It probably also depends upon the location. I get the impression that for some MLS operations, all properties listed go on the realtor dot com while in others the agent has to affirmatively work to put it on.
You might try calling up a few real estate brokers locally and ask them.
There does seem to be a lag between a property being listed and getting on the realtor dot com and then a lag between a signed contract and the listing being pulled.
I think that the site is great if you want to get roufh information about the value of properties in an area. Just yesterday I looked in Chichasha, OK, for the listings of houses similar to a REO property listed there on e-bay real estate. I found several houses of similar size and age that were much cheaper than the asking price. And some much larger and newer houses at a similar price. My interest in that REO plummeted.
Here’s a question on using the Internet to look for properties.
People have said many times on this website that if you don’t have your real estate license you’re missing out because you don’t have access to the MLS.
But I use Realtor.Com to view a lot of listed properties in any neighborhood I want from my own computer any time I want. And there may be other websites that do the same thing.
What portion of properties on the MLS does Realtor.Com show you? All of them? Most of them? Some of them? Only a fraction of them?
Realtor.com pulls properties that have been listed on the various MLS systems. If they are ‘exclusive’ i.e. back-pocket listings, then they are not on the MLS and consequently not on Realtor.com. My former office simply put everything on MLS, though offices may have different policies and local board rules. Main problem for non-members is you can’t get comps like you can from your local MLS system. As Ron mentioned there may be a delay in getting the listing into the MLS system and then another to get it from MLS to Realtor.com. Even though there may be a pending sale on the property, it doesn’t get pulled until the sale is closed. Yet another thing you could find out from having access to your local MLS. I’m not offering a solution other than making fiends with you local Realtor. I’ve tried various alternate services and found them to be notoriously inaccurate and/or covering limited areas. Best, Scott