The launch of the first and only Multiple Listing Service (MLS) in Ghana by Meqasa and the Ghana Association of Real Estate Brokers (GAR) has paved way for a breakthrough in the real estate industry in Ghana. This is because the quality of real estate business in the country will be greatly improved when the MLS is fully adopted and operational. The MLS will be responsible for tracking real estate brokerage business trends and serve as a database where properties listed on the platform are made readily and easily accessible to real estate agents and brokers.

What This Means For Agents

Real Estate agents who are registered on the platform will be able to better manage their portfolios and properties. It will serve as a one-stop shop for access to information for easy business transactions, sharing information and sharing properties with other agents. It provides the avenue for agents to market each other’s properties for profit sharing which will lead to a significant increase in the number of leads closed. Since no one agent has access to all available properties on the market in their portfolio, it is only wise and useful that the MLS platform is leveraged to maximise profit.

The MLS will not be made accessible to the general public but only to verified active GAR members. This is to provide credibility to agents and enhance confidence in property seekers, reassuring them that they are dealing with individuals regulated by an identifiable body (GAR), and who are properly equipped to find them the property they are looking for provided it exists in the database.

What This Means For Property Seekers

Property seekers are not left out when it comes to the benefits of the Multiple Listing Service.  The general public can be assured of the credibility of the agents they are dealing with since they are verified by the GAR. The interests of the public are protected in real estate business transactions since a regulatory body oversees the ethics and business practices of professionals in the industry.

Property seekers can now also avoid seeking information from the wrong people. This is because every GAR member listed on the MLS platform is the right person to talk to since they have access to the database and can, thus, find any property required, provided it exists in the database. Duplicates of same properties where prices differ because they are listed by different agents will also be eliminated and the right listings with the appropriate details will be syndicated.

Conclusion

GAR serves as the regulator in bringing like-minded people together in the real estate industry while Meqasa is responsible for building and maintaining the technology. Meqasa will also organise training courses for agents to understand how the MLS works and how to use it. The service will go a long way to solve basic real estate problems that the industry faces while expanding the business to increase future prospects.

The success and sustainability of the MLS is dependent on its recognition by real estate stakeholders as a tool or service worth wholly embracing; abiding by (set rules); and ensuring maximum effort is put into not only providing accurate information, but updating the records to reflect real-time changes in an efficient manner.