Investor · Hawthorne, CA · Member since 2014 · 95 posts · 15 votes
Does having access to the MLS really make a large difference in the ability to find properties / good investment opportunities? And if so, what is the best way to gain access to it and effectively use the resource if I am not a RE agent?
Yes it does and in fact makes a lot of difference. Unfortunately you must be licensed real estate broker to be able to access local mls. There are a lot of websites that you could log on to see properties for sale, rent, auction, sold, etc; namely Trulia, Zillow, loopnet and many more.
Another way of finding good investment is joining a local real estate investor association.
@James, would it be possible for me to join a "local" real estate investor association even though I am not local to the area? Meaning I am living in Los Angeles area but have no plans to invest here, so would need to join the Cleveland/Columbus area associations.
Yes, you can join a local real estate investor association even if you don't live in that area usually there is a small fee.
To mention the person, press shift key and press @ than type the person's name you are trying to send a direct message to and you will a small box pop up at the bottom of the post box so just click that and wallah.
You can use the MLS if you enter as a guest, I am not sure what the difference is as a guest versus an agent who has full access. I think you can not see the private notes that sellers put in. I personally like Redfin.com but am not sure if they have it in all locations. Hope that helps...Good luck and God Bless
@Kyle Kelley it completely depends on your market. In Dallas, you're not going to find deals on the MLS. There just isn't enough inventory. You might luck into something once in a while, but you really shouldn't depend on it here. It may be entirely different in CA. Also, there is no guest access to directly to the MLS here. You have to be a licensed agent or a registered assistant of an agent.
@Kyle Kelley some locations have limited public access to the MLS. Like only Active listings as opposed to Active, Sold, Pending, Withdrawn, and Expired that are the whole set of property status available with full access to the MLS. It's different from area to area. Most all will give access to Active listings through local broker websites if not a publicly accessible MLS site.
If you are talking about accessing the MLS in a different state, a license is required in each state you want to act as an agent. There is a National Association of Realtors portion of the test everyone takes, and a separate state portion of the test required for each state.