Put San Francisco Association of REALTORS (SFAR) MLS listings on your own WordPress site. MLS Import brings them in through the Bridge feed. It works with any theme. Your listings sync every hour. Try it free for 30 days. Then it's $49 a month.
The San Francisco Association of REALTORS (SFAR) is the REALTOR group for San Francisco. It runs the city's MLS, called SFARMLS. The MLS is a service of the group. SFAR says it has "more than 4,000 REALTORS" (SFAR, Our Association). You can also join the MLS alone. MLS-only users are not SFAR members. They can't vote on how SFAR is run.
SFAR is old. It began in 1905 as the San Francisco Real Estate Board. A 1932 yearbook says 35 of the city's top brokers met to start it (1932 yearbook). A California archive guide ties that Board to today's SFAR (OAC). SFAR says it has served the trade "for more than 100 years."
Jim Bachand is the CEO (SFAR board page). Jay Pepper-Martens is CTO, and Hud Bixler is CIO.
SFAR and RealReports also did a study. It looked at SF sales from 2022 to 2024. Homes sold on the MLS got $302,000 more on average than comparable homes sold off it. That is an 18.6% edge (HousingWire). Since Q2 2024, SFAR runs its Web API through Bridge.
The SFAR data feed runs through Bridge. You start with SFAR's own license form. Here is the path.
The form lists data types as yes-or-no picks: residential, commercial, lease, open house, broker tour and photo URLs. It asks if AI/ML systems will process the data. It also asks if users reach it by API, LLM chat or voice.
Two Bridges, two things. Bridge here is Bridge Interactive. It is a data platform run by Zillow Group. bridgeMLS is something else. It is the East Bay MLS, and we cover it on our bridgeMLS page. SFAR's license covers SFAR listings. SFAR does not say Alliance listings come with it. So plan for SFAR listings only.
For license renewals, SFAR expects teams to know RESO, JSON and how Private Photos work. SFAR does not publish a price for the data feed. Ask SFARMLS when it replies to your form.
Join SFAR with MLS access. Or check that your broker has it. The form in step 2 needs your broker's member number.
Use SFAR's data license form. It asks for your broker's 6-digit SFAR member number. It asks how you'll use the data. It asks which data types and tools you need.
You must agree to respect the private photo flag. SFAR says it will disable feeds that break this rule.
Its team replies within 2 business days. The reply has the steps for WebAPI access.
SFAR's reply shows the steps to complete your data licence. Accept the licence in Bridge's Agreement Manager. Since Q2 2024, SFAR has used the Bridge API and Agreement Manager. For help, visit SFAR's support page here.
You need to copy your Bridge access token. MLS Import requires this token.
In MLS Import, select "San Francisco Association of REALTORS via Bridge." Paste your token and send us a support ticket. We will activate SFAR for your site.
You need a valid California broker license. You must be a principal, partner, officer or branch office manager. You pay all MLS fees for your office (Rule 4.1.1).
You need a California license. You work for a Broker Participant, as staff or as a contractor (Rule 4.2.1).
You can join SFARMLS without joining SFAR. You are then a nonmember. You can't vote on how SFAR is run.
Appraisers can join as Participants or Subscribers too (Rules 4.1.2 and 4.2.2).
SFAR's license form asks one key question. Is this feed for your own company's use? A broker says Yes. So does a consultant who works for one broker. A vendor that serves many firms says No. Agents have a path too. Rule 12.16 lets Subscribers show IDX listings. They need an IDX Access Agreement with the MLS. The rules don't say if an agent gets a feed alone. Ask SFAR (SFARMLS Rules).
Ask SFAR at [email protected]:
1. Can an agent get a feed if the broker isn't applying?
2. Does a self-hosted MLS Import site count as your own company's use?
IDX relies on broker cooperation. Brokers agree to share each other's listings. The San Francisco Association of REALTORS IDX feed includes active listings. It also contains sold listings dating back to January 1, 2012. In San Francisco, the feed features contingent and pending sales too (SFAR feed models).
Sellers can choose to opt out a single listing. A whole broker or office can opt out as well. However, there's a catch: a broker or office that opts out cannot access an IDX feed. Additionally, you need an IDX Access Agreement with the MLS (Rule 12.16(a)). Search engines may index IDX listings (Rule 12.16(h)). Is your site accessible to everyone? Then you need IDX.
