Multiple listing service

The multiple listing service ( MLS or multiple listing system or multiple listing service ) is a data network through which the connected real estate agents can cooperate with each other and conclude joint deals. Real estate objects are stored digitally in an internet database so that every participant has access to all objects belonging to other participants. A search engine function enables every interested party connected to have quick access to potential sales objects. This collaboration is standard in the USA.

origin

The first MLS were established in the United States in the late 19th century. Real estate agents met regularly in the offices of their associations to exchange information about offers and to agree success fees. The Real Estate Transaction Standard has become established for the North American area .

In contrast to traditional public real estate exchanges, the offers are only accessible to affiliated brokers. This means that a customer only has to hire one broker to have most of the properties available. For the broker, it means that, with the help of the preparatory work of his colleagues, he can quickly find several suitable properties and thus the marketing can be carried out more quickly. In addition, he can offer the properties offered on public exchanges and thus has an information advantage over public real estate exchanges.

To date, MLS are mainly widespread in the USA and Canada, but the first beginnings are already in other countries such as B. Great Britain and Germany to be seen. Multiple listing systems come in many different forms. They combine the listings of all available properties represented by agents who are members of this MLS as well as the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and the independent network of UK Real Estate Agents (The Independent Network of Estate Agents) INEA.

There is no such thing as an authoritative MLS or a universal data format. However, there is one data standard in the real estate industry - the Real Estate Transaction Standard - that is used by many MLS in North America. The many local and private databases use XML data feeds to enter and remove listings. Some are controlled by individual real estate associations or individual brokers or groups of associations (representing all agents within a given community or area) and are referred to as MLS because they share data among their members, or because they have agreements on mutual access to the data include.

Purpose and benefits of the MLS

The primary purpose of an MLS is to create a platform on which listed brokers can make "unilateral compensation offers" to other participating brokers. In other words: the commission of the listed broker is published within the MLS for other cooperating brokers. Such a compensation offer is considered a contractual obligation, but can be negotiated between the parties involved. Since the commission for a transaction as well as all data of the property are contained in the MLS, it is in the interests of the involved brokers (and also the public) to keep exact and timely data in the MLS.

As an added benefit of an MLS, a registered member can search the MLS and obtain information on all of the properties offered for sale by participating brokers. MLS contain hundreds of pieces of information about the characteristics of a property. This information is determined by competent real estate experts who are experienced in the respective market. Public real estate websites, on the other hand, only provide a small amount of information about the property.

Access restrictions and criticism of MLS

Most multiple listing systems restrict membership and access to real estate agents (and their agents) who may be licensed by the operator; Are a member of a board of directors or a broker association (such as the "bvi - Bundesverband für die Immobilienwirtschaft"). However, access is being opened more and more as Internet sites give the public the opportunity to view parts of the MLS listings. However, there is still sufficient control about access to the information within the MLS. As a rule, only the brokers have unrestricted access to the MLS database, who receive a corresponding commission from the sales value.

Many public Internet forums are only suitable to a limited extent for viewing comparable objects, sales prices achieved in the past, or monthly statistics. This represents a cornerstone of several ongoing arguments regarding the current state of the real estate market, focusing on free and public information necessary for both buyers and sellers to ensure that fair prices are negotiated upon completion. This is the only way to maintain a stable and less volatile market.

Individuals who act as private sellers - (en: For Sale By Owner, FSBO) - generally cannot list their home directly in an MLS. As an example of an exception to this general practice, consider the MLS for Spain, AMLASpain, which allows private sales (FSBO). A suitably licensed broker who has neither joined a real estate association nor does business within the association's rules cannot join the MLS. However, there are brokers and many Internet services that offer private sellers the option of listing their property in the database of their local MLS against payment of a flat rate or on the basis of another payment method.

In Canada, the Canadian Real Estate Association , the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has been rigorously scrutinized and investigated by the competition authority and litigation with former CREA member and real estate agent Realtysellers (Ontario) Ltd. over their control over the Canadian MLS. 2001 Realtysellers (Ontario) Ltd. started a discount real estate firm that reduced the role of agents and their commissions received from buyers and sellers. The brokers later teamed up and filed a $ 100 million lawsuit against CREA and TREB, alleging that they broke an out-of-court agreement signed in 2003.

Multiple listing systems in North America

In North America, MLS are controlled by private companies and the rules are set by these companies. There is no state or federal oversight other than individual state laws regarding the real estate market. Multiple listing systems set their own rules for membership, access and information distribution, but are subject to the nationwide rules of NAR or CREA. An MLS can be owned and operated by a real estate agency, a county, a regional association of real estate agents or a trading organization. Membership in an MLS is generally considered important to pursuing the brokerage business.

Canada

In Canada, the Multiple Listing Systems are a collaborative system for the 98,000+ members of the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and are operated by 101 Canadian Real Estate Boards and 11 Provincial / Territorial Associations.

