MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy
Hello there
This is the first of many posts from our monthly “Harris State Wide Real Estate Weblog”. This blog will be covering national/state/local real estate news, buying/selling tips, local events, what’s happening at Harris State Wide Real Estate, and much more. If you would like to receive these posts every month please sign up for the Harris State Wide newsletter so that you never miss out!
This month we will be going over the new MLS Statement 8.0 Clear Cooperation Policy which was approved in November 2019 during the REALTORS® Conference & Expo in San Francisco. This new policy deals with when a listing broker has to submit a new listing into the MLS and the amount of time required to do so. Each individual MLS has until May 1st, 2020 to implement the policy and the policy becomes effective to the National Association of Realtors on January 1st, 2020.
The new policy reads: “Within one (1) business day of marketing a property to the public, the listing broker must submit the listing to the MLS for cooperation with other MLS participants. Public marketing includes, but is not limited to, flyers displayed in windows, yard signs, digital marketing on public facing websites, brokerage website displays (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (email blasts), multi-brokerage listing sharing networks, and applications available to the general public”.
The National Association or Realtors have approved this policy to help improve cooperation between MLS participants. The rational they give is “This policy is intended to bolster cooperation and advance the positive, procompetitive impacts that cooperation fosters for consumers. The public marketing of a listing indicates that the MLS Participant has concluded that cooperation with other MLS participants is in their client’s interests.” and I agree with this sentiment. Allowing consumers to have accurate information via the MLS as soon as a property is marketed will incentivise brokerages to not just go for the quick sale, but to allow the public an opportunity to make an offer on a property.
An example of this would be if a brokerage started advertising a property as soon as the listing contract was signed on their website, but did not input the listing into the MLS until the last day allowable. This allows the listing broker an amount of time to quickly throw together a deal before other brokerages and their clients even have a chance. This is not only unfair to potential buyers wanting to put in an offer, but also to the sellers who can benefit from multiple offers on their property. Harris State Wide has had the policy to input listings as soon as possible after signing and we are happy that the National Association of Realtors and all MLS’s will be doing the same soon.
In other news Harris State Wide Real Estate will be participating in the 2019 Downtown Iron Mountain Christmas walk. This event is great for the community because it encourages downtown business to decorate their storefronts for christmas and have locals walkthrough and enjoy the lights! Make sure to stop by our office located in the Moose Jackson’s Cafe building facing towards City Hall. Our address is 221 East A St and we will have the lights and decorations up all December long.
Thank you for your time and for reading our blog post. If you would like to contact Hugh or Steve Harris about your Real Estate needs call (906) 828 1099 and we will be glad to work with you. Our next post will be towards the end of December so look forward to that and have a great Thanksgiving!