This post will deal with how to read the top portion of the Colorado Springs MLS sheet – the part that includes the picture.

The Pikes Peak Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is where most homes for sale in Colorado Springs, Monument, Fountain, Woodland Park, Manitou Springs, Peyton and other outlaying areas can be found. This is where local real estate agents post all of their listings (homes for sale).

When you are looking for a home in Colorado Springs – or any nearby areas, your real estate agent will run a search for you on the MLS and will probably email you a selection of different homes that may fit your needs. These homes will be displayed in a format called the MLS sheet. If you have bought a home in Colorado Springs before, then you probably are familiar with how these look and know where to find most of the information. But, if you are a first time home buyer in Colorado Springs, then you may take one look at this sheet and not know where to begin.

In either case, this is a series on how to fully understand and effectively read a MLS sheet from the Pikes Peak MLS.

MLS#: This is the Multiple Listing Number. This is a unique number to this property for this time that it is on the market. This number does not get reused for any other property, nor does it get reused if the home goes up for sale again.  This property can be searched for by this number on several search sites, like PeakHomes.com and is one of the best ways to identify a property to an agent.

St: = Status. This shows whether the home is:

RES= Residential Property. Following this will be either: Single Family, Town House, Condo or Patio Home. (Other categories include: INC=Income Property, COM= Commercial Property, etc.)

LP: List Price. This is the asking price for the home.

Address: = This is the full and complete address of the property, including county. The street address is a link that will take you to a map of the property.

Area: = This is the MLS Area. << Definitions of PPMLS Areas >> This is the general part of town that the home is located in.

 

BSA: = Border Shadow Area. If a home is close to the border of two different areas, then the BSA will show up and the home will be searchable in both the Area and the BSA.

SubArea: = This is a more specific location of the home. This is usually the neighborhood.

Schedule#: = This is the Tax ID Number. You can search El Paso County Records for this property, using this number.

 

Top and Side: These are the Top and Side Coordinates that are used to locate the property on a physical map. These numbers are also used to find homes in a very specific area.

Legal Description: This is the exact spot in the city that this home is located. No 2 properties have the same legal description. Older neighborhoods have a very long description (metes and bounds) and newer neighborhoods are much shorter (lot and block).

Zone: = This is how the property is zoned. <<Definitions of Local Zoning Codes >>

 

Zone Entity: = This is who is in control of the Zoning Codes. (COS= Colorado Springs City Limits, ELP= El Paso County)

Sch District: = This is the school district that the home is located in. This is a mandatory field. The following fields (Grade, Middle, High) are not mandatory fields and are not always accurate.

Read Also: How to Read A Colorado Springs MLS Sheet - Part Two: Room Sizes and Square Footage

Posted By: Mariana Wagner – Colorado Springs Real Estate