What Do the MLS and Gravity Have in Common?
While perhaps an odd question with which to open our first official blog, surely the title is more enticing and thought-provoking than “The Value of the MLS.”
We don’t often consider what gravity does for us. Gravity keeps us grounded, stable and adds structure to our daily lives. If we jump, it ensures we don’t go somewhere unintended. It’s why we can sit at our desk to work on our computer. It’s a reliable, invaluable force that does big jobs, allowing us to focus on other aspects of our everyday lives.
The multiple listing service (MLS), and more specifically MetroList, is similar in that we don’t always think about everything it does, but it’s a critical player in a real estate professional’s life and success.
MLSs provide agents and brokers with a centralized system of powerful resources and support. They consolidate critical information, offer ways to streamline workflow, enhance broker management capabilities, access powerful technology tools, and drive client interactions – all at a significant cost savings. Like gravity, its impact is pervasive and important, but not often fully considered.
MetroList’s Advantage for Agents and Brokers
As a grass-roots driven company, MetroList policies are driven bottom-up. With subscribers as the primary focus, our MetroList team works diligently to raise the standard of the services we provide, notably in:
- Expanded Agent-Focused Toolset
- Extended Reach
- Affordability
- 7-Day Support
- Market Knowledge
- Client Centric Platform
- Enhanced Brokerage Management
- Secure System Hosting
Expanded Agent-Focused Toolset
From comprehensive market data to client management tools, the MetroList team continually seeks to expand offerings so that subscribers have everything needed to efficiently and professionally close deals. A bit like having gravity suddenly alter, it is not until operating in another MLS environment that a jarring question arises: “Wait, where did my tools go?!” It’s an eye-opener when you consider that many of the MetroList tools our agents use every day are not part of the base platform, but added and seamlessly integrated by our technology experts into a single user experience. Like gravity, they seem to just be there for you.
The MetroList platform enables our subscribers to create unique and impactful market experiences for their clients. Some of the most-utilized add-ons include statewide assessor information, market trends including social media widgets, lead generation tools, showing solutions, CMA software, neighborhood reports, quick floorplan creation, a free brandable IDX website, and the list goes on…
…and we don’t stop. MetroList was an industry star in 2024 despite some big national distractions. Several new products were released in conjunction with MetroList and offered first in the nation to our subscribers and their clients . However, you can read more about that in our next blog.
Extended Reach
In real estate, visibility is crucial. For buyer representatives and their clients, a strong MLS streamlines the search for that perfect property and enables informed decision making when crafting offers. For seller representatives and their clients, the MLS provides more exposure, typically resulting in faster sales with better terms and prices. As a NorCal Alliance partner (regional) and Realtor.com Professional member (national), MetroList gives subscribers access to an extensive market, keeping them at the center of the transaction as a trusted advisor.
The value of visibility also applies across the real estate professional community. The MetroList platform offers insightful referral networking throughout the 28 covered Northern California counties.
Affordability
The MLS is more than just a database. The full MetroList technology platform includes a large tool set and an extended team of professionals. The tremendous savings and purchasing power of MetroList proves itself in light of the individual costs for each of these individual products and services.
Value increases even further when considering the impressive geographic footprint of a MetroList listing. Through data sharing agreements and technological expertise, our industry leading team provides seamless access and exposure, eliminating the need to replicate listing entries and without incurring the cost of multiple MLS subscriptions.
Then, there is the reliable data itself, which is gold on so many levels. MetroList’s “Prospector+” system is aptly named with a nod to the gold mining history of the region. Advocating for strong data standards and licensing controls, MetroList serves as an effective steward of that data. Our subscribers benefit from its licensing in the form of improved tools and services.
In comparison, a MetroList MLS subscription is a fraction of the cost of the disjointed commercial market. Abroad in Australia, a market which has been mis-referenced within recent national proceedings, simply entering a single listing can be several thousand dollars.
7-Day Support
As readers know all too well, time and technology frequently conflict in the world of real estate. Whether it’s a CMA you have to produce in the next 15 minutes or a lockbox that inexplicably won’t open when the out-of-town buyer is pulling up, the world around you can crumble without the right help on tap. MetroList knows your business is open almost every day, and stands ready with critical support when needed. Equally important, MetroList subscribers don’t have to call product vendors with differing hours and support quality. One call to MetroList addresses any product on the platform.
MetroList also has an entire department dedicated to bringing in-person training to offices and associations. Whether troubleshooting a technical issue or understanding the full capabilities of the toolset, subscribers can count on reliable assistance to keep business running smoothly.
Market Knowledge
Attracting clients and their referrals often boils down to turning information into insight. MetroList empowers agents with valuable tools to enhance their market knowledge with timely, robust, and reliable data. Our subscribers are well-positioned real estate professionals with access to a myriad of sources that are coupled with powerful statistical, analytical, and searching tools. Portals are merely a shadow to a diligent MetroList agent.
Client Centric Platform
Consumers are both the start (listing) and end (purchase) of the value chain. Agents and brokers directly serve that market with highly individualized service-oriented functions that rely on MLS tools and information. Educating the client on the market, properly preparing a property for market, situationally specific negotiation strategies, and contract execution and enforcement are just a few of those critical functions.
Reflective of its important role in the value chain, MetroList is constantly seeking better ways for our subscribers to establish and maintain responsive and trustworthy relationships with their clients. Accordingly, it offers a streamlined and efficient system for communicating and moving through the process with clients in real time. MetroList’s flexible and adaptable toolset is integrated across phone, text, email, social media, and web mediums.
Enhanced Brokerage Management
Today’s real estate industry generates more roadblocks than ever, fraught with inefficiencies, regulatory pitfalls, and business blind spots. MetroList’s all-in-one platform eases the burden in all of these categories for brokers. In addition, brokers can accommodate unique company roles through highly customized system access and entry management rights, simplifying data input and enabling their preferred risk management practices.
On the back end, the MetroList platform provides critical business insights through data and analytics that are accurate, timely and reliable. Within one system, brokers can take advantage of agent performance data, production statistics as well as listing and sales volume data that lets them know how the business is doing and enables informed and timely decision-making.
Secure System Hosting
Clients expect their agent to be both exceedingly accessible and immeasurably trustworthy. MetroList takes its system to the next level to enable its subscribers to meet those exacting standards. Unlike most other MLS companies, MetroList does not rely on its software provider to host the system. Utilizing our own dedicated hardware, co-located with global mission-critical communications companies, our MLS offers a future-adaptive system that is reliable and technology forward. With a prioritization of data privacy and a constantly evolving adherence to smart system security standards, MetroList offers confidence in the protection of consumer information and the ability of our subscribers to rely on their essential tools around the clock.
In closing, let’s revisit that lead question: What do the MLS and gravity have in common? I would challenge any real estate professional to stop at any point in their workday and consider doing the task at hand without the critical support of the MLS.
P.S., I talked to Gravity and it wants the same consideration…