BY THE MLS-BCS BOARD

Many people are drawn to Los Cabos by the relaxed culture and a perceived ‘anything goes’ attitude where rules seem highly bendable as long as no harm is done. And in some respects, that’s an acknowledged and appreciated aspect of life in Los Cabos. 

However, a real estate transaction should never be one of those things.

Maybe you’re a visitor interested in making the leap to owning residential or investment property in Cabo. Maybe you live here and are contemplating buying or selling your home. Maybe you work in real estate, as so many of us living in Cabo do, and make a living in the multi-billion dollar market. Whatever your circumstances, you need to know about — and use — Baja California Sur’s Multiple Listing Service (MLS-BCS). Quite simply, the MLS-BCS is a vital, essential component of any real estate transaction. 

Providing unmatched professionalism and bound by a carefully chosen and ethically stringent set of protocols, MLS members are truly working in their client’s interests.

The core of the MLS is a centralized, members-only database containing a large variety of properties, from luxury beachfront mansions to smaller family homes and condos. 

Agents can use search filters (price range, location, size, amenities and more) to browse through thousands of properties to find the one that best suits their needs. An MLS listing guarantees sellers a much broader audience for their property, and by increasing exposure the listing also bolsters sales. 

But it’s more than just a fancy database. Buyers and sellers benefit from working with agents who have proven experience and intimate knowledge of the market. The legitimacy of the properties offered is assured due to safeguards the MLS has put in place, making for a transparent and rock-solid transaction from start to finish. 

Shady characters with no professional training or knowledge of the Los Cabos region abound; with the rise of social media, anyone can call themselves a real estate agent, and many are. Choosing to work exclusively with MLS members is, quite simply, an excellent way to avoid scams too often associated with foreigners purchasing property in Mexico. 

MLS founder and president Mike Schaible knows this all too well. Schaible first arrived in San Jose del Cabo in 1986, at a time when there were no golf courses to be found on the entire peninsula and no real estate developments either. Less than 40,000 people lived in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo back then, compared with an estimated 351,111 as of the 2020 census. There were few rules or regulations, Schaible recalls of those heady times. “It was a bit of the Wild West out there.” 

Thirty-five years ago, Schaible and the other four or five real estate pioneers in Los Cabos at the time, would gather together regularly to chat and compare notes.

One morning in 1990, over breakfast, the assembled agents decided to pool their resources and form an MLS. That way they could share information about listings, which, using the cutting-edge technology of the time, they would Xerox off on a copy machine and pass around to the other agents.

But forming an organization made up of collaborating competitors meant also developing and accepting rules and codes of conduct, forging a new path in the real estate industry that has brought order and respectability where there was once, as Schaible describes it, mayhem. 

Indeed, the MLS-BCS is one of Mexico’s largest listings repositories, established at the forefront of a booming industry and offering an example to which other regions of the country aspire.

The MLS has grown exponentially over time, as has the market it serves. The handful of rules that a small group of real estate professionals came up with more than three decades ago has evolved into a 13-page manual stewarded by an experienced board of directors with years of experience and a strong devotion to the community and their profession. 

Paid membership allows access to a safe, fast and user-friendly digital database, powered by FlexMLS. Members can view thousands of available properties in order to best serve their buyers and accurately price homes for sellers, among other advantages. The MLS website and email newsletter also provide information on how to keep abreast of local and federal laws and regulations. 

In return, members, who must be registered with and licensed by the state, agree to abide by the list of operating policies and procedures that constitute basic ground rules ensuring professionalism and integrity.

Listing agreements and other contracts must comply with a set of standards that protect buyer, seller and real estate agent. Details on a home must be accurate and complete with documentation in hand and available for inspection. Liens, property taxes and HOA dues are disclosed in order to avoid hidden costs.

Commissions are also clearly stated in contractual documents and contingencies for different situations that may arise are spelled out in the MLS rules. Rogue agents are also forbidden from swooping in on properties that already have exclusive agreements in place.

Buyers are required to deposit earnest money into an escrow account, with no exceptions. Listing agents are required to share all offers and counteroffers with the property owners, and selling agents are responsible for seeing all paperwork is correct and filed throughout the entire process and up until closing.

There is also a clear and rigorous set of procedures in place for dispute resolution, which MLS members can handle through mediation and arbitration with a legally binding decision. This new option is an excellent development, avoiding months and years of delay as a dispute moves through the Mexican court system, a languorous process that is at the root of many of the horror stories you’ll hear about Mexican real estate transactions. 

Constant improvements to the organization are priorities for its Board of Directors, consisting of founder and president Mike Schaible, vice-president Douglas Bruce, treasurer James Gladgo, secretary William Scott and member at large Susana Bueno.

Trustworthy, efficient, experienced, and dynamic, the BCS-MLS and their 1,200 member agents spread across 150 brokerages sold an incredible $2 billion worth of real estate in 2023, demonstrating their continued devotion to professionalism in Southern Baja.