FMLS Guide in Atlanta, Georgia: Everything You Need to Know
Whether you’re moving to Intown Atlanta or considering selling your home in the region, you might have come across the term FMLS. Standing for First Multiple Listing Services, FMLS is a database of real estate listings that is specifically focused on the Intown Atlanta area.
At the same time, you might have also come across one of the other big MLS databases in Georgia, GAMLS. This database also serves the Atlanta area in addition to other parts of Georgia, and it can get a bit confusing as a homebuyer or seller regarding which service you should be relying on.
When you partner with a realtor with extensive experience in the Atlanta area, they can help you gain access to all of the most vital information you can use when purchasing or selling a home.
What Is the MLS?
The MLS is a database that lists all of the homes that are currently for sale within a specific geographic region. Real estate agents will add a property to the MLS when a client is ready to sell, which lets other agents and brokers review the listing and share it with their clients if it fits what they’re looking for.
Buyer’s agents will use the MLS to help their clients find new homes, where they can view pictures and detailed descriptions of properties on the market. Both brokers and realtors pay membership fees so that they can have access to their local MLS database.
Each region has its own MLS, which is created, maintained, and funded by local real estate professionals. Participating agents and brokers are able to regularly update the information so that it is current and relevant.
While often referred to as “the MLS,” there are actually roughly 600 MLSs throughout the United States. There are even a select few markets in the U.S. that don’t have an MLS– including New York City– but in cases such as these, there will be other local services that are able to aggregate all of the available listings in the area.
A Brief History of the MLS
Multiple Listing Services (MLS) is a technology that was developed in order to increase the efficiency of real estate transactions. Before the creation of the MLS, buying and selling real estate was a much more complicated endeavor. People looking to buy a home would have to call a local broker and let them know what they were looking for, who would then have to call around to other brokerages if he didn’t have an exclusive sales listing that matched the criteria.
The concept of a multiple listing service actually reaches all the way back to the late nineteenth century. More than one hundred years ago, real estate agents and brokers would meet in person to share information about the properties their clients were selling.
Thanks to unilateral cooperation among brokerages, the MLS was created by the National Association of Realtors in the early 1960s. This was a tool that allowed brokers to search for properties and search for information, a process that benefited brokerages and consumers alike.
At this time, the MLS came in the form of a book that realtors would receive either monthly or twice per month. If you wanted to buy a home, you’d have to head to your local broker’s office to access this valuable data.
Around 1994, property listings started appearing on the Internet. While this allowed buyers the ability to see pictures of homes and their respective addresses, they didn’t have any ability to search through all of the available options or check for comps. At this time, the MLS was still a proprietary, printed book that only brokers had access to.
Since then, MLS data feeds are now digitized but are still only accessible through real estate brokerages. Sites like Zillow, Redfin, and Trulia are aggregating listings from individual broker feeds or postings and aren’t accessing the direct MLS database, contrary to popular belief.
What Is the FMLS?
First Multiple Listing Service (FMLS) is one of the two largest computer databases of homes for sale in the state of Georgia. The other one is Georgia Multiple Listing Service (GAMLS), which we’ll get to a little later on in the article.
The FMLS is primarily used by real estate agents inside the I-285 loop (aka Intown Atlanta), while agents working outside the city typically use GAMLS. Brokers that have access to both listing services can ensure that their clients are able to gain maximum exposure for their homes when selling and have as much information as possible about available listings when buying.
That being said, both of these MLS databases syndicate to the major real estate listing aggregator sites such as Zillow, Realtor.com, and Trulia.
In most cases, you will find that most Intown Atlanta real estate agents use FMLS as their primary MLS– agents that are listing properties in Intown Atlanta are supposed to use FMLS to list properties. This means that, theoretically, all properties sold in Intown Atlanta, except for those sold by the owner without the help of a broker, should appear on the FMLS. In fact, Intown Atlanta is an FMLS mandatory area, meaning that all properties being listed in the area are required to be listed using FMLS.
In some cases, however, Intown Atlanta homes will be listed using GAMLS rather than FMLS. One of the most common reasons for this is that agents who primarily work in the southern suburbs of Atlanta will occasionally list an Intown property using the service they typically work with– GAMLS. You will also find that bank-owned foreclosures don’t always appear on FMLS despite being an FMLS mandatory area.
FMLS Coverage Area
While there are 20 MLS databases that serve members in the state of Georgia, FMLS is one of the largest providers, along with GAMLS.
The following counties are covered by FMLS:
Cobb
Douglass
Dekalb
Paulding
Hall
Fulton
Bartow
Clayton
Cherokee
Gwinnett
Forsyth
This means that the following cities are included in FMLS listings:
Atlanta
Canton
Woodstock
Snellville
Acworth
Alpharetta
Roswell
Stone Mountain
Decatur
Duluth
Norcross
Gainesville
Cumming
Dallas
Dacula
Douglasville
Powder Springs
Lithonia
Lawrenceville
Kennesaw
Marietta
Loganville
Smyrna
What About GAMLS?
