The term MLS is one of the most commonly used words in the real estate business. But unless you have bought or sold a home before, you may have no idea what the acronym stands for: Multiple Listing Service. A Multiple Listing Service is a large database of homes for sale which Realtor members can access and search. Properties listed for sale in the MLS are exposed to the entire roster of MLS members, enabling any member to show and sell the property. First Weber could list a property and another company could sell it because of the MLS system cooperating agreement. The MLS systems in Wisconsin which First Weber Group participates in include the Metro Milwaukee MLS, South Central WI MLS, Central WI MLS, Northeast WI MLS and Greater Northern WI MLS.
Why is the MLS system important to you as a homebuyer in Wisconsin? You want to make sure you are working with a broker and agent who are members of the local MLS systems so you are able to see all properties that could match your criteria, not just the ones the company or agent have listed. Your real estate agent may send you emails from the MLS system or from an internal system that includes MLS listings, but non members cannot access the MLS system itself. So where can you access all the listings for sale in an MLS system by yourself without an agent? There’s another agreement between MLS brokers called Broker Reciprocity. Participating in Broker reciprocity allows brokers to publically display participating MLS member listings on a website outside of the private MLS system. Websites like firstweber.com, for example, since First Weber participates in broker reciprocity.
By searching firstweber.com, know you have the ability to search ALL participating broker properties for sale in five MLS systems across Wisconsin. No need to go anywhere else to see thousands of homes available for purchase throughout most of Wisconsin. Contact one of our agents when you find a home you want to see and they will help you out. Looking for a home up north? We’ve got that covered, too! How many local websites cover such a large area? Not many. A note on national websites… You may have searched some national websites like Trulia or Zillow. Currently,we do send First Weber’s listing data to sites like that. But we don’t control the updates there and data is not quickly updated. At firstweber.com, we receive multiple data updates throughout the day on all properties displayed on firstweber.com and are proud of its accuracy. We hope you like it too.
Thanks for reading the First Weber Wisconsin real estate & Wisconsin living blog about “What does MLS mean?” We hope you found the information useful. Remember, firstweber.com has updated data on homes in five MLS systems across Wisconsin – and we have a way for you to get email updates on the property criteria of your choosing. Just set up a free My First Weber account for information on Wisconsin MLS listings. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsi-r/4767700249/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/nikcname/4893848354/