The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) Guide: Selling property: What’s best – For Sale By Owner or the MLS?
GMAC Real Estate

Articles & Resources

Specialty Real Estate

Real Estate Calculators

Room Planner

Selling property? What's best - FSBO or the MLS?

Takeaways

  • MLS is an online catalog for all local real estate listings.
  • Information and a photo of available properties is loaded into a database and made available on the Internet.
  • All brokers who are part of the MLS system can use the information and display it on their website.

Did you know?

  • MLS existed in printed form dating back around 50 years.
MLS puts real estate info at your fingertips. Should I sell my own property or take advantages of the services of a real estate specialist? Which way can I make the most money with the least amount of hassle?

Many sellers believe they will make more money by selling their own property and avoiding a real estate sales commission. However, this is not always the case.

If you considering for sale by owner (FSBO), here are a few of the tedious tasks you will face:

  • Extensive and expensive marketing of the property.
  • Showing the property at inconvenient times.
  • Little or no means to pre-qualify a prospect.
  • All negotiations with potential buyers.
  • Complex paperwork and legalities involved in the contract and closing.

While some sellers try selling a home online by creating a website for their FSBO property and listing it on Internet-based property sales databases, they do not have access to a local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.

According to research by the National Association of Realtors, real estate sells faster and for a higher price through MLS listings. It pays to compare advantages and drawbacks of FSBO with the benefits and convenience of collaborating with a real estate professional and tap the power of the MLS.

Learn More about the MLS or Use it to Find a Home

To learn more, explore the advice on the MLS in this section of our site. You can view local MLS listings by visiting the websites of local GMAC Offices.