Why is there no commercial equivalent to MLS?

[J Grant]

I'm a trainee commercial appraiser. I've noticed MLS in my area (New England) has extremely comprehensive, and more importantly, accurate, information for residential properties. Why does a similar database for commercial properties not exist? CoStar charges one kidney per month for access to a database full of inaccurate info. Hours are wasted trying to get a broker to respond, and confirm the data. This might be a dumb question, but why isn't there a equivalent MLS for commercial properties?

You might want to explore your MLS because it almost certainly would have a division for brokers to list commercial properties. Call your MLS office for help or explore the site. - on my site there is a choice option for property categories on the upper left under the MENU icon-

BUT the choice option ONLY displays when you are in a search mode ( such as quick search). The rest of the time it is hidden, so it's possible to not realize it is there. ( terrible design, bad on MLS)

Anyway, when in a search mode , look on the upper left under the MENU button where an icon pops up for CHOICES ( in my MLS, yours may work differently )
Click on the Choices icon and it displays a drop down menu of different property categories. Residential is at the top set as a default, then it lists the others- land, rentals, (etc) and Commercial/Industrial. Click on commercial//industrial and it will display the commercial listings and sales which you can search by area, by type, etc just as you search with residential listings.

My MLS is a memberhsip for two counties but it also shows, I assume as a courtesy exchange, some listings in other FL counites, listings in other states , and even international listings

 

[Michael S]

We have a commercial MLS in New Mexico - albeit mostly for Albuquerque where 75%+ of the commercial properties are located. https://carnm.realtor/ There are some listings from smaller markets, but the reality is that outside of Albuquerque the next largest cities in the state have populations of 50-100k and can only support a handful of dedicated commercial brokers. Outside of those markets its residential brokers that also do commercial. In those cases, they'll usually list in the local residential MLS. A 30,000 square foot multi-tenant shopping center in a small market is probably going to be handled by a broker from a larger city as the local residential broker is going to usually be out of their league. By the same token, a 3,000 square foot single-tenant office building in that same small market is not going to be worth the time and effort of the broker from a big city.

Since it's a non-disclosure state very rarely do commercial sales end up in the MLS - even the commercial one. Information is power and most brokers aren't willing to give up that proprietary data. Not to mention, on almost any significant commercial sale there is going to be a confidentiality clause in the contract. That doesn't mean brokers (or buyer or sellers) always abide by it, but there's information they will share directly with an appraiser vs. what they will share with a public database like an MLS or CoStar.

 

[Fernando]

One of the reason I didn't get a AG is because of the high cost of commercial resources. While working at the bank, I knew the high costs and would be exorbitant overhead for independent appraiser.
Big commercial real estate firms have the best data and are keeping it to themselves as much as possible.

 

[glenn walker]

You realize that the “big firms” all have to subscribe subscribe to CoStar too? The biggest thing that keeps “small potato” companies viable is that they have equal access to data through CoStar that the big boys do … if you’re not willing to ante up, you shouldn’t be in the game …

When we had CoStar the Big Firms like CW subscribed at huge volume discounts with hundreds of both appraisers and Brokers who had access. They paid about 20% of what a one to ten person fee shop paid.
Luckily in my area most small Appraisal shops and small commercial Brokers have other sites to access which will give then enough data to complete most commercial assignments . In some areas of the Nation and some counties I assume it may not be possible to operate with out a CoStar type of data service.

On this site I know we have four CGs in my area of California and none any longer need or use it. Frankly I dont believe they have much of a future in our area as really good less costly platforms are now available .

 

[Fernando]

When we had CoStar the Big Firms like CW subscribed at huge volume discounts with hundreds of both appraisers and Brokers who had access. They paid about 20% of what a one to ten person fee shop paid.
Luckily in my area most small Appraisal shops and small commercial Brokers have other sites to access which will give then enough data to complete most commercial assignments . In some areas of the Nation and some counties I assume it may not be possible to operate with out a CoStar type of data service.

On this site I know we have four CGs in my area of California and none any longer need or use it. Frankly I dont believe they have much of a future in our area as really good less costly platforms are now available .