A VOW is a site where buyers log in. SFAR allows this only if the broker and buyer have a working relationship. The login must be genuine. Each user requires a real name, email, and password. Cookie sessions, CAPTCHA tests, and magic links aren't valid (SFAR, authenticated user). A VOW cannot display listings to the public. An agent can run a VOW only with the broker's approval. The broker must oversee it (Rule 12.18).
A back-office feed (BBO) is for broker tools. In many MLSs, a BBO feed holds only the firm's own listings. In SFARMLS, it holds all of the data in the MLS. That's a big deal if you build tools for your office. A BBO feed can show any listing marked IDX=YES on a public site, just like IDX.
A VOW also needs Terms of Use. Records must be kept 180 days after a password ends (Rule 12.18). A broker may keep Private photos in a back-office system for its agents. Those photos must never reach a public site. A VOW must also post a privacy policy (Rule 12.18.10). And you must tell the MLS before the VOW opens (Rule 12.18.12).
Coming Soon listings never go out in IDX feeds. SFAR's listing guide says that since September 23, 2025, they go to VOW and back-office feeds. Those feeds have strict rules for them. In the MLS, days on market don't start for them (Rule 10.1.3). You can't show them to anyone who isn't logged in. You can't show day counters. You can't show a price-up or price-down flag (SFAR data rules).
SFAR also kept Clear Cooperation. On January 9, 2026, it said nothing changed. A listing must go into the MLS within one business day of public marketing. IDX and VOW sites count as public marketing (Rule 8.1). SFAR's 2026 rules list a late MLS entry after public marketing as a Fine Level B. SFAR puts Level B at $250. A first offense gets a warning. A second gets a citation with the fine. A third costs two times the fine.
Office Exclusives are not shared outside the listing office (Rule 7.6).
Residential listings have subtypes for condo, co-op and tenancy in common, or TIC (Rule 7.3.1).
Income listings split into 4 units or less and 5 units or more (Rule 7.3.3).
In SF feeds, pending data includes contingent sales.
SFAR's feed guide says Sold data goes back to January 1, 2012.
Secondary units have their own property type: ADU or 2HSL (Rule 7.3.10).
Each photo comes with a PrivatePicture flag. Public photos may show on your site. Private ones may not. See the photo rules.
Tell the MLS before you show listings. Let the MLS and other members see your site so they can check it (12.16.1).
Update all data at least once every 12 hours. Show the source and the last update date (12.16(f)). With MLS Import, listings are refreshed each hour, well inside the 12-hour limit.
Show the listing firm and its email or phone. Use text no smaller than the listing data. Show your own firm's name too (12.16(d), (l)).
One search can show or pull no more than 500 listings (12.16(p)).
Hide listings or addresses that sellers hold back. If a seller asks, turn off comments and value estimates on that listing (12.16(i), (n), 12.16.4).
Broker Participants may show Pending and Sold data back to January 1, 2012 (12.16.3).
Post SFAR's disclaimer. It starts: "All data, including all measurements and calculations of area, is obtained from various sources." Say the data is for personal, non-commercial use. Show your firm name and licensed states (12.16(g), (s), 12.17).
Don't edit the data. Use it only to show listings. Never show private fields (12.16(c), (e), (h)).
The site owner agrees to indemnify SFAR and the MLS. That means you pay their costs if a claim comes. That covers claims tied to the data or to errors in data transfer (12.16(r)).
On social and digital ads, use "Listed by," not "Presented by" (12.8.3).
Each SFAR listing photo has a flag. It says Public or Private. The flag comes in the feed, in the MEDIA data. The fields are PrivatePicture, PictureCountPublic and PictureCountPrivate. Public photos may show on public sites. Private photos may not.
Once a listing goes off-market, its Private photos come off public sites. The first photo must always stay public (SFAR, before you delete photos). SFAR is firm here: "We will be disabling any data feeds that power websites or applications that are not in compliance with the photo privacy rule" (SFAR, private photos). As the site owner, it's your job to check the private flag on every photo.
Each listing needs at least 1 photo within 1 day of going on the market (Rule 11.5).
Logos or branding on listing photos are not allowed (Rule 11.5).
