Quick Answer
The MLS is the database Central Indiana agents use to enter active listings, track pending sales, and record closed sale prices. It's operated locally by MIBOR, and it's the original source behind most home search sites, including ours.
- Who enters listings
- Licensed member agents
- Who operates it locally
- MIBOR
- What it tracks
- Active, pending, and sold homes
- Public access
- Limited; data flows out through agent and consumer search sites
Why the MLS Exists
Before shared databases, a buyer had to check with dozens of individual brokerages to see what was for sale. The MLS solves that by requiring member agents to enter their listings in one place, so every other member agent, and through syndication the public, can see the same information.
This cooperative system is also what allows a buyer's agent from one brokerage to show a home listed by a completely different brokerage.
What's Actually in an MLS Listing
A full MLS listing includes far more than the photos and price you see on a public site: square footage, lot details, school district, HOA information, showing instructions, and the listing agreement terms the agent entered.
Because it's maintained by professionals under MIBOR's rules, the data is generally more accurate and current than listings pulled from other sources.
How Buyers and Sellers Use It
As a seller, getting your home into the MLS through a listing agreement is what exposes it to the full pool of active buyers and their agents. As a buyer, MLS data, often through your agent or an IDX search, is the most reliable way to see what's genuinely available.
Your Realty Link's property search pulls directly from the MIBOR MLS feed.
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Frequently Asked Questions — MLS
Can I search the MLS myself?
The MLS itself is for members only, but licensed agents make that data available to the public through IDX-powered search tools like ours.
Is Zillow the same as the MLS?
No. Sites like Zillow license and display MLS data, but they don't operate the database, and their listing details can lag behind the source.
Does every home for sale end up in the MLS?
Most agent-listed homes do. For sale by owner and some off-market listings do not, which is one reason working with an agent widens your search.