Knowledge Base
IDX and MLS Approval: What to Expect
Why "approved" means three separate things, and which one is holding your listings up.
"Approved" is three separate things
Almost every confused conversation about IDX comes from treating this as one event. It is three. They happen in different places, and any one of them can be finished while the others are not.
1. Technical setup — ours
RealtySlate connects to your MLS's data feed, maps its fields and proves it can read listings correctly. This is our work and you do not see it happening.
2. MLS authorization — yours, with your MLS
Your MLS agrees, in writing, that your website may display their listings. This is between you and your association. RealtySlate can supply whatever technical detail they ask for, but cannot grant it.
3. The fee — yours, with your MLS
Many MLSs charge an IDX access or data-licensing fee. It is billed by the MLS, not by RealtySlate, and listings usually do not switch on until it is paid.
What this means in practice: "RealtySlate has finished" and "listings are on my website" are not the same sentence. If your feed is technically ready but your MLS has not returned the paperwork, nothing appears — and the fix is a phone call to your association, not a support ticket to us.
How long it takes
Days to weeks is normal, and it is almost never the technical part that is slow. The most common single cause of a stalled IDX launch is an unpaid or unsubmitted MLS form sitting with the association.
If weeks pass with no change, chase your MLS directly rather than waiting. Applications stall for ordinary administrative reasons and usually need a nudge, not a fix.
Meanwhile your website is fully usable: your pages, profile and contact forms all work, the site is indexable by search engines, and any inquiry still becomes a lead. Launching without listings costs you nothing except the property search itself.
Before your feed is live
Your IDX page tells you plainly where you stand. Until a feed is connected and authorized it reads "No active IDX feed — your MLS connection will appear here after it is approved and activated", and there is nothing on the page to configure.
That is the correct state for a new website and it can persist for weeks. What to do in this period: give RealtySlate support your MLS name and membership details so the request can be lodged, then chase your MLS for the authorization and the fee. Those two are the critical path.
Once the feed is live
Each connected MLS appears as its own panel with its own controls. A brokerage with two MLSs sees two panels and configures them independently.
Choosing which statuses the public sees
Listings shown publicly is the main control. The usual choice is Active, Coming Soon and listings under contract, which shows the most inventory.
- Largest result set: Active, Coming Soon and under contract. Buyers see momentum in the market.
- Only genuinely available property: Active only. Fewer disappointed inquiries about homes already sold.
- Advertising recent sales: include sold, where your MLS permits it. Check your rules first — not every MLS allows sold data on IDX.
This control changes website visibility only. RealtySlate keeps synchronizing every record your provider authorizes, so status changes and removals stay accurate underneath. Hiding a status does not stop RealtySlate tracking it, and a property that sells is still withdrawn correctly from your site.
Narrowing further
Listing audience filters restrict what the site displays beyond status. Most websites need none. They earn their place on a specialist site — a lake-property site that should show only waterfront, or an agent site limited to one county. On a general brokerage site they mostly hide inventory you paid to display.
Hiding or featuring one property
Listing display controls offer per-listing overrides. Featuring is the useful half: it puts a new exclusive at the top of your own search results without touching anything else. Hiding is worth using sparingly, because hidden listings are invisible to you as well as to visitors, which makes "why is this property missing?" harder to answer later.
Multiple websites
Feeds are granted per website. A brokerage with four websites needs an entitlement for each, and adding a fifth site later means adding another. That is the usual reason listings appear on one of your sites and not the next — contact support rather than assuming the feed has broken.
Where the provider agreement permits sharing, additional approved websites reuse the same centrally stored feed and its managed photos rather than importing it again.
Common messages
- "No active IDX feed" — no authorized feed is attached yet. Normal before MLS approval. If your MLS has confirmed approval, contact support.
- IDX status reads "Needs review" — normal until the feed is approved and activated. Not a setup mistake.
- A property is missing — check your status selection first, then audience filters, then whether it was hidden under Listing display controls.
- A sold property still shows — your status selection includes sold, or the MLS has not yet published the change. Status changes follow the provider's timing.
- The feed is marked "Locked" — its display rules are held to what the MLS authorized. Support can explain the specific restriction; it usually comes from the agreement rather than from us.