Is it just a misconception or a big fat open secret, I don’t know. But it surely seems that most people not closely associated with the real estate industry are confused about agency cooperation and how the IDX (Internet Data Exchange) system works and what it means to them. Is this good or bad I wonder?

My partner Bob met a new buyer this weekend. During the tour of homes, the buyer mentioned his surprise that Bob could access listings from other agencies. I was speaking with another buyer recently and she was telling me how she had been on five or six different sites to see which listings were out there.What sellers and buyers don’t understand is that we do cooperate with each other.

What does this mean and what’s the benefit? There are various Multiple Listing Services around the nation. In northern New Jersey we use the Garden State Multiple Listing Service (GSMLS). If you are looking for a property in this area, you can search on www.GSMLS.com and if it’s listed by a real estate agent it’s on GSMLS. If it’s on the GSMLS any licensed real estate agent can show the house regardless of which real estate agency listed it. Period.

Normally, the only time a listing won’t be on GSMLS is if the agent has an exclusive listing with the seller or they are trying to keep it to themselves (which we sometimes call a pocket listing). An exclusive allows agencies to get the house and promotions ready. This should only be for a short period of time, however, before the house hits the GSMLS. A pocket listing is unethical and doesn’t benefit the seller in anyway. If an agent is doing this, you don’t want to deal with him in the first place.

What’s interesting is that buyers will go on different real estate agency websites, then go to websites of various real estate agents, then maybe hit Trulia, Zillow, GSMLS, Realtor.com and others. Most real estate agencies are part of Realtor.com, too, but not all are so you can’t use this as the ultimate source; but it does run a close second. The other sites can be hit and miss, although I do hear many say Trulia has a good list. Please understand that real estate agencies and real estate agents use an IDX system to have the EXACT SAME LISTINGS posted on all the sites. IDX enhances cooperation between Realtors to facilitate the purchase and sale of real property. It gives participants the tools they need to display each other’s listings on their websites. So unless you’re looking in one specific town and there’s an agency that really does a lot and specializes in that town and thus may have many exclusives rolling out on their site, stick with GSMLS. The best source will always be your local MLS or for our area GSMLS.

If you need to have addresses, contact an agent and she can set you up on an automated e-mail so you can receive listings from GSMLS that meet your parameters with the addresses. But don’t stay up all night searching on so many different websites.

Now with all that said, you may ask why do so many real estate agencies and agents have the IDX feed on their site? Because buyers and sellers tell us time and time again they expect it to be there.

But this bears repeating: If it’s on GSMLS any licensed agent can show you the house; regardless of the real estate agency affiliation. Also all real estate agency websites are pulling the information from the same source. PERIOD.