Realtors locally and elsewhere in eastern North Carolina are a step closer to gaining a new tool: a regional Multiple Listing Service.

Seven professional organizations, including Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors and Brunswick County Association of Realtors, have come together to create the North Carolina Regional MLS LLC, said Jody Wainio, president of WRAR. 

The limited liability corporation was registered with the N.C. Secretary of State's Corporations Division on Wednesday.

The other five groups involved in the creation of the North Carolina Regional MLS LLC are the Duplin-Sampson Association of Realtors, Jacksonville Board of Realtors, Topsail Island Association of Realtors, Neuse River Region Association of Realtors and the Carteret County Association of Realtors.

The combined effort, which has been in the works for a while, could potentially include six to seven additional associations in the eastern part of North Carolina, Wainio said.

"Managers are now being appointed to the new entity, and the next step is creating a vendor selection process," she said.

The system is not expected to launch until 2016, Wainio said.

"First and foremost, it gives us more buying power because we have more members to purchase a more robust system," Wainio said, describing the impetus for creating a regional MLS. "Some vendors won't talk to you unless you have 4,000 to 5,000 members, and this regional effort will give us those numbers to be a able to negotiate a much better system for our members."