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US MLS Institute Find Ways for Nation-Wide Real Estate Open MLS |
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Written by Mabelle
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Tuesday, 25 July 2006 |
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A group of real estate brokers and software firms have formed the Open MLS Institute, a nonprofit corporation, http://www.openmlsinstitute.org/, seeking to create open multiple listing service (MLS) standards that will allow real estate agents and consumers to view and list all homes for sale and rent in the United States.
The Open MLS Institute also seeks to end certain real estate abuses including steering, spooking, pocket listings, withholding purchase offers, and hoarding of listing data. The Institute will administer a five-question survey in all fifty states to determine the ethics practices of agents and firms. Ratings of all agents and firms will be published on the Institute web site so consumers can select agents and firms with the highest ethics rating. The quiz is available at http://www.openmlsinstitute.org/en/cms/?49 . The survey is free. The Institute also supports the Maine Open MLS Initiative. If adopted by voters, the Maine Open MLS Initiative would create a statewide MLS of homes for sale and rent. Real estate forms would be changed to provide owners the option to direct their agent to place the home in the open MLS. The owner-operator of the Maine open MLS would be selected by a low- bid competition after the initiative was enacted.
By Mabelle Sese
http://realestatepress.org
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