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I have been following the discussion around the competitiveness, costs and consumer benefits of U.S. Multiple Listing Services (MLS) by those trying to disparage the model. As an Irish immigrant to the United States in 1996 who became a real estate broker in 2000, I can tell you this: The U.S. model has long been — and is still — viewed as the best by consumers around the world.
You don’t have to look very far for examples that illustrate why.
This past December, my mother and father closed on their home of 35 years in Limerick, Ireland, after 10 months “in escrow.” They also recently closed on their purchase of a new home. In the process, they had to rent a home for four months between their sale and their purchase given “simultaneous closings” are not a practice there. That kind of drawn-out timetable is typical for the majority of western nations that use the auctioneer model where a seller works with one, perhaps two, auctioneers.
FULL TEXT: Why the U.S. MLS system is the envy of other countries - HousingWire