Don’t believe the hype: There is no ‘national MLS’ 

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The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

Recently, a few multiple listing services have taken to calling themselves "national MLSs" — a claim so outlandishly misleading that it begins to break down as soon as you scrape the surface.

Respectfully, how can an MLS that does not even provide comprehensive listing coverage of its home state legitimately claim to be a national MLS?

Claims vs. reality

Many MLSs accept real estate agents from any state as members, so the offer of national membership is nothing new, nor is it exceptional. The reason most of us don't call ourselves a "national MLS" is because we recognize that saying "anyone can join" does not, in fact, mean we're national in scope.

Making a claim is easy, but backing it up is where the rubber meets the road. I could claim that I'm a world champion bobsledder or the body double for Brad Pitt (I'm not either of those things, in case you're wondering). In any other industry, we'd demand proof, but in real estate, apparently, claims are enough.

So here's your fact check: There is no national MLS. 

Could there be a national MLS? Sure. 

Should there be a national MLS? I mean… maybe?

But a national data set provided by networked, collaborative MLSs seems like a more commonsense, achievable direction for the industry. Plus, it's one that preserves the local "flavor" of MLS data so prized by MLSs and practitioners.

What it would take to be 'national'

To have a legitimate claim of being truly national, at a minimum an MLS would need to:

• Accept listings (not just agents) from anywhere in the country 

• Offer national public records data to match data against new listings

• Provide national town/ZIP code information

• Provide national school zone information

• Provide high quality, standardized data

• Provide reasonably comprehensive listing data for major metro areas

If we accept that the role of the MLS is to facilitate a collaborative marketplace of timely, accurate, comprehensive and transparent listing data, how can an MLS legitimately claim to be "national" if it lacks both accuracy (i.e., significant gaps in listing coverage) and comprehensiveness, (i.e., no national listing coverage)? 

Maintaining a high level of data quality and interconnectivity plays a critical role in both data compliance and the contextual placement of listings within the marketplace. The ability of the MLS to understand local market trends and generate accurate market insights, CMAs and statistical data is what makes it far more valuable than a simple ad on a marketing platform. 

The loss of this contextual information — a likely outcome if some brokerages continue to take, but not share, MLS listing data — will be felt by all brokers, big and small, when there is no comprehensive data available to accurately price new listings or produce accurate CMAs.

What happens if the MLS becomes a marketing platform

So, what is the point these MLSs are trying to make?  

Maybe they view the MLS as an advertising platform competing for consumer eyeballs. That would certainly make the recent tensions between some MLSs and national portals more understandable — but abdicating their role in making the market work would be a Faustian bargain. 

Maybe they just want to add another revenue stream (at the broker's expense). After all, absent a network of collaborating MLSs, subscribers from other regions will be paying for "national" MLS access on top of the fees they already pay to their local MLS(s). As data becomes more fragmented, brokers and agents will have to buy access to more and more data sets.

Not only are these "national MLSs" potentially positioning themselves to compete with a referral broker's business model and spit in the eye of the Department of Justice's Competitive Impact Statement findings, they are also raising the Jolly Roger against their neighbors.

So much for a cooperative marketplace.

An opportunity for collaboration

Jumping on the "national MLS" bandwagon creates a misleading narrative and ignores the reality of our respective marketplaces. There are almost 500 MLSs for a reason — each one represents a marketplace where local real estate professionals believe no other MLS can serve them better. Right or wrong, when the MLS next door suddenly announces that it's gone "national," that feels like an unlikely catalyst for positive change or cooperation. 

I believe strongly that, through data collaborations (rather than takeovers), MLSs can achieve the worthy and necessary goal of providing our brokers with a national data set. At the heart of the MLS beats the ideal that collaboration between competitors benefits everyone. The rest of the world understands that the North American MLS system is a gift to consumers and the engine driving the largest asset class on the planet. As an industry, however, we seem to be in the middle of blowing it up — and if the MLS breaks, it's never coming back.

Yes, there is clearly room for improvement with the current MLS system, but let's not get distracted by sensational, clickbait claims and instead focus on what's important: being the stable, reliable, agnostic, cooperative marketplace for agents and brokers to practice real estate.  

Now there's a sensational idea.

Cameron Paine is president & CEO of MARIS MLS and founder of the Broker Public Portal. A 25-year industry veteran with expertise spanning technology, brokerage and MLS operations, he currently leads an organization with more than 15,000 broker and agent members covering Missouri, Illinois and northern Arkansas.