"Public" MLS?

I read that some are proposing a "public" MLS. What I think they mean is that they want a place on the internet where they can view every single property for sale. This is pretty much a done deal already. There are numerous websites that contain a large percentage of them already, and there will be more soon.

Most people don't know that a true MLS (Multiple Listing Service) is much more than a list of homes for sale. It is also an efficient way of allowing the listing agent or company to be an aggressive marketer of those homes for the sellers. Without that, an MLS is nothing more than a bunch of classified ads. Because of the rules and "exclusive right to sell" aspect of the MLS, a Realtor is assured getting paid for his or her efforts for marketing when the home sells. This allows the lister the ability and motivation to market that property to the world. If those rules go away, listing agents and companies will not be compelled to market the properties as aggressively; they will want to keep the information harder to get so buyers could only get the details from that agent or company. Buyers would lose, Sellers would lose, and the whole real estate sales process would take a giant step backwards to the 1950s.

Anyone who advocates opening the MLS to everyone without maintaining the rules or exclusive listing concept, is an advocate for an inefficient and chaotic real estate process.

For further discussion on this topic, scroll down to read my post titled: "Realty Reality - Continued."