Deleting a photo breaks Rule 8.4 and can cost $250. A listing with 33 deleted photos means $8,250 (SFAR, May 27, 2026). Rule 7.25 bars stripping photos from June 1, 2026.
Since January 1, 2026, California law says to disclose digitally altered photos. Keep the unedited versions too (SFAR on AB 723).
SFARMLS is one of seven MLSs in the NORCAL MLS Alliance. The Alliance is not an MLS. Each member keeps its own rules.
SFAR runs on Rapattoni. The Alliance lists SFAR as "serving San Francisco County" (NORCAL MLS Alliance). It says it spans 29 Northern California counties and 60,000 pros. SFAR Rule 6.3 adds one more point. If you list in another Alliance MLS's area, you follow that MLS's rules. So what does an SFAR feed cover?
You pay these fees straight to SFAR. They are separate from MLS Import, which we bill at $49 a month.
SFAR charges yearly dues, a quarterly MLS user fee and one-time start fees (2026 SFAR fee schedule).
Your dues bill has three parts: SFAR, C.A.R. and NAR. SFAR's 2026 schedule lists $201 for NAR. NAR's page splits its 2027 dues into $156 plus a $45 ad fee, the same as before (NAR dues). The SFAR part holds two local funds you must pay: CAF and LAF. SFAR does not publish their amounts. Two other funds are optional. You can take RAF and C.A.R. HAF off your bill.
1. The broker pays the quarterly fee for each licensee with MLS access (Rule 5.1.2).
2. A nonuse form can free you from fees (Rule 5.1.6).
3. Dues are cut by month when you join. The $49 RAF and $10 HAF parts are not.
4. Join in March, June, September or December and you pay 4 months of MLS fees.
5. Join in December and you also pay next year's REALTOR fee.
6. A late payment adds a $30 fee.
7. Dues are not refunded. MLS refunds work only up to the 5th of the month, less 10%. If you aren't approved, you get a refund less $30.
8. Come back to the MLS within a year for a $50 fee.
9. Closed your REALTOR membership with that year's dues unpaid? Come back the same year and you pay the fee plus full yearly dues.
10. Autopay can pay all your dues and fees except yearly REALTOR dues.
SFAR does not publish a fee for the data feed. Its rules let SFARMLS charge the cost of adding or enhancing its download capacity (Rule 12.16.2). Ask SFARMLS when it replies to your license form.
Your site talks to Bridge, not to Rapattoni. SFARMLS runs on Rapattoni. Its new screen for listings is called MLS 11 (SFAR, MLS 11). Members sign in through one dashboard from Solid Earth. SFAR announced the move for Tuesday, August 12, 2025. It works with biometrics and passkeys. SFAR's billing system is Rapattoni too. Need help with Rapattoni? Call 866-730-7114. SFAR also has its own tech team. Jay Pepper-Martens is CTO, and Hud Bixler is CIO. At RESO Spring 2022, Pepper-Martens gave a talk with MetroList on the NorCal data share. It was called "Data Share Redesigned: Single Entry, Universal Distribution" (NORCAL MLS Alliance news).
SFAR sends data through the RESO Web API. RESO lists SFAR MLS (M00000094) as Certified Current. That covers Data Dictionary 2.0 and Web API Core 2.0.0. The Web API passed its test on Bridge Interactive on February 9, 2023 (RESO certificates). In Q2 2024, SFAR moved its WebAPI service to the Bridge API & Agreement Manager.
MLS Import uses the same RESO Web API. The token you get from Bridge is what it uses to read the feed. You don't write any code. MLS Import uses the RESO Data Dictionary, so common fields line up. If the feed goes down, MLS Import can keep showing your last synced listings. It tries again on the next sync.
Photos are a different story. They load from the MLS image server. In August 2023, a Rapattoni outage hit. For a time, SFAR could not serve photos at their usual links (SFAR outage note).
SFAR says it serves REALTORS who work in San Francisco and the Northern Peninsula (SFAR). The NORCAL MLS Alliance lists SFAR as "serving San Francisco County." SFAR does not name the Northern Peninsula towns.
SFAR members can also search MLSs in the North Bay, South Bay, East Bay, Sacramento/Central and Sutter Yuba. SFAR's rules let its MLS Committee set the service area, with board OK. For the kinds of homes in the feed, see what SF listing data looks like.
