To all the agents in the house,
Are you getting the most out of your Multiple Listings Service?
I wrote a two-part feature this week on the National Association of Realtors' pocket listings ban, which prohibits member agents from marketing a property without putting it on their local MLS within one business day.
The unlikely star of the story is the literally countless MLSs who are the gatekeepers for information about homes for sale across the country. Not only do agents rely on MLSs, but consumers get listings from websites like Zillow that rely on MLS Internet data exchange feeds.
It is these MLSs who sought the pocket listings policy, NAR has said, and it is these companies who are charged with enforcing it.
But not all MLSs -- two I reported on in the story were the Massachusetts Property Information Network and Midwest Real Estate Data -- are owned by local NAR chapters and thus bound by that trade group's policy.
And the ones who are may not be exactly combing county records on deed transfers to ensure no homes were illicitly marketed. In Arizona, for example, broker Dana Hubbell said agents are "throwing up yard signs without listing."
Asked about policy violations, James Marcus, director of Arizona MLS, says, "Nothing comes to mind at the moment."
I'm not advocating that Marcus or another Arizona MLS employee conduct elaborate sting operations. But, agents, I'm curious how much you are paying in fees to your local MLSs, and what you are getting in return.
Another question. Are MLSs a money-making opportunity for some broker-owners or local NAR chapters who operate them? These are almost all for-profit operations, and they collect hundreds of dollars annually from each agent, so where is that money going toward?
If these sound like basic questions, well, I am struggling to understand how the hundreds of MLSs operate in the digital age, and what is the right number of MLSs. Another outsider to the MLS regime, Sonia Gilbukh, assistant professor of real estate at Baruch College, concurs.
"The more I learn about MLSs," Gilbukh said. "The more confusing it seems to be."
Agents, please lend some clarity. Email me anonymously at mblake@housingwire.com.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
Senior Real Estate Reporter
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