What is the Real Estate MLS?

Whether you’re considering the purchase of a new home or the sale of your current one, the real estate MLS consists of a variety of services that you will undoubtedly make use of throughout the buying or selling process.

The MLS is a multiple listing service that’s used by real estate brokers and agents in an effort to coordinate between themselves while also providing a wonderful resource for both buyers and sellers that acts as a huge database of property listings. These home listings are extensive and include every detail you would require when purchasing or selling a home.

Although these services are now digital in nature, the term itself was originally coined in the early 20th century, at which time it was used by real estate agents who would gather in a wide array of different buildings to converse and provide information about the properties that they were placing on the market, as they believed that doing so would allow them to improve their chances of getting into contact with prospective homebuyers.

Over time, these services have expanded to the point where they are now available in a database that is completely searchable by home features, price, neighborhood, and a variety of additional factors. Although the MLS appears to be a singular national database, it actually consists of nearly 700 separate databases that are divided by region. Agents can choose to become a part of multiple MLS services in order to obtain a wider reach for their clients across many regions in California.

While the sellers of the home in question can’t post the listing of their property directly to the MLS due to the fact that the database can only be accessed by brokers and agents, these brokers can do so in the place of the seller. Once the broker or agent has done so, the listing will be placed on hundreds of different websites automatically, bolstering the chances that your home is sold quickly. Every piece of information available within the MLS can be passed on to the seller or buyer of the home, allowing the clients of the broker or agent to reap the same benefits that they do.

MLS Services in Southern California

When you are searching for a home in Southern California or have one that you wish to place on the market, there are a variety of different MLS providers that serve Southern California, Ventura County, and Greater Los Angeles, including those of CARETS and CRMLS.

When it comes to CRMLS, or the California Regional Multiple Listing Service, their coverage area extends throughout much of Southern California and provides members with all of the tools they need to access a substantial amount of information about properties in Southern California, both closed and recently listed, allowing these brokers and agents to determine recent trends within the real estate market while also narrowing down properties that their client might be interested in. As of this moment, they have more than 85,000 members throughout California and operate over several regions, providing members with enough information to sometimes avoid joining multiple MLS services where they would be required to pay fees for each. CRMLS makes use of modern technology to provide brokers and agents with a database that offers premium data distribution, access to a comprehensive amount of public records, and thorough listing services that brokers can make use of when their client wishes to list their home.

The marketing services offered by this MLS allow agents and brokers to connect with clients and start to grow their network through such features as a cloud MLX that is an agent-driven front-end, a cloud CMA that is designed to help brokers make a fantastic visual first impression with their clients due to customizable reports, and access to ListHub, which is a network that allows brokers to send their any of their real estate listings to more than 85 publishers as a means of reaching prospective homebuyers on more than 900 consumer websites. All of their features are designed to provide brokers and agents with a streamlined process that will give them the information they require in a small amount of time.

The other major MLS provider in Southern California is CARETS, which provides real estate professionals with access to a vast number of listings and services that will assist them in comparing properties and identifying all of the relevant information surrounding a specific home that the client is interested in. Their market extends to more than 700 areas, most of which are located in Southern California. Because of this vast market area, one of the premier benefits offered to brokers and agents who join CARETS is that they have access to the numerous overlapping markets within Southern California without needing to go through the issue of paying multiple fees and entering the same listing into a variety of systems, which helps to save a lot of valuable time that can otherwise be spent with the client. CARETS also allows an agent or broker to provide your clients with information that is only available through an MLS. The richest and most accurate data only exists within an MLS, which is fully provided by the CARETS database.

Who Can Access the MLS?

The MLS can only be accessed directly by brokers and agents who have membership to a specific regional MLS or an MLS provider that offers access to multiple overlapping MLS services, although the information available to these people can also act as valuable resources to prospective homebuyers and sellers alike.

In regards to agents and brokers, they will be able to list all of their client’s properties in a database that will spread the listing across a large number of consumer websites while also providing these same clients with information they can use to bolster their chances of finding the right home or selling their house at the right price. Many of the available MLS providers within Southern California offer a myriad of features that help to make the buying and selling process much more straightforward for both the agent/broker as well as their clients.

As a resource, prospective homebuyers can search for a home with very specific requirements in mind, allowing them to precisely narrow down the search results until they’ve landed on a home or two that match their exact specifications. The information and data available within this database is the most comprehensive on the internet, providing you as the buyer with facts, trends, and comparable data that you simply can’t find anywhere else.

Despite the fact that this information is only available to real estate professionals such as brokers and agents, we work on your behalf and will provide you with an up-close and detailed look at this information in an easy-to-understand manner. Without this information, your search for a home is greatly hindered, which is especially bothersome when attempting to select a home in the popular areas of Southern California. In order to beat out the competition who may be interested in the same properties that you are, you need to have as many resources at hand as possible.

The real estate MLS is also a valuable resource for sellers due to the fact that the information within the database will allow them to assess the current real estate market, form a competitive selling price, and research competition, all of which are worthwhile endeavors when you are looking to sell your home in a reasonable span of time. When it comes to the numerous real estate options in Southern California, many areas throughout Conejo Valley, Thousand Oaks, and the Greater Los Angeles area are attractive for prospective homebuyers.

While this means that the buyer market is more competitive and will benefit you when selling your home, this also means that sellers must be more competitive themselves in order to offer selling prices that will actually appeal to the people in the market for a new home. You also don’t want your home to be on the market for a lengthy period of time without being sold, as this tends to make homebuyers question why the property hasn’t been sold yet. By having all of the data within an MLS at your fingertips, you will never catch yourself making a wrong decision or listing the home at a price that is deemed far too high. As you research the competition, you will be able to identify what the listing price was, how much lower the closing price was, and the length at which the house was on the market, allowing you to adapt on the fly.

Getting Started With the MLS

If you wish to get started with the MLS, our website has a plethora of options available to you that will allow you to browse the MLS and search for a new home, research the local market, or find details about existing properties! With this information, you will be able to make a much more informed decision about which home you would like to purchase by utilizing the huge variety of search criteria that you can use to narrow your search. It’s a simple process that we want to provide to you as an aid in your homebuying process.

At Nicki and Karen Southern California Luxury Real Estate, we aim to provide our clients with the tools and resources they need to become knowledgeable about the current luxury real estate market so they can get the best price for their home.  View our search tool or contact Nicki & Karen to get started with your FREE search today!