How To Become a Real Estate Agent - More MLS Info

I should have had this in my post yesterday, but I found a nice definition of what exactly the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is here. Here is some great info from that wikipedia entry about who gets to use the MLS database:

Most MLS systems restrict membership and access to real estate brokers (and their agents) who are appropriately licensed by the state (or province); are members of a local Board or Association of Realtors; and are members of the trade association (e.g., NAR or CREA).

A person selling his/her own property - acting as a For Sale By Owner (or FSBO) - cannot put a listing for the home directly into the MLS. Similarly, a properly licensed broker who chooses to neither join the trade association nor operate a business within the associations's rules, cannot join the MLS.

However, there are brokers and many online services which offer FSBO sellers the option of listing their property in their local MLS database by paying a flat fee or another non-traditional compensation method. This may be the fastest growing segment of the real estate industry.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my previous post, joining these agencies to get access to MLS is not cheap. One of the lessons you learn pretty quickly when studying how to become a real estate agent is that sometimes you need to spend money to make money.

Click here for more tips on how to become a real estate agent.


Technorati Tags: how to become a real estate agent, become a real estate agent success, becoming a real estate agent, how to become a great realtor, advice on becoming a real estate agent, real estate agent resources

Powered by ScribeFire.