Putnam County MLS – NestApple Guide (2025)

August 18, 2025 by Nicole Fishman Benoliel

The Putnam County MLS in New York is part of the Hudson Gateway MLS, also known as HGMLS. The Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors mainly runs this MLS. It is the main MLS for the greater Hudson Valley area. HGMLS has complete jurisdiction over the core counties of Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester.

Any listing by an HGMLS participant located in these counties must be included in the Hudson Gateway MLS. Putnam County used to have its own MLS. Now, it is part of the HGMLS and no longer exists as a separate entity.

What is the New York Putnam County MLS?
How can I sell my home by myself in Putnam County, NY?
How do I list my property on the MLS for a flat fee to avoid a 6% commission?

What type of property listings does the Putnam County, NY MLS accept?

The Putnam County MLS in New York only accepts Exclusive Right to Sell or Exclusive Agency Listing Agreements, as defined by the Department of State:

An “Exclusive Right to Sell” listing means that if you, the owner of the property, find a potential buyer for your house, or if another broker finds a buyer, you are still required to pay the agreed commission to your current broker.
An “Exclusive Agency” listing means that if you, the owner, find a buyer, you will not owe a commission to the broker. However, if another broker finds a buyer, you will owe a commission to both the selling broker and your current broker.

Open listings or verbal agreements are not permitted. This is standard practice across multiple listing services nationwide. The HGMLS offers a template for the Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement for its members. However, our partner brokers say that HGMLS staff are open to other formats.

This includes standard listing agreements from other multiple listing services.

In a more casual setting, HGMLS staff informed our partner brokers that they want to ensure Realtors can list the property. They also want to ensure that Realtors are offering some commission to other participants. In other words, Realtors are free to use their listing agreements.

Can I sell my Putnam County, NY home through a flat fee MLS listing?

It is possible to sell your home in Putnam County, New York, using a flat fee MLS listing. The Putnam County Multiple Listing Service (MLS) accepts flat-fee listing agreements. Participants only need to state the commission for buyers’ agents.

This means that other real estate professionals and agents won’t be aware of your unique listing arrangement. They only see the listing price.

This is especially true if you work with one of our well-known brokerage partners. Keep in mind that you need to offer some form of compensation to buyer’s agents, even if it is below the market rate. The primary purpose of listing your home on the Hudson Gateway MLS (HGMLS) is to attract buyer’s agents.

The software system, Matrix, used by licensed real estate agents to access the HGMLS, requires three fields for commissions per home listing:

Seller/Sub listing Agent Comp,
Buyer Agent Comp, and
Broker Agent Comp.

However, listing Realtors only need to fill in a non-zero number in one of these fields. They can leave the other two fields as zero. As a result, most agents associated with the Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors (HGAR) typically only list a commission in the “Buyer Agent Comp” field and leave the other two fields blank.

Putnam County MLS Listing Statuses

It is essential to update your listing status to ensure our partner brokers are informed when your property has an accepted offer, goes into contract, or is sold. Neglecting to update your listing status in the HGMLS can result in substantial automatic fines, which will be your responsibility to pay.

Active

Properties for sale are those in which the HGMLS participant markets the property, sets appointments for showings, and presents agreements of sale to the seller. At this status, no agreement of sale can currently be in effect.

Contract

Listings where the seller has accepted an agreement of sale in writing, as defined by the HGMLS.

Sold

Properties where a successful closing occurred and the title was transferred from the seller to the home buyer.

Expired

Be cautious with this situation, as many unscrupulous real estate agents, often referred to as “vultures,” receive automatic notifications when listings in the HGMLS expire.

They take advantage of this by approaching and soliciting the home seller. An expired listing status indicates that the listing agreement has come to an end. The listing broker did not obtain written permission from the seller to extend the listing.

Temporarily Off Market

It’s important to know what to do when a home is not available for showings. If a home seller informs their listing broker in writing that the property cannot be shown, the status should be updated accordingly. It should be updated to “Temporarily Off Market” (TOM).

This means the property will not show as “Active” in the HGMLS. However, the listing contract between the participant and the seller is still valid.

Any new listings must be ready for showings to all HGMLS subscribers right after they are added to the HGMLS database. If the seller has given specific instructions indicating otherwise, the property must maintain the TOM status until it is ready for showing.

The HGMLS requires the submission of the seller’s written instructions, including the date the property will be available for showings, along with the listing agreement. Participants can revert the listing to an “Active” status with the written consent of the owner.

Off Market

This status applies to listings for which the listing contract has been voided before its expiration. Only the Managing Broker or Office Manager has the authority to change a listing’s status to “Off Market.” Please note that changing the status does not relieve the seller of their contractual obligations. Once the status is set to “Off Market,” no further modifications may be made.