The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) claims to have introduced the first multiple listing system in Canada. A publicly accessible website (realtor.ca, formerly mls.ca) enables customers to search an aggregated subset of the active listings in the databases of all participating bodies with limited details and forwards the consumers to a broker for further information.

United States

The largest multiple listing system in the US is currently the (en: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc, MRIS) in the Washington DC region. It covers most of Washington DC, Maryland (including Chesapeake Bay counties), suburban counties in Virginia, and parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. According to the publicly accessible parts of its website, as of January 25, 2010 it has 49,140 active members. However, the numbers vary depending on when the data is queried.

New York City

Although the other counties and Long Island have well-received MLS, MLS was never introduced in Manhattan. A small group of brokers started the Manhattan Real Estate Association and run MLSManhattan.com. MLSManhattan has a small portion of the total active inventory in Manhattan. The MLS Bronx Manhattan North also covers parts of Northern Manhattan, but was not widely adopted by brokers either.

The predominant database is operated by the New York Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), a non-brokerage firm that separated from the National Association of Realtors in 1994. REBNY operates a database called RLS, which stands for REBNY Listing Service. A predecessor to RLS was marketed under the name ROLEX (REBNY Online Listing Exchange) until the watch manufacturer Rolex complained about trademark infringement.

Unlike MLS, RLS does not provide any data from which contract details, sales status or duration of the offer can be found. There are also no rental offers. RLS is more of a portal for connecting active listings. There is no stand-alone database. The RLS portal is fed by various private databases, including Online Residential (OLR) and Realplus, an exclusive and protected database from Manhattan that is accessible and protected by a few large real estate agents. These databases continuously exchange their data and thus generate several different systems with essentially similar data. Another provider, Klickads Inc. D / B / A Brokers NYC, owned by Lala Wang, sued in 2007 to be included on the list of authorized companies.

Most Manhattan agents are members of REBNY. The REBNY RLS requires that all listings be entered and distributed within 24 hours. (72 hours up to 2007 to allow agencies without data entry at the weekend)

Strategies for Sharing MLS Data in the United States

The National Association of Realtors NAR has established guidelines that allow real estate agents to display restricted MLS information on their websites. The system used for this is known as IDX or Internet Data Exchange. NAR has a stake in Move Inc., the company that operates a website with exclusive rights to display critical MLS information.

Using the IDX search capabilities available on most real estate agent websites (as well as many individual estate agent sites), potential buyers can locate the properties available in the market. The search criteria are the location of the property, type (single-family house, rent, building land, semi-detached house), characteristics of the property (number of bedrooms and bathrooms) and price ranges. Photos are also available for some properties. With many you can save your search criteria and receive daily e-mail information about newly available properties. However, once a potential buyer has found a suitable property, he still has to contact the offering agent or his own agent in order to view the house and make an offer.

The US Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against the National Association of Realtors in 2005 regarding the NAR's policy that allowed brokers to restrict access to their MLS information so that they could not access certain broker websites appeared that work exclusively on the Internet. This policy affected commercial companies that were also licensed as brokers, such as B. HomeGain, who advertised customers via internet and then referred them to local brokers for a share of 25% to 35% of the commission.

The US Department of Justice's antitrust lawsuit also included the NAR's policy of excluding certain types of brokers from membership in multiple listing systems. The NAR has now revised its guidelines and now allows members and others to access data that is classified as protected. The case was closed in May 2008 and NAR agreed that internet brokers would have access to the same multiple listing systems as traditional brokers.

Multi-listing systems in Europe

Although there is still a lack of rules governing real estate transactions in many countries, there have been recent attempts to align them with those in developed markets.

Germany

The first multiple listing system in Germany appeared in 2003. Since there is no compulsory training for real estate agents in Germany, real estate agents or real estate experts are very often referred to as real estate agents in Germany. As a rule, the operating companies of the free German MLS systems pay attention to the training, industry knowledge and length of professional commitment of their customers in order to further increase the quality of the multiple listing systems. Well-known MLS systems that operate throughout Germany are MyIRENS (2003), Sixpercent (2002), Implius (MLS), Intramakler (2005) and RE-SHARE (2011).

The MLS data standard is based on the well-known OpenImmo standard and thus offers every real estate agent the opportunity to join a multiple listing system.

Great Britain

In the UK, multiple listing systems exist through some agency software vendors, but many of them have designed their software for use in one company only (whether 1 or 20-30 offices). The problem is that most software packages do not allow the brokers to exchange data with other companies (separate brokerage offices). So MLS in the UK are still in their early stages. A platform for data exchange now exists via INEA (The Independent Network of Estate Agents), an independent network of real estate agents who work with 2/3 of the main software providers, which means that an agent can at least select other agents and send MLS information and can receive. Most software vendors did not work together until INEA was launched. A platform for data exchange existed just as little as an MLS data standard.

