A very good MLS question ?

Question

So i'm a REI from New Jersey , and i keep running into a road block. I can never find the real MLS or the best or even the correct MLS for NJ and i wouldnt mind paying for them but i cant find the right website that the realtor uses and not a free one like realtytac i used but it doesnt list the listing agent and i wanna be able to find all the info about a property so soon as i see it i can make an offer.

Account Closed · Answer

@Priya J.Looks like there are experience requirements to get a appraiser license. As an investor i am not looking to go to field to do appraisals in order to gain appraiser. Agree with you that it looks cheaper to get appraiser license (assuming you have the required experience) than to get and maintain realtor license.Thanks,Vijay

Alex Sawford · Answer

Hello Ray, As stated above you will need to be a licensed real estate sales person in NJ to gain access to the MLS. The MLS data base is paid for by the dues realtors pay each year to their local realtors associations. GSMLS would meet the needs for the areas your are interested in. There are several different MLS options in NJ depending where you are looking to invest. In addition to the pricing, taxes and square footage ect. (things I'm sure your interested in) there is lot of other information that would be considered private - like if a home is vacant. Realtors go through finger printing and background checks to make sure the individuals that have access to this information are responsible with it. Hope that helps. Feel free to Message me if you have any other questions.

Priya J. · Answer

if you are only interested in listings, then why not use zillow/realtor or even most broker's sites? that is what i use when i am interested in an area that i don't have mls access. it's very rare that a property is listed and not on one of these sites. also, most mls systems allow you to see all listings. imho, you should be doing your own due diligence on potential investments by seeing the property yourself and checking public records and such as opposed to relying on agent listings which are notoriously inaccurate and/or incomplete.

Ray Agosto · Answer

Yeah your right but would it be possible if you can suggest a good one in middlesex because the one i was working with she doesn't have me on her email list and i'm not going to waste my time with her.

Kevin Hill · Answer

Middlesex County has their own MLS, so don't rely solely on the GSMLS.Why don't you just find an investor friendly agent who can set you up on listing alerts directly from the MLS with your criteria and have the agent submit the offers? You don't want to go directly through the listing agent anyway.

Ray Agosto · Answer

Well thank you for your input @Priya J. GSMLS is very helpful but i'm trying to do either central ( as in New Brunswick , Perth Amboy & Edison ) And for north ( maybe Trenton and other urban sides )@Kevin Hill now with the NJMLS how on point are they because i wanna be able to check listings every morning and see any new ones so i can make offers and other things but it seems like i should just get my licence .

Kevin Hill · Answer

You'll never be able to get access to the MLS without being an agent or appraiser. Most local MLS's have a public side of the site. NJMLS is now making sold data available to the public. I think it only goes back so far though.There is private info on there (like how to access the property) that sellers wouldn't want available to the general public.NJ has various MLS's, so it can get costly to subscribe to them if you decide to get your license so you have access.

Priya J. · Answer

I am currently in the process of getting my salesperson license and I am also a commercial appraiser in NJ. First of all, there are several MLS's in NJ. GSMLS covers most of North Jersey (with the exception of Bergen and Hudson, both of which have their own exclusive systems which are a pain). I recently found out that I can get limited access as an appraiser which is basically all access without the ability to list properties. I am not sure if they offer this to the general public or any other real estate professionals, but it is significantly cheaper than what I will be paying as an agent and definitely worth looking into as an investor. Hope this points you in the right direction. I also have been researching the different MLS systems in NJ and am finding that it can be pretty exclusive. This is one of the reasons I took the course to begin with so that I can at least gain access to whichever system if/when necessary.

Ray Agosto · Answer

Okay that's fine i was already doing that will zillow now with GSMLS how accurate is it with the listings ?

Thomas Wilbur · Answer

You would need a log in wich you only get when your a realtor. You can look at comps on Zillow.com