We are often asked by Sellers :
  “Why isn’t Rossmoor Sales a member of the Middlesex County MLS ?” 

This question often betrays a preconceived notion that the decision to join a Multiple Listing System should be a foregone conclusion for a Real Estate agency. Because of our unique position and operation however, the decision is not quite as simple or straight forward as one might think, for the following reasons: 

 1.)  Listings For Sale
Point :    It is true that membership in an MLS is a great help, and a practical necessity, to the typical real estate agent when comparing past sale prices of a particular style home, in a particular area, that they planning to List for sale. This is especially true if the agent is serving a large geographic area, such as Middlesex County. In such cases, the agent can not be expected to keep abreast  of all sales activities in such a wide area without the assistance of an MLS to supply him or her with the pertinent information. The MLS will usually retain their historical data on their database for approximately two years.

Counterpoint :     At Rossmoor Sales, however, we specialize in only one small geographic area, the community of Rossmoor. In so doing, we are easily able to maintain our own computerized database with sales history and information pertaining specifically to Rossmoor. Our historical database has sales values going back 4 years. And because of our agents’ familiarity with home sales in Rossmoor, we already know the current  ‘comp’ sales values of all the models, as well as the price changes that have occurred to them over the past years. And in most cases we will have been acquainted with the condition of each home’s interior at the time it was sold.

 2.) Showing Buyers
Point :     When looking for available homes for sale to show prospective Buyers, a typical agent will once again depend upon the MLS service to show them what is currently on the market in a particular home style and neighborhood. The agent is able to log onto the MLS to see all available units for sale, in geographic locations with which they may be unfamiliar. This service is essential to agent s who may be serving Buyers in multiple neighborhoods, over a large area.
The other side of the coin is that Sellers may have their homes viewed by all MLS agents throughout the county, who are looking on behalf of prospective Buyers, for homes like the Seller’s.

Counterpoint :     At Rossmoor Sales we do not presently feel the need for an MLS service because we are already aware of just about the entire inventory of currently available homes in Rossmoor. We find ourselves in this position for three reasons. First, we ourselves list approximately one third of all the publicly available homes for sale in Rossmoor. Second, we have a very good working relationship with most of the other agencies in this area, who List extensively in Rossmoor, by which we exchange information among ourselves identifying what each of us has for sale.
And Third, we advertise and promote our Sellers’ Listings to outside agents through the use of e-mail that we send directly to our list of active agents. We also post our Listings onto our web site so they can be viewed by not only agents, but also by Buyers themselves. While an MLS will expose a Listing to agents on a county-wide basis, our website is viewed by Buyers across state lines. Buyers, who have viewed our site after finding it by surfing through Google or Yahoo, will usually initiate contact by calling our office and specifically asking to see certain homes in which they have an interest. Many of these calls are coming from as far away as North Jersey and Staten Island, which are outside the Middlesex county borders.

 3.) Rules and Regulations
Point :     Members of  Multiple Listing Services are required to abide by additional operating rules, over and above those of the NJ Real Estate Commission. These rules have been designed to offer additional protection  to the public consumer, be they Buyer or Seller.; as well as outlining a code of conduct between real estate agencies.

Counterpoint :     While this purpose is laudable, the rules will sometimes attempt to manage such mundane details as how agents must advertise their listings on the internet. Not only may the MLS dictate what form and content an internet advertisement is allowed to have, but if you violate any of their rules, there are possibly financial penalties involved.  We feel that as licensed real estate agents we should have the freedom to advertise our properties, on the internet or otherwise, as we feel best for our Sellers, as long as we continue to abide by the NJ Real Estate Commission rules and regulations.

 
And one final point, while some competing agencies may claim that by our lack of membership in an MLS we are doing a disservice to our clients, the facts do not bear them out. In calendar year, 2008, we sold over twice as many homes in Rossmoor than our nearest and largest competitor, who IS a member of the local MLS. And this is not simply a one time occurrence.  For the last 5 years in a row, we have procured more Buyers for Rossmoor homes, in each of those years, than any other real estate agency, regardless of size or affiliation. On average, we have out performed the competition by 35% to 55%. And typically, approximately 3/4 of all the homes we sell, are sold from our own inventory. 

So the question you should ask yourself is :
                 "What's more important to me, methodology or results?"