Are you starting to house hunt and wonder what the letters MLS stand for? And how can the MLS help you when you are looking for a new home to buy? What we call the MLS today, or the Multiple Listing Service, has developed into a nationally accepted and accessed program with detailed reports on homes and properties in thousands of communities throughout America. Through cooperation with all the brokerage groups in the country, state, and in your city or town, the MLS has become the powerful platform real estate agents and home sellers can share and access the homes available for sale. Let’s take a look at what the MLS is all about.
What is the MLS?
History of the MLS
Before the electronic Multiple Listing Service version that we have today, the MLS wasn’t more than listings of houses on paper. Let me share a little history with you on how the MLS came to be. For over 100 years, real estate agents exchanged listings of the homes they had for sale with other agents in their neighborhoods and towns. The deals started as a meetup between agents, exchanging what they had for sale in the area.
As time moved on, real estate agents developed larger databases, but still they shared their listings among other agents and brokers in person or over the phone from a large book, file, or collection of listings. Before the electronic version of the MLS came to be, paperwork and listings could be given out in person, mailed, or faxed over to other brokers to share with their clientele. This evolved into the electronic Multiple Listings Service platform we know of today.
How does the MLS work?
One of the main reasons the Multiple Listing Service works is the cooperation we spoke about earlier between real estate agents and brokerages. They all rely on one another to bring the listings together and to share them with other agents. It’s a sort of glue that keeps everyone together when it comes to the distribution of homes for sale.
Additionally, there are different MLSs that can be accessed depending on location.
What Information is included in the MLS?
Many people believe that when they are shopping for a new home, large home aggregates can give them the information they need. However, these large websites will only pull in some of the information about homes in the area for sale, and only the information that is already public.
The Multiple Listing Service will include vastly more information than what’s available to the public. This is a service offering more private details of the home for sale, so it’s a vital piece of technology for a real estate agent to offer to you when you are house shopping. Information like pricing history, notes from the current owner, instructions on viewing and so much more. It provides a thorough review of what the homes are all about.
When Do New Real Estate Listings in the MLS Get Updated?
Depending on when the house for sale was listed on the Multiple Listing Service, the update could vary. Timing depends on a variety of technical pieces like website caches and networking platforms working together. But, ultimately the MLS will update shortly after the real estate agent adds the property info. That means the program updates anywhere from every 15 minutes to about 48 hours.
Your Top Memphis Area Real Estate Agent
When it’s time to sell your existing home or buy a great new place, turn to a highly-regarded and well-informed local real estate agent. You want a real estate agent that will guide you during your home selling and buying process. You want someone that you can trust to give you the best advice and know-how for this area. Check out my other great articles to help you through your home selling and buying experience here in Memphis.
Take a minute to learn more about me and how I can guide you with your house sale, new home purchase, or buying a great parcel of land. With over 15 years of top-notch service for my clients, I want to help you with your home selling or buying journey. Contact me at (901) 828-8919 or drop me a quick note at angie@angiekelley.com and we can speak about your plans and options. I look forward to speaking with you today! Make sure to ask me about how I can help you with your home staging, too.
Angie Kelley, Crye-Leike Realtors
(901) 828-8919 or (901) 840-1181
