regional databases “share” listings without agents needing to become members of each, but that’s still more the exception than the rule. This is why agents who want a broader reach for their clients may become a member of more than one MLS. And they’re quite territorial: Each regional MLS has its own listings, and agents pay dues to access and post homes on each one. While the MLS may look like one large national database, it’s actually a suite of approximately 580 regional databases. It quickly caught on from there, evolving, stage by stage, into the modern system in use today-online and fully searchable by price, neighborhood, and home features.
In 1908, the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges (the organization that later became the National Association of Realtors®) endorsed the use of this system by all agents. Back then it described the old-timey practice in which real estate agents would gather regularly at offices or conferences to trade info about homes they were trying to sell, hoping this network could help connect them with buyers. But, in fact, the term “multiple listing”-and the overarching concept behind it-was first coined in 1907. Yes, the MLS seems like an invention of the modern age. Let’s jump in! What is the MLS (multiple listing service)? But just what is the MLS? Sure, it’s a huge database of home listings, but there’s a lot more to it than just that. This is, in many ways, the very lifeblood of the real estate business. What is the MLS? Whether you’re looking to sell or buy a home, you will no doubt encounter the multiple listing service, or MLS.