The first ever Multiple Listing Services (MSL) would provide support for agents to better manage portfolios and property.

The MoU would see the GAR serving as the regulator in bringing together like-minded people in the real estate industry while Meqasa will be responsible for building and maintaining the technology that allows agents to interact and share accurate information.

Meqasa will also be responsible for organising training courses for agents to better understand how the MLS works and how to use it.  Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr Kelvin Nyame, the Chief Executive Officer of Meqasa.com said: “The MLS is a one-stop shop for access to information for GAR members (brokers and agents) to make it easy for them to transact business, share information and also share property with other agents.”

He said the MSL would provide a database where real estate agents and brokers could access all listed property on a single platform, adding, “Agents can market one another’s property in an effort to close more deals and share the commission among themselves.”

Mr Nyame said Meqasa was committed to the success of the MSL because it would help to prevent property duplicates and ensure that the right listings with the appropriate information were syndicated.

He said the service would go a long way to solve the basic real estate problems that the industry had faced while expanding the business to increase future prospects. Madam Hanna Atiase, the Director of Education and Training at GAR, said the Association had developed a training module to facilitate the verification and certification of agents and brokers.

She said the MLS provided exclusivity to the brokers and agents more than an ordinary online platform as it would be regulated by rules set by the Management of GAR and Meqasa. She added that the MLS also assure the public of credibility since every real estate professional using the platform would be verified.

Madam Atiase said: “It breeds trust among the real estate agents and also between agents and property seekers,” adding that the fact that property seekers would be dealing with a real estate professional who was accountable to a regulatory body was an added advantage. Mr Christian Nii Kpakpo Abbosey, the Public Relations Officer for the GAR, said Meqasa was selected as the partner in the roll out of the MLS because of its commitment demonstrated towards the growth of the industry in Ghana.

The GAR, which was launched in July, this year, is the country’s first association to regulate the industry.  It aims to raise the profile of real estate brokerage industry and establish guidelines for professional conduct of brokers and agents in Ghana.

The MLS will not be accessible to the public but will strictly be limited to active GAR members as part of the Association’s mission of protecting the public interest in real estate brokerage transaction and to ensure that certified personnel were competent and morally fit to act as real estate professionals.