Indiana-based realtors have teamed up to form the Indiana Regional MLS, which will help agents and buyers alike in their real estate endeavors. The state-focused multiple listing service will not only eliminate costs for agents but will also ensure complete listing data accuracy and access, according to some news reports.
A Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is a suite of services that allows realtors and customers to refer to a common database where information on properties available for renting, buying or selling is available. The listing information stored in the database belongs exclusively to a registered broker who has struck an agreement with the seller.
The Indiana Regional MLS will include brokers from 42 counties including Lafayette Regional Association of Realtors, The Upstate Alliance of Realtors in Fort Wayne and the Bloomington Board of Realtors.
The new website will help agents cut registering costs. For example: if a realtor wants to do business in an area that he does not belong to, he needs to register in a native association which can cost him up to $1000. The new website will eliminate such registration costs as brokers can operate listings from the centralized website, reports Wane.com.
Also, the new MLS will display 100 percent accurate, timely and accessible information about properties. And how are they ensuring that?
"It won't be that way with the new website, because it deals directly with the (local) real estate companies," Patrick Maloblocki, broker/owner with Coldwell Banker Roth Wehrly Graber in Fort Wayne, told The Journal Gazette.
Indiana Regional MLS is one of the latest portals joining the slew of listing websites that have sprung up in the recent past. Zillow, Trulia and Yahoo are some of the popular websites that offer several real estate services and other add-ons as well.
More recently, a new website called 'Brokur' came up with a fresh approach for the whole process of home searching. The website is based on the social media concept where the main focus is on the brokers and not the listings. It is a directory that connects buyers with real estate agents that match their search criteria.
Real estate listing sites have gained a lot of popularity over the years. Check out the list of the 15 most popular listing websites of America, ranked on the basis of web traffic data retrieved from Alexa, Compete and Quantcast, here.