History of the UK's multiple listing systems

In the 1980s and early 1990s, agents cooperated in offering properties to other agents in a manner similar to early US and Canadian agents - using paper forms with boxes to tick off. The characteristics agreed with the owner and possibly a photo or a negative have been attached as an attachment; a similar process was later used via email and computer graphics files. This worked to the extent that all brokers involved could copy the property data on a paper or email basis. The main agent was considered the seller. All sales progress went through him and the commission was split upon completion.

The dark years

In the late 1990s, many of the smaller real estate offices were taken over by larger corporations (known as corporations) and when that happened many of the smaller offices' MLS relationships broke up. There were more software options (all competing with one another) and, since the software companies did not work together, the broker collectives were fragmented by non-collaborative third-party software remnants. After major real estate portals conquered the market in 2000, the British brokers began to work alone, as everyone now had access to the same platforms.

The change

The weak economy and rising portal fees meant a change. The brokers pay less on fewer portals, reduced from 4 or 5 to maybe just one main portal, as well as a second portal that you may have left to test another. The brokers are slowly realizing through cooperation and the new UK MLS data standard INEA (IDX) that they can use the resources of their colleagues and that they can achieve better customer marketing with reduced costs through cooperation. MLS has arrived.

MLS - The future in Great Britain

Research and developments by INEA have shown that there is again a platform for MLS in the UK and that the good old days of working with paper forms are over. The support of now 2/3 of the main UK software houses means brokers can offer their own listings on their website and an additional INEA feed of accepted sub-brokers. Although fairly new, MLS has reached an important milestone in the UK. Since the 1990s, when brokers displayed their offers in other brokers' windows and on their display walls, the void has now been closed and today brokers can post their own offers as well as those of their colleagues on their websites. In this way, you can provide your customers with additional MLS offers according to the motto: "Instruct me properly and you will receive the other MLS offers."

Italy

In Italy there are already several MLSs and it is possible to choose between a large number of real estate companies that manage the properties between the agencies that sell listings to other internet platforms, or both. A well-known MLS is Tuttocasa.gest.

Czech Republic

Multiple listing systems exist in the Czech Republic under the system name IMMO2. With this system, Czech Realtors operates an MLS for the Czech Republic. "IMMO2" is officially associated with many brokers from all over Europe and uses the brand name "IMMO2"

Other multi-listing systems

Philippines

The Association of Philippine Real Estate Agents (PAREB) operates RPMLX, an MLS for the Philippines. PAREB is officially affiliated with NAR in the USA and can legally use the brand name "Realtors".

Vietnam

The multiple listing service was introduced in Vietnam in 2010. The MLS in Vietnam is roughly based on the US model, with some changes to adapt to local market conditions. In particular, the system supports both the open listing agencies and the MLS, since the current market mainly works with the open agency model. However, offers from FSBO private sellers are not permitted.

Israel

The Israeli multiple listing service is called Shiran. MLS has been operating in Israel since 1990, mainly in the Jerusalem area. The system operates with full exclusivity for both sales and rentals.

Individual evidence

1. ^ What is a Multiple Listing Service . Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2009.
2. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated November 1, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ What is RETS?
4. ↑ AMLA Spain website ( Memento of the original from January 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Damon Darlin: The Last Stand of the 6-Percenters? , New York Times . September 3, 2006. Retrieved September 12, 2009. 
6. ^ Garry Marr: How an epic battle began , Financial Post . April 10, 2010. Archived from the original on November 11, 2012 Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Retrieved January 18, 2013.  
7. ^ History of the Vancouver Real Estate Board . Retrieved April 7, 2007.
8. ^ Canadian Real Estate Association website
9. ↑ MRIS "Vital Statistics" January 18, 2013 ( Memento of the original from January 15, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ "REBNY pulls out of NAR"
11. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from July 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
12. ↑ Realtor.com
13. ↑ US v. National Association of Realtors
14. ↑ NAR-DOJ: Final Settlement Details ( Memento of June 7, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), National Association of REALTORS, May 22, 2009.
15. ^ Realtors Agree to Stop Blocking Web Listings , New York Times, May 28, 2008.
16. ↑ MLS MyIRENS - What is a broker network?
17. ↑ Sixpercent website
18. ↑ Flowfact MLS
19. ↑ Intramaker
20. ↑ MLS platform RE-SHARE
21. ↑ OpenImmo real estate standard
22. ↑ Tuttocasa, gest
23. ↑ [1]
24. ↑ The History of PAREB ( Memento of the original from March 10, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
25. ↑ Vietnam Multiple Listing Service Website . Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved November 15, 2011. 
26. ↑ www.shiran.co.il

Web links and references

• NAR's explanation of MLS and the uses of its data ( Memento of November 14, 2006 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved February 20, 2005.
• NAR's ILD (Internet Listing Display) policy outlined ( Memento of May 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ). Retrieved November 15, 2011
• “Justice Department Sues National Association Of Realtors For Limiting Competition Among Real Estate Brokers”, Department of Justice antitrust lawsuit press release, September 8, 2005