What Is The MLS?

For people who’ve never sold a home before, the term “MLS” probably doesn’t mean too much. You may have heard it or read it somewhere but it remains a foreign concept. It stands for Multiple Listing Service.

And it’s really less complicated than it sounds. Every place where a family lives (and this means ANYWHERE in the United States), their house is part of a local MLS. How large that MLS is or how many there are per state can vary widely.

All it means is that real estate agents in that area have joined together to share information about properties they have for sale. Obviously, if more licensed agents are aware of your listing, the better the odds are that another agent will have a buyer who wants to purchase your property.

With the advent of the personal computer, MLS organizations now put their information on the internet so all the other agents can see your property listed for sale at the touch of a button. However, only licensed real estate agents can place properties on the local MLS website.

This means that home sellers who try to sell on their own can’t place their information on the local MLS (unless they have a real estate license and have paid to join the local MLS). Neither can FSBO websites.

Studies over the years have clearly shown that the MLS is BY FAR the most effective way to sell your property. It has been this way for a long time and shows no signs of slowing down.