Sixteen multiple listing services have signed on as founding members of the MLS Domains Association in hopes of creating a top-level Internet domain: .MLS. Full story
The Greater Washington, DC Capital area's Multiple Listing Service or "MLS" hub (which covers around the beltway and surrounding or outlying areas of Northern Virginia, DC and Maryland) is called the Metropolitan Regional Information System or "MRIS".
If an agent in a Tri-State area such as this wants to show properties outside the metro area or expand his/her practice into other areas of the state; such as beach or mountain resort type of properties; i.e. Ocean City, Maryland; Shenandoah Valley Region, Chesapeake Bay area or Annapolis, Maryland (all of which would be ideal resort or second home type of properties for the DC affluent or weekend warrior) -- the agent would need to belong or have some type of reciprocal privileges with other NAR Real Estate Boards, who are also tied into or connected with the local MLS hub AND the regional lockbox key system administration. The Supra lockbox system hardware "key" or hand-held electronic device that an agent carries is only programmable for a certain number of regional MLS hubs or real estate board geographic areas. This means that an agent would need to drop certain coverage areas to be able to show properties in another area or region and vice verse.
I went through this same very frustrating and convoluted process when I was also licensed in Maryland and trying to show and sell properties in Ocean City, Maryland. Not only was the local MRIS regional MLS hub that I belonged to not able to show all the local MLS listings in that area (Coastal Association of Realtors - or CAR); [although some listings were put into the DC area's MRIS system] - but also my GE Supra DisplayKEY hand-held hardware device was not immediately programmable for that area; unless I dropped another area or region (such as the Shenandoah Valley region) to add the Supra DisplayKEY code for the Ocean City, Maryland area.
Then to compound the situation further, the maker of this entire real estate industry electronic lockbox key system, General Electric or "GE", would periodically update their lockbox shackle and electronic hand-held "key" hardware devices; and if you were working in an area or region where the agents in the local area had not yet updated to the latest version of the hardware devices, you could find yourself not being able to show your client a listing with your most updated hardware. GE has superseded the DisplayKEY for the newer ActiveKEY hand-held hardware device "key" system now.
It can be very embarrassing to say the least to be standing at a door of a property trying to show it to your client buyer, then not be able to get into the property for whatever technological reasons which the client couldn't care to understand or comprehend; and rightfully so, they "hired" or selected you the agent as the "expert" in all this. Not only is it highly embarrassing but also a potential loss of the buyer client as well who may by now have lost confidence in his/her agent's abilities or "expertise"; a loss of time, money and energy in unsuccessfully attempting to show that property listing, but more importantly the possible loss of hard earned or potential commission income that could result from a sale if the agent was able to show that property.
As a Tri-State or major metropolitan area Realtor I found this to be most restrictive and convoluted. Therefore, I would support and encourage the formation of ONE unified Multiple Listing System (MLS) database which any real estate agent or member of the National Association of Realtors (NAR) could access; rather than having to be a member of multiple local boards or get reciprocal privileges with a local or regional board to join or get access to their localized MLS hub system AND have localized lockbox key access privileges as well. So long as an agent is licensed in a particular state; i.e. Virginia, that agent should be able to seamlessly show his or her client any property listing in that state across multiple jurisdictional or regional geographic areas within the given state by being able to access a centralized MLS database system AND there should be a centralized or unified lockbox access coding system in place as well to allow that agent access to properties in another region or geographical area.
Limiting or restricting agents to one or a only a few MLS hub areas or lockbox key regions within a given state (or across state lines if the agent has multiple state licenses) is overly and unnecessarily restrictive to both the agent and the buyer. If an agent is knowledgeable about multiple regions within a state or across a multi-state metro area (as well as is knowledgeable about prevailing practice, local contract forms or addenda, etc) there is NO REASON why that agent has to pass off or refer his client to an agent in the local area and loose money on a commission sale because he/she does not have access to the localized MLS system AND lockbox key systems.
The localized or regional MLS hub system must be abolished and a new more agent AND client friendly MLS system must be adopted !
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