MLS.
In plain English
MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service. It is a private, regional database that real estate agents use to share details about homes they have listed for sale: price, photos, square footage, and showing instructions. Agents cooperate through the MLS so a home listed by one brokerage can be found and shown by agents at any other brokerage. Public sites like the big home-search apps pull much of their data from these MLS feeds, which is why a home can show up everywhere shortly after it is listed.
01Why it matters
If a home is in the MLS, every agent in town can find it for their buyers, which usually means more eyes and faster, more competitive offers. Homes kept off the MLS reach fewer buyers.
02The math, step by step
An agent lists a home in the local MLS on a Friday. By the weekend it appears on several public search apps that pull from that feed, and three different buyer agents at three different brokerages schedule showings. Since the 2024 NAR settlement, the listing in the MLS no longer posts what a buyer's agent will be paid, so that compensation is negotiated and handled outside the listing.
03What this is NOT
The MLS is an agent-only database. Public apps are consumer-facing sites that license and display MLS data, often with a delay or missing fields.
04Receipts
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