We know you must sit up at night pondering the world of Real Estate terms, we often do!  Let’s face it, buying or selling a home is a complicated process.  We here at The Mullin Group like to talk about all things real estate and today, we are going to talk about MLS listings.

What Is MLS?

What exactly is MLS you ask?  MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service and it’s where real estate brokers provide and share data about properties for sale.

Even if you aren’t seriously considering a move it seems like everyone likes to look at real estate listings.  Whether you’re dreaming of home ownership, thinking of making a move either locally or across the country or perhaps just looking for some home inspiration, chances are you’ve stumbled on to the MLS system.

If you want to find listings for sale in Tahsis, British Columbia or Happy Valley Goose Bay in Newfoundland, you’ll find them on our MLS listing service.  There are many different boards that share their listings on MLS and here in Canada the platform that you see these listings  is REALTOR.ca    This is the site that you are most likely familiar with.  This site is owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). This is actually paid for by licensed REALTORs through their membership in CREA  The intent was to give a platform to expose both residential and commercial listings to as many people as possible.  This is a not for profit site.  Unfortunately the American counterpart Realtor.com is a for-profit site and there are costs to post your listing on that site.

MLS allows your home to be visible to buyers from all over the world, not just in your city or town.  It’s a fantastic way to market your home, it enables people to narrow down their search criteria without unnecessarily stepping foot in your home.  That’s a great tool in any market, but especially during a pandemic.

Why Coming Soon?

You’ve seen for sale signs go up with coming soon to the MLS system in your neighbourhood that is an agent working to create interest for the seller before the listing becomes active on the system. There are many buyers looking for homes and we want them to know this home is coming.  This gives their agent a chance to call the listing agent and get the information so they can have their clients ready to go when the listing does go live.

Exclusive Listings

Another sign you may see and not be as familiar with is an Exclusive sign.  What exactly does it mean when a property is listed exclusively?  Well, when you meet with your Realtor® because you have decided to sell or rent your property, there are many processes you will discuss.  One of those processes will be marketing your home.  There are two available options; MLS or Exclusive. Exclusive means that a sign goes on the lawn and the listing will go on your agent’s website, it is NOT linked to MLS.  Unless someone physically passes by the property, speaks directly to the listing agent or visit that agent’s individual website, they are not going to know your property is for sale. It’s like a whisper…this house is for sale…shhh.  Why would people do this you may ask?  There maybe extenuating circumstances that the Seller wants to know exactly who is entering the home.  The Seller may only want a limited number of people entering the home.  The Seller may also just want their real estate representative to sell the property.  There could be various personal reasons but for the most part, it is in the Sellers best interest to have the home marketed on the MLS system and exposed to as many possible buyers.  Exposure is what brings the interest, the more interest, the higher the sale price.  By putting your home on the MLS system, your exposure is far greater, the world can see your property, and it’s like shouting from the rooftops!

There are so many different scenarios in real estate.  Every persons circumstances are different.  When you hire a reputable, honest Realtor®  they will always advise what would be in your best interest.  We are always here to answer any questions you may have and we LOVE to talk about anything Real Estate!