Recently many of my clients have wondered why they can not find their property on the MLS.  After a little research I found out that they were actually looking at a web site called MLS.com.    www.MLS.com    is nothing more than an advertising site.  The owner of that domain bought a very good domain.  He sells territories to real estate companies so they can farm your business.   Go ahead and try it.  Search for a home anywhere, try to get more information and you will be redirected to a real estate company.  The MLS is nothing more than a secure, password protected, proprietary database where Realtors display and share information and make a unilateral offer of compensation from one Broker to another Broker.   Unless you are a Realtor you will not be viewing the exact MLS.  There are, however, many companies that offer a way for you to view most of the information on the MLS (my site is one of those).  You will need to create an account with a user name and password.  From there, you will be able to view around 90% of the data that we can see.  You will have a much more limited search capability than us.  For instance, we can search for a home on a specific block between $330K and $331K with a fireplace in the basement.  As real estate professionals we offer our consumers the chance (through us) to find the home of their dreams.   Advertising sites, such as Realtor.com or MLS.com will limit your search capabilities.  Also, most web sites are horrendously behind.  As much as 50% of the data may be out of date.  All of the information on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) database that we subscribe to is up to date and accurate.