US MLS Access Information

Consumer MLS access in the United States is widespread and easily available in most areas. Most MLSs are overseen by the local association of realtors ®, and they usually cover a large city, a county, or multiple counties, depending on how the area is divided by the local real estate board. Consumer MLS access for the United States is available on a nation level at Realtor.com. You can usually obtain regional MLS access on the website for your local association of realtors ®. MLS access is often offered on the websites of local real estate agents, realtors ®, and brokerages as well. Under most circumstances, you do should not have to pay for MLS access for US multiple listings. If you find a website that is requesting payment for MLS access, find another website. Sometimes you may have to register for MLS access. Normally, this does not hold you to use that particular realtor ®, brokerage or real estate agent for your real estate transaction, although this is not the case with a Virtual Office Website. In most cases, if you would rather not register, you can find a website offering the same MLS access without registration by searching for a different website.

Consumer MLS Restrictions

When discussing consumer MLS access in the United States, it's important to realize that consumers may not enter or edit the information in the MLS database. Entering properties into the MLS database is strictly limited to licensed real estate professionals who have a paid membership to that MLS. Consumers wishing to list their property in the MLS must form a relationship with a real estate professional in order to have their property listed in the database. This usually means listing your property with a real estate agent, brokerage or realtor ® and agreeing to a sales comission on your property. If you would like to sell your property "For Sale By Owner", or FSBO, you may have the option of a "Flat Fee MLS" listing, which means you pay a pre-arragnged fee to a real estate company in exchange for them entering your property into the MLS. This does not invlove a sales comission on your property, although the real estate company will not do any marketing beyond entering your data into the MLS system.