I'm tyring to research what MLS solutions are out there that are well liked by both agents and our customers.

Our board is scheduled to renew with our current provider this fall and I was hoping to present them with some other options. We are currently using Paragon which I find somewhat lacking in features, flexiblity and ease of use. We don't have mobile access and our IDX solution does not offer our customers very much latitude in how they view and search properties. I was previously using MLXchange from Marketlinx when I was in Las Vegas and I was much happier with their software.

I understand that the size of our membership (roughly 170) may limit our choices some, but what are other boards using and how happy are you with it? How happy are your customers with the way you are able to present information to them and market your listings? Do you have an idea of the costs associated with the provider your board uses?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

FlexMLS (http://www.flexmls.com, FBS Data Systems) is what our board uses. I am very happy with the features though sometimes it is a little too "geeky" for layfolk who can barely send an email and still don't know how to copy/paste.

Overall they provide a very robust platform.

I belong to three MLS's, 2 that use Paragon and 1 that uses Flex. Five years ago I was part of one that used MLXchange.

Between Flex and Paragon, I prefer the Flex system, mostly because it doesn't have the lock up problems that crop up on Paragon. And FBS seems to be more responsive to changes and willing to make changes.
One other thing in favor of Flex, they work with a lot of small MLS services while Paragon seems to look for larger systems.

As a result of doing my research a little more, I've discovered that the features I'm missing may be a result of my board's choices. Still, my customer service experience with them has been less than stellar. I've sent several emails that have never received a response.

Recently I let them know that the new client connect site had a few flaws. Namely, the selection to display listings in a horizontal format displayed them vertically, the vertical format displayed them horizontally and the detail format included no more information than the other two. Clients aren't able to view pictures in a large format, either. Last week my broker got locked out of her account right when she needed critical information from the MLS to close a transaction. (I'm really not sure how that happened.)

I took a look at Flexnet's site. They seem to talk a good game and offer a nice set of features, but so does Paragon. I found another, Rapattoni, too. Does anyone know of any other providers and what has your experience been like with the ones you are familiar with?

YES!!! There are some agents on here who said they can't get sales stats for other agents - only the broker can - but in my MLS, any member can see them. Our board has determined that we can't publish closed listings via IDX on our websites but other boards may be OK with it. I'm sure there are many features in any one MLS that are hidden by the board's choices yet another board using the same system may have those options available....