access to MLS

[Account Closed]

How crucial is this?  Put differently, is the information really that much different than the public info?  I can see most sales history if I look at both Trulia and Zillow (they are both spotty, but usually list enough different properties to give me an idea of sales data).  Is it illegal or unethical to approach realtors I don't know well and ask?  How does one go about doing that without it sounding like a bribe or drug deal?  I hinted to my realtor and got the run around about how he pays tens of thousands of dollars in overhead for the privilege of being a realtor.  I thought about just taking the test, but I have no interest in having to pay brokerage fees etc.  Any advice?  Thanks 

[Jason Windholz]

Zillow and Trulia have gotten much better over the years, they used to be a joke but I guess they have learned over the years. But nothing is 100% as good as the MLS, but you can still do deals with 90%, or 80%... or less of the MLS.

I have been licensed in Texas and Oklahoma and finally let them lapse, I got first license in Texas, a non-disclosure state, where if you don't have the MLS, you don't have anything... to Oklahoma, where I live now, where they have a transfer tax so sales prices are public knowledge and 3rd parties love to sell it, and the counties publish it for free!

I guess what you get, that is not public record, is seller's info on expired listings, how many times the listing was renewed (1 month on the market, but expired 2 years since) and other data that only the Realtor's know like personal info the sellers share and some agents put in the listing.

Now when approaching agents, they are traditional and proud of themselves. Its against their code to give you access to the MLS, so even if you ask for pieces of it, you are in a grey area.

And if you take them up on the free stuff (which they offer to potential sellers ONLY in hopes of getting a listing)... they will see a waste of time and not want to give you the free stuff that was designed to make them commissions.

If you want the MLS, jump through their hoops and get it, otherwise you don't need it. Most motivated sellers don't list, or it already expired, and most of my deals came from my own marketing, not the MLS.