How Will the
Multiple Listing Service ®
Assist You?

Before I get into the benefits of the Multiple Listing Service®, first, allow me to give you a ...

Brief History of the Real Estate Industry

Many years ago, long before the introduction of the Multiple Listing Service®, computers and other technological wonders, to buy homes or trade houses, buyers (purchasers) and sellers (vendors) depended upon independent real estate companies, and real estate marketing like newspaper ads and for sale signs.

Real estate brokerages were quite independent from each other. And each brokerage typically just showed their own listings. So, if a buyer wanted to view two properties listed with different companies, they had to do so with two different sales representatives.

If a real estate company listed a home, competing realty companies were unaware of it unless they happened to see the lawn sign or newspaper real estate ad, or had a friend at a competing realty company.

Not very efficient, right?

They would sometimes 'cooperate' with each other, wherein the brokerage with the buyer would bring the offer from their client. And if the negotiation was successful, the seller's brokerage would pay the full real estate commission as stated in the listing agreement, with usually half paid to the cooperating brokerage for their service. They would often execute a ‘co-broke’ agreement wherein the listing brokerage would promise to pay the cooperating brokerage an agreed share of the total commission generated from the sale.

It was the age of exclusive listings, before the introduction of the ...

Multiple Listing Service (MLS)®

The Multiple Listing Service® is a cooperative selling system operated by real estate boards, which are members of the provincial or state associations and the national associations.

With the introduction of these MLS® systems in Canada and the United States, came higher commission rates than what was the norm at the time. The rate for an exclusive listing was typically 5% of the sale price (with no GST/HST of course). If a seller wanted the added exposure offered by the new MLS® system, they had to pay the standard rate of 6%. Unlike today’s negotiable commission rates, the rate was determined by the real estate board.

These boards, of which there were many sprinkled around the country, were autonomous organizations formed to administer listing and sale activity within a specific geographic area. Sellers could have their homes offered for sale through this fantastic, brand new system of exposure. It represented a ...

Huge Leap Forward in Real Estate Marketing

Buyers still had to depend upon REALTORS®. However, buyer service was much better since all board member brokerages had access to a much larger pool of listings from which to choose properties to show their buyer customers.

The Multiple Listing Service® was somewhat primitive compared to today's system. Real estate brokerages depended upon paper 'dailies' which consisted of 'tear sheets' of listing activity distributed by the local real estate board. The dailies, called ‘hotsheets’, contained a detailed list of all listing and sale activity from the previous business day, including price reductions, in the various real estate board areas. The tear sheets contained black and white photos of the front exterior of the home, along with the basic details of the listing.

The Introduction of Real Estate Boards

... made co-broke agreements redundant. Membership in the board required of its members, not only to follow a stringent Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice, but also a set of MLS® Rules and Regulations which included the agreement that a listing brokerage must pay a cooperating, or selling brokerage the commission as advertised on the MLS® system listing. The commission, after the nominal board listing fee was deducted, was usually divided 50/50 between the two brokerages.

It was a tedious and time consuming procedure to tear the perforated sheets and organize them into the appropriate binders. Often, they simply ended up piled on someone's desk. This is the origin of the term 'buried listing'. Older listings that failed to sell quickly, ended up being buried under the newer listing sheets. Hence, the newer listings got most of the attention. It's pretty much the same way nowadays, but for a different reason.

This inefficient system was eventually replaced with weekly catalogues, a wonderful innovation at the time, since it eliminated the monotonous, labour-intensive task of tear sheet organization. However, it meant that if an agent relied upon the catalogue alone, they were unaware of new listings and sales that occurred between issues of the catalogue. Finally ...

Computers and the Internet Burst Onto the Stage

What a difference! Not only were real estate agents able to receive almost instantaneous current data on listing and sale activity, they were relieved of the previous administrative baggage and monotony of the older systems.

Suddenly, the more technically savvy real estate sales people could perform home searches and email new listings directly to their buyer clients. As software improved, and personal home computers proliferated, home buyers were delighted. As a result of the MLS® online system, not only could they receive detailed information, including colour interior and exterior photos, as well as virtual tours if available, but they could perform their own rudimentary searches of Canadian real estate themselves on REALTOR.ca® (formerly known as MLS.ca®), or American real estate at REALTOR.com® and MLS.com®.

Click Multiple Listing Service® to search MLS® listings in Canada. To search Multiple Listing Service® listings in the USA, click here

Countless real estate brokerages and sales people created their own websites, but by far the most popular with the public were those created by the national associations like The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA®) in Canada, and The National Association of Realtors (NAR®) in the USA. The term REALTOR® was created, and applied to a member of the board and the provincial, state and national associations.

By the way, the term, REALTOR®, is often erroneously used to refer to real estate sales people, when in fact, it refers to a sale person or broker who is a member of one of the national associations. It is a designation rather than an occupation.

To visit The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), click here. To visit the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) in the USA, click here.

How Will the Multiple Listing Service® Help?

For Buyers

It'll provide you the opportunity to perform basic home searches in virtually any area across the country, and obtain information and photos of every home listed on the Multiple Listing Service® system, wherever you have access to the internet.

For sellers

Whether you're just wanting to sell a home, an investment property, or you intend on trading houses, it offers simply the best real estate marketing exposure money can buy. It's where the vast majority of buyers begin their home search. So, you don't want to miss out on the fabulous exposure offered by the MLS® system for your listing.

Value Added Service

Recently, several real estate boards, including the biggest board in Canada, the Toronto Real Estate Board TREB have organized a data sharing agreement called CONNECT that permits a member REALTOR® the privilege of accessing current listings and recent sales of property in other member board databases. So, the services available through the Multiple Listing Service® system continue to evolve and improve. As far as I know, currently ...

No Better Resource for Buyers

No Better Exposure for Sellers

Unfortunately, the public domains in Canada REALTOR.ca and in the USA REALTOR.com are often not quite as current as the industry version of the same MLS® systems because the uploading is the responsibility of the local real estate board. So, there’s often a few days delay because of the huge volume of daily listings to upload submitted by the member realty companies during active market periods.

The Multiple Listing Service® system will definitely assist you in your home search, or your home marketing. It's a great way to get started. Over 85% of all home buyers begin their home search on the internet. At some point, however, most buyers establish a relationship with a REALTOR®.

It Simply Makes Sense

Canadian and American Trademarks are owned or controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association or the National Association of REALTORS respectively and are used under license.

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