After we uploaded all the info about his house to the MLS, one of my customers asked me the other day, “Why can’t I see my phone number and name?” And even though we had gone through explanations and looked at examples, he still didn’t get it. The answer is “You won’t.” The MLS is for REALTORS, and until you become a REALTOR, you won’t see what REALTORS see.
Customers and Independent Homesellers are excited about the exposure they will get from being in the MLS. And rightly so! It is far and away the number one way to get in front of people looking to buy a home. My company gives the individual homeseller access to put their own home in the MLS without spending the commission on traditional listing.
That’s what I do. By the hundreds over the years. I put the home owner’s name and number in the MLS listing about three places to be sure the REALTORS know how to reach the seller, but the listing is designed to be seen by Realtors, not by the public.
There are other sites that take the information from the MLS and publish it in places that the public CAN see, but they can’t get to the private info, either, so they would also not have the seller’s contact number.
My telephone number is there since I go through my membership for my access, and if a potential buyer clicks on my company name, the link transports them to an area where they can find the seller’s info, but I can just suddenly issue a seller a license and insert their name instead of mine.
So, yes, the MLS is the big MacDaddy of places to sell your house, but it’s not a glorified Craigslist. There are things that just won’t happen. The thing that makes my customers maddest is when they discover I can’t turn the MLS into what ever they were imagining. And they get mad at ME, not the MLS. It will never be a place for the seller to post long flowery descriptions or to see their own name in lights!
But if we work as a team, we can make your investment in the MLS return you many thousand times over. I would be happy to sit down and talk to you about many ideas you can use about selling your house. This month, to people selling their home or about to, I am offering a copy of my book The NEW REAL ESTATE and a Starbucks gift card just to sit down and look at my system. My books are also available anytime at amazon.com/author/donm and my website is FSBO-GUY.com. I am a resource for people selling their house and have been for thirty years. We donate a portion of our proceeds to Safe Haven Family Shelter. We are truly all in this together, and I would be pleased to be on your team.
Yes, I am the Reasonable Realtor, Don Martin, MARTIN PROPERTIES (615) 973-8970. Just make your comments here, or you can reach the Dean of Graduated Realtors at www.FSBO-GUY.com or “like” him at http://www.facebook.com/MartinProps follow at @DonMartin711
