national MLS?

Question

can some one tell me where I can search a national MLS listing?

we are forming a corporation and looking to purchase some property in diff markets but I would like to be able to search inventory nationally.

Does this exist?

Andy Parsons · Answer

thanks for all the input guys,

im really just starting up.

and my budget at the moment does not allow for anything local.

I am looking at other markets i can purchase rentals in.

Anthony Sulecki · Answer

Josh I heard the same thing about google wanting a piece of it. Soon after, I heard yahoo wants in too. The big dogs are moving in.

Jon Holdman · Answer

It will depend on where you're looking.  I found that in my area, most of the listing show up with the free membership.  When I had my paid membership, there were only a few additional ones, and none of those were good deals.  Don't know the situation, but my impression was that the listings you can see for free require a payment to post and vice versa.

But, some areas have a much larger percentage of listings you can't see for free.

I don't think there is any trial period.  In many places, though, you can see a large portion of the listings for free.

Jon

Jennifer Karlen · Answer

There are attempts to do a national system.  Realtor.com has made an effort to pull data from the various MLS systems to view in 1 location, but lots of errors/incorrect - and INCOMPLETE data ends up showing there.
(Pick any real estate market.  Then see how many homes are for sale on the Big R.  Then compare it on a local MLS search.  You'll most likely notice a big difference.)

There are also other companies attempting to make a national or at least regional system available.  Companies like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, etc.

They've also attempted to broaden their services with recent introductions on things like Zestimates (essentially an online assessment of value) - and again, they are notoriously wrong in many cases.

Realistically though, real estate is really local.  Things can happen too quickly in an area for a national company/system to adapt quickly to update those values.

I personally don't see a big value of a national system - the benefit for persons that work on a national level is really quite limited.

Jon Holdman · Answer

For most people, there probably is limited value to a national system.  With the exception of folks like some of us, most people search for a house in a very specific area.

However, I do see huge value in having open, easy access to both listings and sold data.  Consumers are becoming much more sophisticated and knowledgeable in their purchasing habits.  Look at what's happened with books (amazon), misc junk (ebay), travel (numerous), and cars (also numerous sites.)  The availability of information about what's available, the quality of whats available, and the prices has become much more available.  I believe that will happen for real estate, too.  Its already starting with some of the sites mentioned here.  Information about inventory, trends, and past sales will become easily available, as will details about the process.

Jon

Scott Weaner · Answer

Speaking about Loopnet, is the paid membership, with access to all of the listings, worth the price?

Account Closed · Answer

Minor point.

The Realtor Association has a monopoly on the MLS database/service because they built it and otherwise paid for it. There was nothing until they created it. In the UK there still is no national database with the info like MLS. It is a bit of a pain figuring out the comparables if you can not see what has sold.

LoopNet is a solution in the commercial space. There was no national service until they came along. Part of their strategy has been to buy up other competitors. Growth through acquisition.

Zaio is the closest from what I have seen to having a national database that will contain every residential property and be current. It is focused on appraisals but it could be a great tool for investors. No idea as to how it should be rolled out in terms of pricing.

John Corey

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

There are hundreds if not thousands of sites out there gunning for National MLS status.  Only someone with enough money for national advertising could garner enough support to build any kind of true National MLS.  Just my .02 cents.

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

At the same time, there are several companies out there gunning to create a National MLS - while the NAR currently has a monopoly on their MLS, there are rumblings that others want in.  Zillow has created what many think is a play on the national MLS, and I've heard that Google also wants in.  This is a space that hasn't worked itself out completely yet.

I think we'll see some serious changes in how people find real estate in the future.