Which Multiple Listing Service(s) Are Needed to List or Buy in Virginia?
- Adam Garrett
- Jan 4, 2023
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
In my map above & my spreadsheet below, I go over which Multiple Listing Service (MLS) are needed for someone considering selling or buying land, a condo, a house, or a townhouse in Virginia as well as additional pertinent information. The spreadsheet focuses on Central & Eastern VA while the map covers Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, & beyond.
Importance of the Right MLS
One of the top marketing elements & one of the top elements for a buyer's agent creating searches for you, is good MLS coverage. Knowing which Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is needed for a buyer or seller is very important if you're considering selling or buying in SE VA. Having access to the right MLS can mean the difference between a buyer being aware of & able to purchase a home or not if they're relying on their buyer's agent's feed. Having the wrong MLS for sellers can mean that a large number of buyers will never even get the home on their radar if they are relying on the feed from their agents.
How Agents With Limited MLS Coverage Take Advantage of Clients With No MLS Knowledge
Sometimes, buyer's agents or listing agents will help buyers or sellers in areas where they have poor MLS coverage without disclosing it to them. In other cases, an agent may have access to only 1 MLS, and a buyer or seller should really be working with an agent with more than 1 MLS if 1 MLS doesn't make up at least the majority for very low-priced properties (& ideally, at least 99% for high-end real estate). In SE VA, there are even some locations where the top MLS only produces less than 50% of listings of a city or county. The map above has counties/cities where 1 MLS (including w/ co-op) gets under 80% MLS coverage in yellow, though data west of Central Richmond is based on substantively lower data sets.
MLS Covered in Spreadsheet & More Often in Map
In this post, I wanted to focus primarily on these areas of Virginia, Maryland, DC, Eastern NC, Eastern WV, Delaware, etc. regarding which Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is dominant and by what percentage vs competing MLS among the following MLS:
1. Central Virginia Regional MLS (CVR Based out of Richmond)
2. Chesapeake Bay & Rivers Association of Realtors MLS (CBRAR based out of Hartfield - primary MLS of most of Middle Peninsula, excluding Gloucester)
3. Real Estate Information Network (REIN Based out of Virginia Beach - primary MLS of Hampton Roads, including the primary MLS of Williamsburg & James City County by listing volume)
4. Northern Neck MLS (Based out of Callao)
5. Williamsburg Area Association of REALTORS® MLS (WMLS)
BRIGHT MLS (Based near DC)
There are some additional MLS mentioned as well at times, where I pull numbers off of Zillow or give rough estimates of primary & secondary where there is crossover from other MLS that I don't have direct access to.
Doorify (NC Raleigh-based)
Other MLS in adjacent states w/ limited if any VA coverage not mentioned above but included on the map:
Data Share Agreements
You'll notice on the spreadsheet and the map that I highlight cases of data sharing. That's when one MLS shares its data with 1 or more other MLS. Here are some examples:
REIN MLS (Hampton Roads) pulls in data & shares data with CVR MLS (Greater Richmond)
Williamsburg MLS pulls in data & shares data with BRIGHT MLS
BRIGHT MLS data shares with CAAR, Williamsburg MLS, CVR, & Stellar MLS
Keep in mind that often, maps produced by MLS when talking about data sharing over-represent the primary MLS of a city or county, while in other cases, they're overly cautious when talking about primary MLS of cities/counties, so the map I created should be relied on more than the maps below.
Below are some map examples directly from MLS when referring to data sharing:
From BRIGHT:
For instance, in the above example, it doesn't mention that REIN MLS is actually the primary MLS of James City County, York County, Gloucester County, Poquoson, Hampton, and Newport News, whereas if one didn't know better and was relying solely on the map, one might think that Williamsburg MLS was the primary MLS of those areas.
Below is a map from CVR about its data share partners, but from the map, one wouldn't realize that York County, James City County, & Gloucester County all have REIN MLS as their primary MLS.
Here's a map from Williamsburg MLS showing its data sharing, but most of the localities it includes, where it has presence, are not localities where it's the primary MLS:
Southern Piedmont Land and Lakes also has data shares going, but the image is too unclear for me to reproduce here due to it not showing the copyright source clearly.
Local Associations of REALTORS® vs MLS Maps
Often, these don't go together 1:1, though there are often some parallels at least. In some cases, more than one association makes up the same MLS, i.e. Virginia Peninsula Association of REALTORS® & Hampton Roads REALTORS® Association both making up REIN MLS.
Here is the full list for the above areas, & feel free to click on it for the full spreadsheet:
Related:
Indirectly Related:
Multiple Listing Service (MLS) map of Virginia, including North Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, DC, parts of northeast West Virginia, etc.
About the Author: Adam Garrett - 3rd Generation REALTOR®
Adam is the 3rd generation in a line of award-winning real estate agents serving SE VA. He has served full time at Garrett Realty Partners since May 2014 when he joined the marketing department before transitioning to full-time sales to assist buyers and sellers in February 2015. He believes that an educated buyer or seller makes the best decisions, & is dedicated to helping with that both digitally & on-site physically for buyers & sellers. He's also available for referrals to real estate agents around the globe. In several capacities, his resources & direct offerings for assisting sellers & assisting buyers are either unmatched or are top 1% for the SE VA area, and in some cases, nationwide. Not stopping after closing, he also provides information for tenants, landlords, & homeowners.
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