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Heard of MLS? If you’ve ever dealt with a realtor, you surely have.Being a realtor from Toronto gives me plenty of opportunity to work with MLS every day. Let’s have a look what this short abbrev stands for.

The basis of MLS

Multiply Listing Service is nothing less or more than a database of all property for sale, connecting two agents, one that represents the seller and the other representing the potential buyer. It is region-based.It contains all the specific information about the property that you would expect in an advert: the size, the age, number of bedrooms or bathrooms, the garden, the address, the local area, the photos or even a virtual property tour, etc. etc.

The main difference between this database of property and lets say property listing in your local paper is quite crucial.MLS has never been fully available to the public, because it has been created by the realtors and for the realtors.The listings available to the general public are just a fraction of the information stored in MLS.

The history

It all started some 50 years ago. Back then, the MLS system comprised of simple sheets in ringed binders, listing all the property for sale in a certain city or area, updated bi-weekly.The second generation of the system were real bound MLS books, published monthly with weekly updates.The system relied on membership fees – can you imagine how much it must have cost to keep it running properly?The 70s introduced a bit more convenient system with the 3rd generation of the system consisting of computerized databases and dumb terminals. No more printed books!The so far last generation of the system is based on PCs and Internet. The conversion started in the 90s and the web-based system of regional databases hasn’t changed much since.

What about the future?

You might encounter an opinion that the current version of the system isn’t good enough because it’s regional based, which isn’t enough.Primarily in the USA, a certain group of realtors is proposing the creation of so called MLS 5.0 after the fashion of the ‘web 2.0′.The are three main differences of the 5.0 compared to the current MLS: the new system should be parcel based and therefore store information on all the properties there are, should be nationwide and customers, vendors and developers should be allowed to participate on it to some degree.But currently there’s the 4.0 version of the system and at least in Canada it will stay in place for the time being.

What can MLS bring to you as the customer?

At the moment about 75% of property is sold through the MLS.If you’re selling a property, you need plenty of coverage for it. Without MLS you never get as much of it as you need.The buyers benefit as well – because of MLS, their broker have a complete information about the current supply on the real estate market.Thereby always make sure your realtor is a member of the local board of realtors and have the proper access to MLS where you intend to buy a property.

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