Access to MLS for Non-Licensed Investors??

Question

Dear Fellow BP Members,

I have heard recently from David Green at the BP Conference that anyone can gain access the the MLS even if they're not a licensed agent or broker... and it has been my intention to gain access as an investor for some time now to use for things like looking up similar properties owned by the seller, and a number of other cool things.

So, would anyone have an insight into how to get access [username & password] for not licensed individuals?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

@Kevin Sobilo  Exactly constant contact type MLS feed any agent can give to anyone.. I get a bunch of them.

but actual access to realtors MLS  that statement is simply not true..  you have to be licensed.. In Oregon its a 20k fine

if your caught giving out your MLS log in..

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Peter Slivkoff, my local board of realtors provides MLS and lockbox access for associate members of the board who belong to a related profession such as appraisers and home inspectors. Im not sure what they pay, but I pay ~$400 per year for membership plus $45/month for MLS and lockbox access.

Alternatively, as an agent I can provide a portal to clients who want to do their own searches of the MLS. The search functions are not as robust as the ones I have as an agent, but they are decent.

There is also a public facing page where anyone can do some searches of the MLS, but again they are more basic searches. You aren't going to be searching closed listings for comparable sales or anything of that sort.

Cory Carlson · Answer

There are "public" MLS sites, but as other mentioned its derived from the MLS. I know Mid Willamette Valley MLS has a website you can actually search from: https://www.wvmls.com/advsearc... (I have no affiliation here)

Others mentioned zillow, redfin,etc and I personally like HomeSnap. Lots of great tools and its pulled directly from the MLS. You can even link up with your representation (if you have a broker) and favorite, comment, and message between the app. Its very user friendly.

Neal Collins · Answer

@Peter Slivkoff The MLS is a powerful tool that is handy to have, but a pain to use. Most IDX websites like HomeSnap and Zillow are a good substitute that will be able to get you comps, alerts, and filtered searches.

Darren McGillvrey · Answer

@Peter Slivkoff @Mary Mitchell @Neal Collins - The biggest MLS for Oregon is RMLS and they recently just switched their public website www.rmls.com over to HomeSnap, which is great because their old one was not user friendly at all!

And yes @Jay Hinrichs was correct (as usual, I'm sure :) about giving out log in credentials and I'm 99.9% sure that they only offer memberships to Agents and Appraisers. Inspectors can't join in OR, we usually have to give a 1-day lock box code to get them in. Actual access to the mls is not true in OR.

I have setup emails for myself and other investors because I will get those notices of new listings from my mls quicker than other sites will. However, I set those up with the intention that they will use me to help purchase the place. I understand if they just want to turn around and list it themselves but buying it doesn't cost them anything.

Mary M. · Answer

There are many websites that have MLS feeds. While you may not get the notes for agents, you can absolutely find sale prices, dates etc etc

I was using homesnap but there are many others, zillow, realtor.com, redfin, etc etc

The times i have has broker searches set up to email me, i was able to find the new listing faster via homesnap >shrug<

Viet Nguyen · Answer

The city website portlandmaps used to have a search property by owner feature.  Though after some complaints they removed it.

If you're good at Excel you can purchase the whole Multnomah county data file from the county tax office. Import it into Excel and find owner's contact and their properties that way.

Peter Slivkoff · Answer

Thanks to all my fellow BP members who responded to this post! It has been really helpful.  A colleague of mine from Seattle seems to think that there is some route [form] to give investors access who are non-licensed, but that may just be in WA and not OR, or he may have found some loophole... in any case, I appreciate the feedback from everyone!

P.S. My apologies to David Greene for the misquote. I guess I heard what I wanted to hear.

David Barnett · Answer

Ask an agent to set you up on the MLS in the area you would like to invest in.  They can set up a search for your criteria on the portal, and you would get listings in real time instead of waiting for them to feed over to Zillow, Realtor.com, Ziprealty, etc.

Access to MLS for Non-Licensed Investors??

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