Realtor group releases new policy designed to settle fight over secret home listings
The National Association of Realtors unveiled a new policy designed to settle a long-simmering fight over how new home listings are marketed by giving sellers more flexibility in the process.
The policy — a compromise to an industry dispute over semi-secret home listings — leaves rules requiring agents to list homes on shared databases known as multiple listings services (MLS) intact but adds an option for sellers to delay broadly advertising their homes online for some time. The exact timeframe will be set by individual MLSs.
In practice, most real estate agents and listings websites that are members of the MLS like Zillow and Redfin will have access to the full slate of listings, but some homes may not immediately be viewable to the public on other data feeds.
Sellers who opt for these “delayed marketing exempt listings” must sign a disclosure saying they understand the risks of foregoing immediate public marketing of their homes. The exempt homes will still appear on the MLS and be visible to those who have access to the databases.
“These policy changes allow for greater choice for sellers in marketing their properties while considering buyers’ need to access information through MLSs,” NAR President Kevin Sears said in a statement.
The compromise comes amid a years-long fight over a requirement that agents list homes on the MLS within one business day of beginning to market the properties. That rule, known as the Clear Cooperation Policy, is designed to reduce what are known as “off-market” or “pocket” listings, where a home for sale is marketed semi-privately to small pools of potential buyers without being advertised widely on the MLS.
Clear Cooperation has fierce supporters and detractors within the real estate industry. Fair housing advocates support the policy, as do some leaders of brokerages and online real estate platforms like Zillow, saying it aids transparency and helps sellers get higher prices for their homes. But other agents and brokerage executives oppose the strict listing requirement, arguing it limits seller choice.
Read more: Selling your house: How to prepare and make the sale
Pocket listings make up a small percentage of the overall market and are most common in high-end real estate. Celebrities are often keen on keeping a transaction low-profile, and some sellers want the option to test their listing prices without having the stigma of price cuts and growing days on market on a public posting.
After facing litigation, the NAR began a months-long review of Clear Cooperation and consulted with MLS leaders, brokerages, agents, multicultural groups, and other industry experts to develop the new rule.
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