The towns of Darien, New Canaan and Greenwich each have their own Realtor-run MLS database – not surprising since those towns have the highest property values in the state. Proponents say the small, independent MLSs are necessary, because those communities require a hyper-local focus and hands-on service. But some agents want all the databases consolidated into the Statewide MLS, allowing Realtors to see the entirety of Connecticut’s housing stock without having to pay different membership fees. 


Anyone with a Connecticut real estate license can become a member, but it is expensive to subscribe to every service. Many agents just focus on one of the independent communities, referring buyers interested elsewhere to other agencies. 


Gino Kelly, founder and principal of Kelly Associations in Darien: “[Outside agents] can refer to us, or they can come and show our properties. But we try to dissuade them, because that is not in our clients’ best interest. You have someone showing who does not understand our community and our price structure.”


How different are those communities? Connecticut’s statewide median price at the end of 2008 was $268,000. But in Darien it was $1,285,000. In Greenwich, it’s $1,775,000. And agents say there’s a huge divide in what it takes to sell a four-bedroom, center-hall colonial and an 18-room, multiple building estate.


Kelly said he has specific agencies all over Fairfield County he refers buyers to, and he often has buyers interested in Darien referred to him. 


“The [other agents] concentrate on the market they know well, and I think truly, professionals do that,” Kelly said. “We’re satisfied with the services they provide our clients, and they seem to be satisfied with the services we give their clients.”





‘Very Private And Very Exclusive’


For most of Connecticut, each home for sale is listed under one statewide multiple listing service, or MLS. 


But as the properties get closer to New York City, more and more MLS systems pop up. 


The Greater Fairfield County CMLS handles almost every property in the state’s most affluent county, but by maintaining independent MLS databases, agents in Darien, New Canaan and Greenwich can control which properties other agents are able to show. 


“In order to do business in those towns, you need to be a member of those services,” said Beckie Hanley, senior vice president of William Raveis Realty in Greenwich. “I think it’s because the founding fathers here of the real estate firms had it set up that way in the beginning. They’ve always wanted to keep it very private and very exclusive.”


Pat Brandrup was an agent in southern Fairfield County for 15 years before becoming the sales manager at Coldwell Banker’s Stamford office. She subscribed to all three independent MLSs, as well as the Greater Fairfield County CMLS – costing her $6,000 a year. She said the expense was well worth it, because the level of service from the independent boards was unparalleled. 


“It was very expensive for me to belong to all of these boards, but I wanted to give my buyers a chance to see as much as they could,” Brandrup said. “I felt I was getting better information, the information was more updated, and we were in good hands.”





Fairfield County Feud


The Greater Fairfield County CMLS, which serves every other community in the state’s most affluent county, has resisted joining the Connecticut Statewide MLS. 


The Statewide MLS was formed in 2006 by cobbling together six MLS databases under one roof, as per the recommendation of the Connecticut Association of Realtors, and is supposed to cover all of Connecticut. 


But with Greater Fairfield County CMLS operating on its own, agents interested in wider coverage have another set of dues to pay.


According to Cameron Paine, CEO of the Statewide MLS, Fairfield County participated in the consolidation process from the beginning, and pulled out at the last moment, claiming concern over the stability of the new database. 


“Those things were proved within the first six months of the statewide operations of the CT MLS,” Paine said. “Despite repeated offers from the Statewide MLS to the other MLSs in Fairfield County, we have not had any success of putting together a merger or even data sharing, which we have offered, to help relieve the very difficult burden in Fairfield County that Realtors are carrying right now. The fact that Fairfield County is dealing with five competing MLSs, if you include the statewide, has to be difficult for the agents there.” 


The three independent town-wide MLS databases do not draw Paine’s ire. They are overseen by Realtor associations, just as the statewide MLS is, and he feels they’ll do what is best for their membership. But Paine feels the CMLS, which answers to a board of 14 directors, 12 of whom are broker/owners, are prone to playing politics and not doing what is best for agents. 


“Politics certainly is the leading factor in the decision making,” Paine said. “[Agents] are really suffering. And what it seems like is no one is listening in Fairfield County.”


Don Hull, CEO of Greater Fairfield County CMLS, said the issue is simple: the majority of his membership doesn’t want to combine with the statewide system. 


“Folks in other MLSs would like us to consolidate into their MLSs,” Hull said. “Our members don’t seem to think that’s desirable.” 


When asked if members who work at larger realty companies that do business all across the state wanted to consolidate moreso than members of smaller brokerages, Hull said no.


“It pretty much applies across all demographics,” he said. “There are some that do, and there are more that don’t.”


Candace Adams, president of Prudential Connecticut Realty, said the bottom line comes down to the consumer. She, like Paine, feels a central place where agents and consumers could get information about every property in the state would be the best thing for everyone. 


“If you have a license, you can sell real estate in every town,” Adams said. “It would be nice to gather information from every town under one roof. Your accuracy would be greatly enhanced. The greatest percentage of Realtors in the state of Connecticut would want to have one common MLS for all listings. I imagine the consumers feel the same way.”


With the current system, potential buyers and sellers have to deal with several agents in order to get the complete picture. 


“It’s no doubt a control issue,” she said. 


Kelly sees it a differently. Clients are best served when agents focus on one single community, immersing themselves in the town – especially when those towns are themselves unique in their makeup. That is why the three town-wide MLSs continue to operate independently; it’s what’s best for the people looking to buy and sell homes in those communities, he said.


“They’re putting their client first and not themselves first,” Kelly Associate’s Gino Kelly said. “They’re not just chasing a buck. It is novel, but in this world you do find little pockets where people do things right, and that’s what’s going on in Darien, Greenwich and New Canaan.”â–