SFAR introduced a new rule on May 19, 2026. Rule 7.25, called Protection of Listing Content, took effect on June 1, 2026. It prohibits "stripping" photos and content from Residential and 2-4 unit listings. A notice on May 27 addressed deleted photos. It stated that each deletion violates Rule 8.4 and could lead to a $250 fine. Any photos removed in bulk before June 1 will be restored and marked as Private. The rule also includes citations and suspension. Direct questions to [email protected] (SFAR, Rule 7.25).
What it means for your site: old photos may return to your feed. All photos restored from bulk removal will be set to Private. Your site must keep them hidden from the public. Check now to ensure your site hides Private photos, not after a complaint. SFAR will disable feeds that violate the photo rule.
Real Estate News reported on May 20, 2026, that SFAR is considering whether Coming Soon listings should be on public sites. Any changes will depend on feedback from MLS users. Hud Bixler, SFAR's CIO, noted that in 2025, the MLS began sharing Coming Soon listings with VOW and back-office feeds. He explained SFAR's role: "Our job is not to be in the middle of the marketing process of that home; it's to facilitate that" (Real Estate News).
Currently, Coming Soon listings are not included in IDX feeds. On January 9, 2026, SFAR stated that Clear Cooperation had not changed. What this means for your site: the IDX feed might change later. Build your site so that a new status won’t break it. Keep status filters easy to edit. This way, a rule change is a small fix, not a major rebuild. Check SFAR's news page for updates.
SFAR revised its MLS rules on May 5, 2026. The new rules took effect on June 1, 2026. They include Rule 7.25 for photos. The IDX basics remain: refresh at least every 12 hours, cap each search at 500 listings, honour seller opt-outs, and show the listing firm’s email or phone. On June 22, SFAR posted about NAR's attribution rules. It states that sites must show the listing office's phone or email on each listing (SFAR on NAR attribution).
What this means for your site: review it against the new rules quickly. Check the listing firm line and ensure that the office phone or email is visible. Make sure your data is never older than 12 hours. MLS Import syncs every hour. Test a search to confirm it stops at 500. Also, ensure opted-out listings and addresses remain hidden.
San Francisco uses SFARMLS. The San Francisco Association of REALTORS runs it. The system behind it is Rapattoni. Data for websites goes out through Bridge, using the RESO Web API. MLS Import connects to that feed with one access token.
SFAR's 2026 fee schedule sets the MLS user fee at $204 a quarter. There are one-time start fees too. An MLS-only agent pays $100. An MLS-only broker pays $350. REALTOR dues are extra. The data feed fee is not published. MLS Import is separate, at $49 a month. See all fees.
Yes. RESO lists SFAR MLS as Certified Current for Data Dictionary 2.0 and Web API Core 2.0.0. The Web API runs on Bridge Interactive. It passed its test on February 9, 2023. MLS Import uses the RESO Web API to bring SFAR listings into WordPress.
Yes. Send SFAR's data license form. Sign your license on Bridge. Then paste your access token into MLS Import and send a ticket to turn SFAR on. It works with any theme. It costs $49 a month after a 30-day free trial.
Not as a REALTOR. You can join SFARMLS alone as an MLS-only user. But you need an MLS role, and the license form asks for your broker's 6-digit SFAR member number. Once SFAR says yes, MLS Import connects with your token. Ask SFAR if an agent can get a feed without the broker.
No. Bridge Interactive is a data platform run by Zillow Group. SFAR sends its feed through it. bridgeMLS is the East Bay MLS. It is a different group with its own listings. In MLS Import, pick "San Francisco Association of REALTORS via Bridge" for SFAR data.
SFARMLS replies to your license form within 2 business days. The reply has the next steps. SFAR does not publish an approval time. After you get your token, send an MLS Import ticket to turn SFAR on for your site.
Coming Soon listings are not in SFAR IDX feeds. East Bay and South Bay MLSs are separate. Their listings need their own licenses or an Alliance combined IDX OK. SFAR does not say its feed includes Alliance listings. MLS Import brings in what that feed holds.
SFARMLS holds the key to your feed. Once it says yes, MLS Import can bring your listings in.
Building for more than one market? Every MLS we have written up is listed in the MLS guides index.
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