Wow, if you want to view available homes on the MLS in Hampton Road, Virginia they’ll charge you $3.95 a day Access Fee! If you aren’t aware how this real estate industry works, there are local Realtor boards that operate independently. There are some guidelines from the National Association of Realtors and state boards but the local Realtor Associations can define their own MLS Rules and Regulations. In this case, the Hampton Road MLS decided to charge the public to access MLS listings.

On the Central Coast, we have SIX individual Realtor Associations but they all cooperate with each other so we only need to have one MLS system where all properties are listed. The 6 Realtor Associations are: San Luis Obispo, Pismo Coast, North Coast, Paso Robles, Atascadero, and Santa Maria. There is a committee called the Central Coast Regional MLS to help the associations work together with the common MLS system and lockboxes.

I’m grateful that the MLS Rules and Regulations on the Central Coast are such that allows me to offer the tools to help my clients without requiring a mandatory Access Fee.