MLS: why cooperating agencies sell faster (and what it means for you)

The abbreviation MLS comes up so often in our conversations with clients that we decided to explain it once, properly. It stands for multiple listing system and is one of the most important tools in an agency’s work – and the one clients know least about.

What MLS is

MLS is a shared database of listings run by a brokers’ organisation. In Warsaw it is run by the Warsaw Association of Real Estate Brokers (WSPON), of which we are a member. The agency that takes a property on an exclusive basis enters it into the system, and every other agency in the database sees the listing and can offer it to its clients. If they bring the buyer, they share the fee with the listing agency. The owner pays nothing extra.

In practice this means your property is handled not by one agency but by a whole community of cooperating brokers – while the listing still has one contact person, one price and one description.

What the seller gains

• Reach the portals cannot give. Some buyers do not browse adverts. They register with their own broker and wait for proposals. Through MLS you reach them too.
• Order. The listing exists in one place, in one version. There are no five adverts with different prices spoiling the impression.
• Standards. MLS agencies work to a set of rules and a code of ethics. Fee-sharing is agreed in advance, so there are no disputes about who “had the client first”.

What the buyer gains

If you search for a property with our help, you get access not only to our listings but to the database of cooperating agencies. Some of those properties never reach the portals, or appear there late. That is why a search mandate with an MLS agency makes sense even if you browse adverts every day yourself.

Why not every agency is in MLS

Membership of the association means fees, the obligation to follow the rules and, above all, the willingness to share the commission with other agencies. Some agencies prefer to work alone and keep the whole fee. That is their choice, but for the client it means less reach for the listing.

We are in MLS because we care that a property sells well, not that we close every transaction on our own. If you would like to see how your listing would look in the system and which agencies could see it, let’s talk.