What’s the Difference?
You will hear the terms “data share” and “reciprocal access” frequently in the real estate industry. An MLS might have a “data share” with another MLS, or you might get “reciprocal access” into an MLS other than one to which you subscribe. But what do these terms mean exactly?
Data Share
A data share is an agreement between MLSs wherein two MLS systems exchange listing data between them. If MLS A and MLS B have a data share, then MLS A users can see listings from MLS B and vice versa. Searches in MLS A will return listings in MLS A and MLS B, and listings from MLS A will be visible to MLS B users.
Depending on technical details, the two MLSs may send listings back and forth very quickly. In CRMLS’s case, our data shares generally update several times an hour. This means you can see changes or new listings in a participating MLS almost as quickly as its own native users.
When two MLSs have a data share agreement, they also share Internet Data Exchange (IDX) data. This means that when a consumer goes to a website belonging to a CRMLS user, they’ll be able to search listings not just from CRMLS but also from any other MLSs with which we share data.
MLSs may also share data in other ways. For example, as a CRMLS user, you’ll see listings from our data share partners in our mobile apps and several of our other available products. For instance, if you run a search for comparables in Cloud CMA you’ll find listings from CRMLS and data share partners.
Reciprocal Access
You can think of reciprocal access as “guest access” into another MLS system. In general, reciprocal access is limited and those limitations vary depending on the systems and the agreements in place.
Reciprocal access is usually available to all participants of an MLS or Association with an agreement to provide reciprocal access to another MLS or Association.
Sometimes, MLSs that plan to share data may start with reciprocal access first as a stopgap measure. Reciprocal access may require logging in to a separate system that may be different than your usual MLS system. Also, depending on the MLS, reciprocal access often means everyone in one MLS sharing a single login for another MLS, which results in some restrictions on what can be done.
However, despite limitations, reciprocal access is a powerful tool to conduct two-way business outside of a local market without anyone needing to join a separate MLS.