Sometimes CoStar has the best data/comps. Imagine doing appraisals without MLS. We need all the information we can get.

 

[glenn walker]

Sometimes CoStar has the best data/comps. Imagine doing appraisals without MLS. We need all the information we can get.

CoStar has plans where you can pay a one time fee to do research on a Property. If you are doing Large Commercial in CALI I would be paying for its full time access. We mostly do small commercial where we have plenty of data and resources. We also have access to three Title company Sites which we can pull data from. BUT if your large and only have MLS data your going to be in trouble.

 

[Fernando]

CoStar has plans where you can pay a one time fee to do research on a Property. If you are doing Large Commercial in CALI I would be paying for its full time access. We mostly do small commercial where we have plenty of data and resources. We also have access to three Title company Sites which we can pull data from. BUT if your large and only have MLS data your going to be in trouble.

Small commercials can get away with MLS. Title companies don't give enough information like rents.
Regardless, CoStar was always the best resource when I worked for the bank. I charged hundreds of dollars to the bank account. Eventually bank got its own account.

 

[glenn walker]

Small commercials can get away with MLS. Title companies don't give enough information like rents.
Regardless, CoStar was always the best resource when I worked for the bank. I charged hundreds of dollars to the bank account. Eventually bank got its own account.

Fernando Title Companies in California have Separate Commercial Service Divisions for Commercial Brokers . You would not have access to those unless you have a Commercial Title Representative who you give Commercial and Land Title Insurance orders to. They also provide services for site inspections regarding easements and encroachments and boundary lines. Most have no idea how many fingers the Large Title Companies have access to or how many other Subsidiary's they control.

 

[Tiffany Gibbons]

You realize that the “big firms” all have to subscribe subscribe to CoStar too? The biggest thing that keeps “small potato” companies viable is that they have equal access to data through CoStar that the big boys do … if you’re not willing to ante up, you shouldn’t be in the game …

And people wonder why there are not more female commercial appraisers. It's Duh comments like this. Yes, I know they "subscribe" as well. I have had a subscription myself. Costar is notorious for quoting all different rates for the same service for different people. The quoted my mentor and his wife completely different prices for the same subscription service, for example. No published rates so you can make a business decision. The whole using 1 computer terminal license only thing makes it impossible to share access with even your trainee, so unless you want to work with multiple appraisers in a corporate environment it doesn't make sense to pay that much for a service or work in commercial at all, especially if there are multiple other options available and you can make a living appraising without being subjected to such asinine commentary. How much is your subscription, for example? Bet you will not say. Some other appraiser said $700-$800 per month with multiple minion appraisers in another thread. That's too rich for me at the moment. Probably mere pocket change for you. It's priced like airline tickets, right? You might be sitting next to a passenger who paid a quarter of what you did for the same seat. "Market Price" like lobster. Anyway, no worries, thanks for reminder of why I don't "ante up" and get in the game with the "big boys".

 

[glenn walker]

It is not about gender when a all male operation of 5 men hit $4,000 A MONTH and that was quite a few years ago we had to drop out and find new avenues which we did. Nothing asked about our sex or gender just how many would access it.

And people wonder why there are not more female commercial appraisers. It's Duh comments like this. Yes, I know they "subscribe" as well. I have had a subscription myself. Costar is notorious for quoting all different rates for the same service for different people. The quoted my mentor and his wife completely different prices for the same subscription service, for example. No published rates so you can make a business decision. The whole using 1 computer terminal license only thing makes it impossible to share access with even your trainee, so unless you want to work with multiple appraisers in a corporate environment it doesn't make sense to pay that much for a service or work in commercial at all, especially if there are multiple other options available and you can make a living appraising without being subjected to such asinine commentary. How much is your subscription, for example? Bet you will not say. Some other appraiser said $700-$800 per month with multiple minion appraisers in another thread. That's too rich for me at the moment. Probably mere pocket change for you. It's priced like airline tickets, right? You might be sitting next to a passenger who paid a quarter of what you did for the same seat. "Market Price" like lobster. Anyway, no worries, thanks for reminder of why I don't "ante up" and get in the game with the "big boys".