In real estate, MLS stands for multiple listing service, the platform real estate agents use to list properties for sale and find homes for buyers. Although people often refer to “the MLS” as a single entity, there are actually hundreds of multiple listing services across the country.
The concept has been around since the late 1800s when brokers met at their local association offices to exchange information, according to the National Association of Realtors. Today, home buyers and sellers are most likely to encounter the MLS online, either via consumer-facing MLS sites or on real estate websites that draw from MLS listings.
How the multiple listing service works
Each MLS is a private database maintained and paid for by an organization of real estate brokers and agents. Multiple listing services range in size, with some serving small local markets and others covering large regions that span multiple states. In recent years, the number of multiple listing services has declined as smaller ones have merged to create larger regional ones for greater efficiency.
Real estate professionals pay membership fees to join one or more multiple listing services. In return, they can post properties their clients are selling and view listings shared by other agents.
MLS and agent compensation
In the past, listing agents and buyer's agents who participated in an MLS shared commissions. The listing included the buyer's agent's compensation in a non-consumer facing section that was only visible to real estate professionals. However, following a class-action lawsuit involving agent commissions, MLSs no longer allow listings to include offers of compensation for buyer’s agents.
Home sellers still pay their own listing agents, and they may choose to offer concessions that help cover the buyer's agent’s compensation as part of the negotiation process. Agent compensation is an item that buyers and sellers negotiate.
How to list a home on the MLS
If you're working with a listing agent to sell your home, the agent will list the property on the multiple listing services that cover your area.
If you're going the for-sale-by-owner, or FSBO, route, you can pay a company to place your listing on the MLS. Many owners who are selling their properties without the help of agents skip the MLS and post their listings on websites specializing in FSBO listings, such as FSBO.com and ForSaleByOwner.com.
How to access the MLS
You may be able to search for homes on the website of the MLS that covers your area. However, many of these listings are available on real estate websites, such as Zillow, where consumers and agents can search for properties by location, price, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and other criteria.
Although consumers can view public property listings on real estate websites, some information in an MLS is available only to licensed real estate professionals. These can include details about the listing that agents may not be eager to broadcast, like property access. If any information is relevant to your home search, your real estate agent will be able to access it through the MLS and share the information with you.
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