Why private listing networks are a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' 

Thinking big about residential real estate success requires a big-picture perspective. Industry Decoded features industry experts who can enrich your understanding of issues affecting the industry as a whole.

The views expressed in this column are solely those of the author.

I have had the privilege of being part of this amazing industry for most of my life, but there was a time when residential real estate was synonymous with marginalizing people by using "secretive" policies such as redlining, racial steering, and other forms of manipulation and discrimination.

In the late 1960s, Fair Housing Act legislation brought these practices to light, and we have come a long way since what were clearly the "bad old days" of real estate — a time when elitism ruled the day.

While we clearly have a very long way to go, our industry has made great efforts to move toward fairness and transparency, and I am proud of the fact that my dad, John Jacobi — founder of Windermere Real Estate — and his fellow real estate leaders in the Seattle area were instrumental in helping to eliminate such tactics by cooperating with each other to share real-time listing information. In fact, our region was the first in the country to do so via the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.

Yet now, at a time of great transition in our industry, one brokerage is advocating to transport us back by decades — all for their interests, and their interests only. Under the guise of "seller choice," Compass has begun building a private network where it controls both buyer and seller. If there was ever a policy that was a "wolf in sheep's clothing," a private listing network is exactly that.

A return to the caste system of real estate

Secrecy brought our industry to a low point when only a select number of brokerages and their agents controlled the inventory and, in the process, managed to avoid transparency. Transparency creates accountability as business is conducted in the open. In a private listing network like Compass is building, you lack accountability — exponentially increasing the opportunities for mishandling and abuse. If one is wealthy and has influence, they can get themselves to the front of the line. It returns us to a caste system of real estate, where a small, elite group have privileges while everyone else is on the outside looking in.

I am not implying that there aren't sellers who need or want to keep their homes from being publicly marketed. There are absolutely instances when that is a necessity, but rules are already firmly in place to do so. For example, in the Northwest Multiple Listing Service*, you can list a home without revealing the seller or their address; sellers control how their home is marketed and can even opt not to have signage or a lockbox. In this instance, if a buyer is interested, their agent must work with the seller's agent to schedule a private showing.

Even the National Association of Realtors, which has plenty of issues of its own, has given its MLSs the ability to choose when to ultimately list a home.

Private listing networks only benefit the brokerage, not the seller

To make a private listing network the norm, however, is beyond a terrible idea. Private listing networks only support the brokerage that controls the listing, and the seller is at the brokerage's mercy to market the property. This scenario also removes relevant information that buyers rely on to make informed decisions, forcing them to drive blindly through the process. Furthermore, sellers lose valuable time because no one else is being given the opportunity to look at their home, and the buyers will have little access to — or information about — the true available inventory. And the claims by Compass that homes sell for more in their private network? It's all smoke and mirrors as study after study has shown.

Recognizing resistance to such a self-serving idea, Compass is threatening any MLS or brokerage that stands in its way. Again, under the guise of "seller choice," this company is working to bully the industry and bend everyone to its will. And the reason behind it is simple: money and control. Make no mistake, that's all this is about.

Private listing networks create a "them and us" situation within the home-buying and home-selling world — something our industry has fought hard to eliminate. Think about the consequences of limiting access to inventory through just one organization. They are, quite frankly, terrifying.

Like an old-fashioned schoolyard bully, Compass has decided that the most effective way to address its damaged bottom line is through intimidation. It is terribly sad that one company's blind ambition is working to set our industry back decades.

In short, there is nothing noble about what Compass is trying to do to the residential real estate industry. This will benefit them, and them only, hurting everyone else.

*The Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) operates separately from the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

OB Jacobi, co-president of Windermere Real Estate, earned his real estate license in 1989 and spent the next decade working as an agent, property manager, office manager, general manager and franchise owner before taking over leadership of the family business alongside his sister Jill Jacobi Wood and brother-in-law Geoff Wood. As co-president, OB has helped facilitate Windermere's growth, guides business strategies and oversees operations for several family-owned Windermere offices. He also sits on the boards of MoxiWorks, the Windermere Foundation and Move Forward Financial.