Selling your house in Sequim? Make sure you use a NWMLS office.

Greetings potential Sequim sellers...

Before you list your house for sale in Sequim with a local broker, make sure you know what's really going on in the real estate market.

What am I talking about? The fact that there are currently 2 MLS systems running in Sequim: OLS - Olympic Listing Service, which only reaches agents in Clallam County, and NWMLS - Northwest MLS, which reaches all of the agents in the western portion of the state, and provides a much larger coverage area for your listing.

Why is this important? There are a few local real estate offices that are 'OLS only' subscribers, which means that your listing will only be seen by local agents in Sequim and Port Angeles. These 'OLS only' office members are afraid of having an 'out of the area' agent sell your property, so rather than get your listing in front of several thousand selling agents, they prefer to limit access to only around 140 local Sequim agents. Does that make sense to you? Do you care which agent sells your house, or do you just want it SOLD?

I thought so... YOU JUST WANT YOUR HOUSE SOLD!

Beware, as these 'OLS only' agents will tell you that an 'out of the area' agent lacks local knowledge to sell your home, but guess what? That's what the listing agent's job is - to provide accurate information to any potential selling agent and/or buyer. So make sure they are doing the job you are paying them for!

Also, 'OLS only' agents are missing a large portion of 'NWMLS only' listings, so for you buyers out there, you are missing out on potentially finding your perfect place, by working with an 'OLS only' agent or office.

Does it make sense to have 2 MLS systems running in Sequim? Absolutely not, in my opinion, and I've stated this to 'the powers that be' that's it's actually hurting property values in Clallam County by not having all of the MLS data in 1 database, but they don't want to hear it.

Why? Because that's how it's always been, and they are afraid of change, afraid that they will lose business to the agents in Seattle. Really?

Is that reasonable? The Internet has already changed the way people do business, and over 90% of people start their search for real estate online. So the typical buyer uses sites like realtor.com or trulia.com, as these sites are designed for the public.

But guess what?

REAL ESTATE AGENTS DON'T USE THOSE SITES. THEY SEARCH THE MLS!

Also, recent buyer statistics show that what ACTUALLY sells your home comes down to just 3 things: other MLS agents, a 'For Sale' sign and the Internet.

Having used both OLS and NWMLS systems for the past several years, here's my take on it:

1) NWMLS IS A MUCH BETTER MLS SYSTEM! Any MLS service is basically just a data provider, and NWMLS is much easier to use, is formatted much better, has much better reporting capabilities, including statistics, has much better search capabilities, and is now linked directly to Clallam County online records. And you can have up to 15 photos on NWMLS vs 9 on OLS... Again, a better MLS.

2) NWMLS has approximately 23,200 agent members vs approximately 140 Sequim agent members in OLS. Do you want to limit yourself and miss out on having thousands of agents available to potentially sell your house?

Doesn't it make more sense to list with a company that is part of NWMLS, and has the ability to reach thousands of selling agents and buyers instead?

I work for Windermere SunLand in Sequim, WA, which subscribes to both OLS and NWMLS, and I'd be happy to show you the benefits of working with an office that is a member of both. 

I'm hoping that the MLS situation here in Sequim changes in the near future, and that there will be only 1 MLS system operating in Clallam County, and that it's NWMLS, which is, in my opinion, in the absolute best interests of our clients and the citzens of Clallam County.

Take care,

Marti Winkler
Windermere SunLand
360-477-8277