The Multiple Listing Service or Multiple Listing System - MLS The MLS, unlike popular perception, is not a "public" site. It is not even a single unified system. Rather, it is more accurate to think of the MLS as a group of private MLS systems owned and operated by various MLS companies. These companies are owned primarily by groups of member real estate brokers. For example, in Charleston, our MLS is the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors MLS System. Brokers in Charleston pay dues to be members while their agents pay dues for agent level access. Most of these MLS systems have voted to allow limited public access - usually via a broker-member sites such as the one you are viewing right now. The main purpose in establishing the MLS systems was to share information among brokers and their agents so the process of matching buyers and sellers could be more efficient for everyone. The system was also designed to advertise offered commissions to selling agents and it also sets the limits of cooperation among agents for the listings. Among brokers, the MLS is, in effect, a contractual agreement for cooperation. Membership in the MLS is not mandatory in order to act as an agent for a seller or for a buyer. However, if you are not a member, you do not have a claim to any commission offered through the MLS as advertised by the member listing brokers. So, of course, most agents are members. Being a member of one MLS system does not make an agent or broker a member of any of the other hundreds of MLS systems. For example, a member in Charleston will not be a member in Columbia, Greenville, or Myrtle Beach unless that member also joins those systems. The Internet has made the MLS more accessible to the public. This has helped both the public and the Real Estate Industry by making the marketing of homes easier and the efficiency of the market better. If you need any more information on this subject, just give me a call. Chris DeLoach 843-270-1272 |