MLS Listings

Author: Kaitlyn Short

MLS is the place where real estate listings originate and the most trusted source for agents to advertise their properties that are for sale. MLS Listings is a branch of this organization that serves the area of Northern California. There are more than 16,000 real estate professionals who utilize MLS Listings to get their properties seen by potential buyers. Their simple, straight-forward searching approach keeps customers from spending too much time looking for their new dream home.  

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The Good

• Resources
• Discussion board

MLS Listings goes beyond posting properties that are for sale for their customers to find and learn more about. They provide a lot of help for every stage of the real estate process through published articles on various subjects. Every customer is at a different point in this process and has different end goals; the articles that are posted cover all of these goals. The customer can choose from the main categories of Buy, Sell or Rent to browse through the related articles depending on their needs. Within these categories there are sub-categories depending on the main concerns of typical customers who fit in that part of the process. For example, in the Sell category, customers will be able to find articles on preparing to sell, staging, remodeling, and other resources. The articles within those sub-categories cover a wide range of topics that try to hit any issue that the customer might have within that subject. This service that MLS Listings provides is very valuable because often times the real estate process is all new to a customer and they do not know what they need to do to succeed. Any advice from professionals who have done all of these things many times before is a huge benefit to the customers as they try to navigate through. Another very helpful service that MLS Listings provides their customers with beyond the property listings is their Meeting Place. This is an opportunity that customers have to pose any questions they have about aspects of the real estate process. These questions can then be answered by professionals who are members of the MLS Listings team. This discussion board is a great launching board for customers to get the help that they need. It also facilitates the introduction between buyers and sellers, which will hopefully result in the sale of a home. This is a very unique service that benefits all parties involved in the real estate industry.

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The Bad

• Availability

Like many of their competitors, MLS Listings limits the geographic area where they serve customers from. The listings promoted through this company are all within the Northern California region and cover a 28,000 square mile radius. That is a very small area to cover in comparison to the entire country where many customers will want to be moving to more areas than just Northern California. The agents who work with MLS Listings specialize in the markets with the counties of Monterey, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz. This specialization is helpful because the agents live and work in these areas and can therefore really help the customer know what to expect from living there. Since they have spent so much time working in these areas, they also know the markets really well and know if the customer is getting a good price for the home they are interested in as well. But on the other hand, there are so many other places that customers will want to move to, limiting the listings to just a part of one state excludes many potential customers.

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The Bottom Line

For those customers in the Northern California areas where MLS Listings is located, their services beyond the actual property listings are a major benefit. Their discussion-board-type Meeting Place is a helpful, easy way for customers to get answers to their questions and advice on what to do next, no matter which part of the process they are on (buying or selling). But more importantly, and more helpful, this is a good place for buyers to get introductions to sellers in their area, which can be a hard connection to make at times.