"M.L.S." is an acronym for "Multiple Listing Service" and it is a North American network of real estate professionals who belong either to the N.A.R. or the Canadian Real Estate Association (C.R.E.A.). It is a collaboration of real estate professionals who publish and share information about property in these countries. In other words, it's the single largest authority in the real estate marketplace in North America. To date, it is the most successful North American organization to build, manage, and keep real estate data.
In Canada, there is one MLS organization to which every Realtor® belongs. In the United States, there are distinct MLS organizations throughout the country who maintain unique regions. In recent years the policies of the various MLS organizations have been revised to include support for Realtors® and/or members' brokerages to syndicate the MLS data and publish it on affiliated web sites.
All these acronyms mean one thing in essence: "Multiple Listing Service". However, each acronym specifies a particular manner in which the MLS data is to be displayed or controlled. As you can imagine, the N.A.R. (and C.R.E.A. in Canada) realized long ago that their data is very valuable, hence they've tried to impose rules upon its syndication and usage. Those rules and policies have resulted in all of these other acronyms. Some of those policies are under dispute by the courts and everyone in this industry is awaiting resolution.
In the meantime however, until the courts determine which policies and rules of syndication should govern the MLS data, the industry is forging ahead to make this valuable industry more accessible to both the agents and their consumers.
20/20 DataShed provides tools by which brokers and agents can adopt any of the recommendations by the N.A.R. or the C.R.E.A. We are ready to work with you to provide your web site with the tools you want and can help you understand how the policies set out by your MLS organization can be applied to your web site.
We understand how difficult it is to make decisions about new technologies. Therefore, we have created a Lo-Risk plan if you would like to try the service. All we ask is that you try it for a minimum of two months and the total cost to you will be $245 USD -- after a two month period you can choose to discontinue the service.
Note: We do not require a 12-month or 24-month term contract. We ask only that you agree to use the service for a minimum of two months (and that is why we ask for the first and last month's service fee up-front).
| Produce/Service | Lo-Risk Plan | Power-Users Plan |
| 20/20 DataShed | $25/month | $382/One-Time Purchase |
| MLS Activation | $55/One-Time Fee | $55/One-Time Fee |
| MLS Service Setup | $340/One-Time Fee | $340/One-Time Fee |
| Website Hosting | $25/month | $0 (the product is installed on your own web server or host) |
| MLS Auto-Update Service | $45/month | $65/month |
| Total Down | $395 + first and last month's service fee. | $777 + first and last month's service fee. |
| Total Monthly | $95 | $65 |
Perhaps it is helpful to understand these costs over the long-term. |
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| Lo-Risk Plan | Power-Users Plan | |
| After one year: | $1535/year | $1557/year |
| Every year thereafter: | $1140/year | $780/year |
The basic steps include:
To save money of course. Why should you spend valuable time updating your web site manually if the task can be automated?
"MLS Integration" is a sensible alternative for brokerages and agents who manage numerous listings in the MLS. Many brokerages have office staff who keep very busy updating web sites or inputting data into various computer systems, databases, online services, etc. In many cases, that time could and should be spent doing other, more productive tasks.
Perhaps some simple accounting will demonstrate the value of our automated MLS-update system:
Probably! However we should discuss this issue in detail with you to determine the cost and process.
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