They crossed the river once again, this time onto Water Street. “East Pointe has the largest number of developments of any area, but not the most units. I keep track of all developments with at least four or more units. There are associations downtown with as few as four and as many a hundred or more units, and some twindominiums as well.”
“What’s a ‘twindominium,’” asked Shel, “or is it exactly like it sounds, two units just the same?”
“Half right.” chuckled R. M. “They don’t have to be exactly the same but there are only two of them, so more like fraternal than identical twins really. Like twins, they are not for everyone! If each unit gets one vote in an association of two, it can be hard to break a tie. Anyway, they are listed in MLS from time to time, so I’m aware of them.”
“I know that I’m supposed to know this already, but can you explain more precisely what MLS is please?” asked Michelle.
“Sure. MLS is the commonly used abbreviation for The Multiple Listing Service. It maintains detailed information about thousands of properties in our market, and it’s updated daily. It acts as a clearinghouse to provide member Realtors the latest information. There are other members as well, such as property appraisers, and members pay a monthly fee to access this information.”
“So, I can’t access all the information on my own, because I’m not a member?”
“Not all of it, no, although some sites now offer a search for MLS listings. But that’s all you get, just the listings.”
“But isn’t information what people want? Isn’t that enough?”
“Information is king, eh? Listings are only the beginning. There is so much more to know!” He continued, “Of course, there are other real estate sites you can access and see listings on, but none of them are as complete or as accurate as MLS.”
“So, tell me more about the listings.”
“Let’s say Driftwood Realty has an owner who holds a state-issued broker’s license and has opened an agency. The broker becomes a member of MLS. As a licensed real estate agent working with Driftwood, I am also a member of MLS. As a seller of a property, you sign a listing contract with me and my agency to put your property on the market. I follow MLS rules, regulations, policies and procedures, and list your property in MLS. Now every other MLS member has access to that listing, can send information about it to his own customers, can make an appointment to show that property to buyers, and can write an offer on that property.”
“So what’s the difference between that and Driftwood’s website. Aren’t all the listings on there too?”
“Their site would typically feature only Driftwood listings so you could find your property on it, the one you just listed with them. Depending on the agency, a site might be more user friendly, offer more photos and other features. So don’t get me wrong, their site’s a great selling tool for you. More recently, there are some agency websites that do broker reciprocity. That means that they show each others listings as well as their own. But if you were looking for a new property for yourself, you might not find all the listed properties available. MLS is still the most complete resource.”
“So, if I’m selling, it’s to my advantage to be in MLS?”
“Yes, because then your property would have the widest possible exposure in the agent community. Any member could find your property. In the trade, all those other agents are called “co-brokes” and we very often do sell each others listings, when we match up the buyer’s desired search criteria. You can see from any MLS data sheet the large number of variables available for searching. And now, of course, with all the bells and whistles available, there are multiple photos, maps, and even a dashboard if you want.”
“And I can see all this too, but only if you send it to me?
“Well, as I said, you could see some of the listings themselves elsewhere. I can provide you additional information about those listings and others you might miss seeing. We have additional tools to use to interpret the data we see. Some information is private to members.”
“And that’s why it’s helpful to have a knowledgeable Realtor, I suppose.”
“Bingo!” R. M. laughed. “When I first started in this business, MLS printed books, big like old catalogs, with about five listings per page, each with only one exterior black and white photo and a very brief property description. Updated books were delivered about twice a month. It was up to the members to sort through them, page by inky page, and to build more sturdy shelves for them of course, as they accumulated.”
He had pulled over in front of a rowhouse. “I didn’t want you to miss seeing this townhouse style of unit. There are quite a few in this part of town. Is this something you like? Just wondering, as you mentioned a dog?”
“Oh, we’re just shopping for that too!”
“Some people prefer to have a private entry or a lower floor. It can be a long and messy ride down with a dog in an elevator.”
Negotiating their way back south along Farwell Ave., a street that forms an eastern boundary of East Pointe and a western boundary of the Gold Coast, Michelle noticed the sign “Max & Nate’s Deli” over a restaurant window. “What a great name for a deli.” she mused. “Ever been in there, R. M.? Please tell me it’s as good as it’s name sounds.”
Inside the slightly steamy windows, business was brisk. It wasn’t a very large place, and was often crowded. In the kitchen, new owners Nathan Benjamin and his wife Maxine were catching up together over a pile of invoices.
“Maxie, maybe we should think about getting some help with this. If I’m concentrating on this, I can’t do that…you know how it goes. I thought with both of us here, we’d have enough time for paperwork.” grumbled Nate.
“It’s not such a bad problem to have though, is it, being cursed with success? Why don’t we interview that guy in our building, remember the one who sent round the flyer a while ago. He’s the association treasurer—how bad can he be?”
“He said he’d come to your unit to do the work; maybe we could ask him to walk the block over here instead, to make make our life easier.”
“Deal. I’ll ask Mrs. James about him first, just to see if anyone else has tried him out. By the way, I keep putting her off too. Have you thought any more about what recipe you want to put in the association cookbook? It’s not like we don’t have any, hehe…”
“Let’s say we do something with these leftover ends of loaves of bread we have every day. I’ve been meaning to ask you about this anyway. The freezer is getting pretty full of them. Croutons maybe…something like…’Day Old Delights’…we could create a market for them as tasty snacks and sell them as day olds. There are lots of people walking by who might stop in for a carry-out snack. There’s only so many croutons we can use ourselves.”
“OK, I’ll cook something up and write a recipe for her. Two birds with one loaf.”