When you search for Sequim real estate (or Port Angeles real estate), are you searching a website or an MLS site that includes all the local listings, or just most of the listings? Is the site you are searching accurate, or are the listings already sold and some of the data wrong? Did you know that some websites do not include all Sequim real estate listings, and did you know there are real estate sites that are inaccurate?
So how can you be sure you are seeing all the local listings that are in both MLSs? I’ll answer this question today.
There are two major MLSs you need to use when searching Sequim real estate in order to see all the local listings. The NWMLS (Northwest MLS) is the largest in Washington state and covers the large metropolitan areas of Seattle and Tacoma. In other words, most of the Realtors in the state of Washington use the NWMLS. There is a second MLS you need to use when you search Sequim real estate, and it is called the OLS (Olympic Listing Service).
Searching Sequim Real Estate Online
It may have occurred to you already, but if you are using a Sequim real estate broker’s site that does not give you access to both the NWMLS and the OLS, you will not see all the local listings. Some brokers from outside the area who are not members of the OLS have local listings in the NWMLS only. And I found a local Realtor who is not a member of the OLS. Some foreclosures are in one MLS but not the other.
You could miss that perfect retirement home. Not cool. Some listing clients (sellers) are not being told by their listing agents that their home will only appear in one of the MLSs. When sellers find this out, they are usually quite upset. How can you find out if your Sequim real estate agent is a member of both MLSs? Simply search this NWMLS online site for an agent’s name (or office name): NWMLS Membership.
Search the Best Sequim Real Estate MLS Site
You can learn more about these these two MLSs at Northwest MLS v. OLS. You might guess that I am very consumer oriented and believe in full disclosure to the public and clients. I don’t like it when information is withheld from consumers, and so that’s one of the reasons I write articles like this. I do not recommend Zillow or Trulia, because they have many listings posted that are already expired or inaccurate. If you’re a buyer who wants to search all the listings in both MLSs at once on the same site, I recommend one site: Sequim Real Estate MLS. You’ll see a drop down menu so you can search either MLS specifically, but if you search by address or by MLS number, you will be searching both databases at once.
Last Updated on September 19, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
I love your Sequim Real Estate Blog. The topics are often deep, but so well written that I enjoy reading them every time. Thanks for all the work it must take to put this together and for all the research and writing and editing that must take place.