The Georgia Multiple Listing Service (GAMLS), along with the FMLS, is one of the most widely used MLS databases in the state of Georgia. It’s used in the greater Atlanta metropolitan region, with listings in select areas throughout the state.
Some of the cities covered by GAMLS include:
Atlanta
Gainesville
Rome
Marietta
Douglasville
Statesboro
Covington
Mcdonough
The coverage area for GAMLS ranges from the North Georgia Mountains all along the Georgia Coast and through central Georgia. It actually also includes listings from contiguous states, including Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida.
Are you wondering what your Atlanta area home is worth? You can find out using our free market analysis tool.
How Do I Search Available Properties on the FMLS?
Since FMLS is a private database, prospective homebuyers aren’t able to access the full database without the help of a real estate agent. Licensed real estate agents and brokers pay to have access to the service, and clients can learn about available homes on the market by partnering with a local real estate agent.
Should I List My Home in GAMLS or FMLS?
If you’re selling your home in the Intown Atlanta area, FMLS is the listing service to go with. Any real estate agent you hire that services Intown Atlanta should be a paying member of the FLMS and will be able to list your home on the database as soon as you are ready to do so.
GAMLS might be the better listing service for homes outside of the city, depending on your location. However, many local real estate agents will have access to both services and list available properties on both to ensure the furthest reach.
Do I Need a Real Estate Agent to List My Home on the MLS?
Individuals that aren’t registered real estate professionals won’t be able to list their own home on a Multiple Listing Service by themselves. That being said, if they are otherwise interested in selling their own house without the help of an agent, it is possible to pay a flat fee to have a property listed rather than hiring a real estate agent to represent them.
Of course, there are many additional benefits to working with real estate agents when selling a home– beyond the fact that they take care of a lot of the heavy lifting for you, research has found that home sellers can fetch 10-20% more when they use a realtor versus selling “For Sale By Owner.” In fact, nearly 90% of people that start off listing their home this way will eventually turn to a realtor for help.
How Often Are New Listings Added to the FMLS?
The FMLS is updated in real-time, meaning that new listings appear as soon as they are added.
This allows for an important competitive advantage for buyers and sellers alike, ensuring as much visibility and access to information as possible.
What Information Can Real Estate Professionals See on an MLS That Isn’t Available to the General Public?
Considering there are so many popular real estate listing sites that aggregate homes that are currently for sale, you might be wondering whether there is really any benefit to tapping into the FMLS. After all, won’t you find pretty much the same information on the FMLS as you will on Zillow, Redfin, or Trulia?
In reality, the truth is more complicated. Though it’s true that you can find listings online through both these listing aggregator sites and real estate professionals’ websites, and it’s also true that some MLS publish active listings online, agents will almost always have access to additional information.
For example, real estate agents will often have access to information about withdrawn and expired listings, agent compensation, days on the market, price changes, and more that aren’t always available elsewhere.
Additionally, real estate agents will commonly pay to have access to a service known as the Realtors Property Resource (RPR), a comprehensive library of data that compliments the information found on the MLS. This additional data allows agents to find contextual information about a specific property that would otherwise be impossible to find through online listings.
Access to the RPR is a benefit provided to agents that are paid members of the National Association of Realtors. (As a side note, though “realtors” and “real estate agent” are often used interchangeably, a realtor is an active member of the National Association of Realtors, while a real estate agent is not necessarily a member.)
Through the RPR, realtors can access data on more than 160 million properties across the U.S.-- both residential and commercial– and is able to integrate this information with demographic, tax, school, neighborhood, and other information.
When you’re buying a home, having access to as much information as possible is a must. The more you know about the property, its history, and its location, the more able you’ll be to make an informed decision that suits your needs. Considering the fact that buying a home is often the largest financial decision Americans will make, it makes sense to collect as much information as possible before selecting a home to purchase.
Is It Time to Buy or Sell a Home in Atlanta?
The decision to buy or sell a home is likely something you have spent a great deal of time considering. When you’re purchasing a home, you want to make sure that you find a place that suits your lifestyle, needs, and preferences, all while fitting within your price range. When it’s time to sell a home, you want to know that you’ll be able to sell your home quickly while also ensuring that you aren’t leaving any money on the table.
You’ll often hear people say that buying or selling a home was one of the most stressful experiences they’ve ever had, but it doesn’t have to be that way. When you work with the Justin Landis Group, you will have a real estate agent as your primary point of contact and an entire team of world-class experts working together to help you achieve your goals.
Are you ready to pair up with the highest-rated team of realtors in the entire Metro Atlanta area? Is it time you worked with individuals that are dedicated to helping you reach your real estate dreams? If so, contact us today!