Are you under the assumption that your property located within the Cape & Islands needs to be on Cape Cod’s MLS? If so, we can help. Being on the Cape & Islands MLS isn’t always necessary, because the main (MLSPIN) MLS in Massachusetts services the Cape & Islands (MV/ACK), but if you feel that you also need your home on the Cape & Islands primary MLS we can help. It just cost more.
MLSPIN is the largest MLS in Massachusetts. Massachusetts has a few small MLS’. CCIMLS is the main MLS of the Cape & Islands. MLSPIN can list properties on the Cape & Islands MLS. MLSPIN has more online partners than CCIMLS. Listing your home on both MLS platforms gets you maximum exposure, but there is overlap. The one benefit of having your property on the Cape & Islands MLS is that it puts your listing in front of local agents. But does this really matter? It depends on who you ask. Local agents will tell you that you need to be on the Cape & Islands MLS but truth be told many Cape & Islands Agents belong to both MLS platforms. When viewing listings online consumers do not know or care where the listing is coming from. MLS is just a big database of properties that get fed to real estate websites and apps. If consumers like what they see they will call. It doesn’t really matter where the listing is coming from. We have some sellers who want to be on the Cape & Islands MLS because they have heard it matters, while others just want to be on MLSPIN, Massachusetts’ largest MLS. Both strategies work. If you feel being on the Cape & Islands MLS will let you sleep better at night go for it. It’s more expensive than just going with the basic listing, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s not much money at all. You are going to save a lot regardless.
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The short answer is yes. The long answer is that MLSPIN is Massachusetts’ largest MLS. They have the most online partnerships. If they really wanted to MLSPIN could put the Cape & Islands MLS out of business but they aren’t that aggressive. A lot of Cape & Islands agents have memberships to both services so there’s no need to rock the boat. The advantage of having a listing on the Cape & Islands has little to do with getting proper online exposure and more to do with local agents being able to pitch sellers that being on the local MLS is important. We have done a lot of listings on the Cape & Islands and this is debatable. However, if it will make you sleep better at night it’s probably worth it. The only time sellers are unsuccessful is when they majorly overprice their property. If you overprice it will sit and go stale. If you price aggressively, nobody is going to steal your home. It will likely sell for close or over-asking if it doesn’t need major work.
In order to list on the Cape & Islands MLS, you need to first list on MLSPIN.
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To do a Cape & Islands listing head over to our basic listing service. You must sign up for our basic service first. This is a requirement set forth by the Cape & Islands MLS. The cost to put your home on the Cape & Islands MLS is an additional $550.00. If you add the basic listing ($400.00) plus the Cape & Islands listing, the total listing cost is $950.00. Why so much? Because everything on the Cape & Islands is more expensive, therefore, our overhead for listing properties on the Cape & Islands MLS is much higher and more labor-intensive (paperwork).
Per the rules of the Cape & Islands MLS (CCIMLS), sellers must have an active listing on MLSPIN before they will allow your property to be on CCIMLS. CCIMLS is the MLS for the. The Cape & Islands listing option is an add-on service and is only for those who have an active MLSPIN Cape & Islands listing with us. If you do not already have a listing with us, you will need to do this first by filling out our regular MA flat fee MLS agreement by going here. Once the MLSPIN listing is activated, we will send you the CCIMLS addendum to also list your home on the Cape & Islands primary MLS service. Once complete you will have 2 MLS listings on 2 different MLS platforms. Each platform has different online partnerships so, in theory, your MLS listing will provide double the exposure. We say “in theory” because data shows otherwise even though Cape agents promote their local service. We are not convinced this is 100% true. Therefore, you can still market your Cape & Islands property using our basic service.
Our partnership with CCIMLS requires us to follow specific guidelines. For the sake of transparency, this means we provide their small staff with a CCIMLS Listing Package which includes the following: 1) A non-refundable CCIMLS administrative fee. We pay them a listing fee (much like the fee you pay us) to list the property on their system. 2) A copy of your current MLSPIN listing. 3) A copy of the listing agreement between you, the seller, and our brokerage. We will send you a copy of the CCIMLS listing addendum/agreement for you to sign. 4) A letter of good standing from our local Realtor board. 5) A signed document stating we will abide by the CCIMLS rules and regulations since we are responsible for the CCIMLS listing. 6) A CCIMLS property data input form so they can enter the listing into the Cape & Islands MLS system.
Why is it so complicated? Simply put, we don’t know. CCIMLS wants it done this way and we have no say in the matter.
Getting your property listed on the Cape & Islands MLS is not instant. Although we prepare and send in the CCIMLS listing package right away, it can them a few business days to get the listing up. The CCIMLS staff does not work on weekends. Activation times are largely dependent on the number of listings the CCIMLS staff has in their queue. Since listing on CCIMLS is popular, they do a lot of listings each day. Please note that the listing fee ($550.00) for a CCIMLS listing is non-refundable. This means if you pay today for your basic listing and your home goes under agreement before the CCIMLS listing is activated your money will not be refunded since we start the process immediately. In other words, once you pay us, we create the paperwork, then we pay CCIMLS their listing fee, and then wait for them to activate the listing. Your Cape & Islands CCIMLS Listing will be activated within 1-3 business days. We have no control over this. CCIMLS does not work on weekends.