Do you know how valuable a local Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system can be when you buy or sell your home?
The MLS® system is a cooperative listing system developed and funded by members of the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB). It has been refined over the years, and is now an invaluable tool for members of our association. The information found on our MLS® system – which is available only to members of RAHB – is helpful when members are looking for homes for buyers or listing the homes of sellers.
When you are looking for a home
When you work with a REALTOR®, that REALTOR® will use our local MLS® system to search for properties for you. The advantage to using the MLS® system as a first source is that all the information on the system has been verified by the listing brokerage. The advantage to you as a buyer is that you can rely on the information your REALTOR® gives you.
When you are selling your home
When you sell your home, the obvious benefit of having your property listed on the MLS® system is that information about your property is available to every REALTOR® in the area. Your REALTOR® will have access to the historical information about your property and properties similar to yours, so he or she will know what is a reasonable price based on the neighbourbood and current market. Your REALTOR® will also be able to put this information together with information from other sources – the land registry office or MPAC, for example – for a full and complete profile of what your house is worth and anything that would affect the market value of your property.
REALTOR®.ca – a national real estate advertising tool for properties listed by REALTORS®
When a seller signs a listing agreement with a REALTOR®, the seller also has the choice to advertise their property’s information through a national public real estate website called REALTOR®.ca. The important thing about the properties advertised on REALTOR®.ca is that the information comes from our members, so the information is accurate and can be relied upon.
Established listing tools like the MLS® system and the REALTOR®.ca website have a number of safeguards and rules attached to them, which makes them the premier sources for accurate, reliable information about properties for sale. As a seller you will benefit from the information that is available to your REALTOR® on the RAHB MLS® system and the exposure your property will receive if it is advertised on REALTOR®.ca. As a buyer you will benefit from the information the MLS® system provides to the REALTOR® you work with.
For more information about how the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) system can help you, contact a local REALTOR®.
Bruce Moran
President 2013