What does MLS stand for?

MLS is one of the first things you hear when dealing with buying or selling a property.GTA MLS plays an important part in everyday life of any realtor and I, a realtor am no exception. If you're interested why MLS is such a big deal, just read on.

The fundaments of MLS

MLS stands for Multiply Listing Service or System - a database of all the real estates for sale in a certain area. Its purpose is to link a realtor working for the seller with a realtor working for the buyer.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.

If I made it sound as if MLS was simply another list of properties not much different to let's say a listing available on your realtor's website, it's not quite so.MLS is not a public database: only realtors have a full access to it.All the easily obtained information in your local papers or on the Internet are just a segment of the information provided in MLS.

A bit of history

50 years ago the MLS originated as listing sheets or ringed binders with information on the property for sale in the region, manually updated twice a month.The ringed binders weren't really practical and so the real bound MLS books followed soon after. They were published once a month with weekly or bi-weekly updates.The system relied on membership fees - can you imagine how much it must have cost to keep it running properly?The 70s brought the 3rd generation: the database was finally computerized and accessible through dumb terminals and phone lines.The use of PCs and Internet was the next logical step forward. So far last upgrade happened in the 90s and the system stabilized on web-based regional databases of today.

What about the future?

Some people think that the current version of MLS isn't sufficient 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 Canada has yet to think of such an upgrade, so let's stick to the MLS of today.

So how can MLS be useful to you, the customer?

Currently over 7 out of 10 properties are sold through the MLS. MLS is very important for the seller because it allows them to get their property as much exposure as possible.Equally the buyers benefit from MLS: thanks to MLS their broker has a very good idea of what's on the 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.