im trying to find mls access

[Ricky Davidson]

I have been trying to get mls access for a few months now.  Is anyone familiar with going the assistant route??  I have tried just about everything with these realtors and it is like they guard their mls access.  I know they cant just give it to me but can any realtor let me apply as their assistant ? I need to be able to comp houses whenever I need to

[Linda Weygant]

Hi Ricky,

It seems you're pretty new at this, so I'll see if I can explain this in a way that will really make sense to you.  Your profile says you're a contractor.  As a contractor, probably one of your most closely guarded secrets is your list of subcontractors and your list of wholesale materials suppliers.

Now imagine somebody came to you and said "hey, sign me up as your assistant and give me those two lists".  Even if they swore they'd never go behind your back and hire those subs directly and that they'd always give you a cut of whatever work they do, would you trust them?  

That's what you're asking an agent to do.  "Hey, give me access to your one industry secret.  I swear I won't ever try to cut you out of whatever deals I find."  Yeah - not gonna happen.

You've got two options here.

1. Get your real estate agent license and buy your own access to the MLS once you have your license.

2. Cultivate a real relationship with an agent - one where you are giving as much as you are getting. Give them some key words or an idea of what you are looking for and let them set up several searches in the MLS for you. Then, when you see a listing you like, call the agent and let them represent you and earn their commission.