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\n <\/div>\n \n Find a Top Listing Agent to Market Your Home<\/h3>\n
HomeLight makes it easy to connect with a top real estate agent who can develop a marketing strategy tailored to your home. Our data shows that the top 5% of agents across the U.S. sell homes for as much as 10% more than the average agent.<\/p>\n \n
What is the MLS or multiple listing service?<\/h2>\n
The multiple listing service (MLS) is a marketplace of home listings that a group of real estate agents or brokers compile. As Andrea Swetland<\/a>, a top-selling San Francisco real estate agent with 32 years of home-selling experience, explains, the MLS lays out available listings for both buyer\u2019s agents and seller\u2019s agents \u2014 making it easier to pick out the right property for their clients.<\/p>\n \u201cThe MLS is a marketplace that enables buyers to look for the listings available on the market, and it allows for sellers, through their agents, to announce listings to the market and to other agents,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s a platform that allows agents to do deals together with separate representation for buyers and sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n Although most agents will refer to \u201cthe MLS\u201d as if it\u2019s a single system, there are actually many MLS databases scattered across different regions. Even though a city or region may run its own MLS, real estate agents can often access multiple MLS systems at a time.<\/p>\n \u201cI think every city area has their own way of doing things, but, for example, I belong to the San Francisco Association of Realtors<\/a>\u2019 MLS. Through them, because of the partnerships that they have with the other MLS systems, I can basically look up properties all the way from Sacramento to, let\u2019s just say, the Monterey area.\u00a0 Even though I don’t belong to all of the other MLSs, we provide an informational portal search together.\u201d<\/p>\n For home sellers<\/a>, listing your property on the MLS will let you send the details of your home sale to as many potential buyers as possible. But if you think you can just pop onto the MLS on your own and post your listing, you may be disappointed. In order to post on an MLS, you need to be a member of that MLS\u2019s organization.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be a member of the MLS,\u201d explains Swetland. \u201cYou have to be an agent because you’re going to be posting the listing that you’re bringing onto the market.\u201d<\/p>\n Unless you\u2019re a real estate agent yourself, you have a few options if you want to list your home on the MLS:<\/p>\n 1. Work with a real estate agent:<\/strong> The easiest way to access the MLS is to find a real estate agent<\/a>. Real estate agents generally have access to the MLS. That means they can easily add your property listing to the MLS.<\/p>\n 2. Pay for a flat-fee MLS service:<\/strong> For \u201cfor sale by owner\u201d (FSBO)<\/a> sales, home sellers can also pay a fee to have a third-party company list their home on the MLS. These flat-fee MLS listings<\/a> cost anywhere from around $100 to $1,300. Just keep in mind that these services often don\u2019t include the extra perks of a full-service agent<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The MLS is a crucial tool for anyone who wants to buy or sell a home. Learn what a real estate Multiple Listing Service is and how to use it effectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":324,"featured_media":53257,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[321,323],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attract-buyers","category-quick-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHow does the MLS work for home sellers?<\/h2>\n