Redfin may have been acquired by Rocket, but it still operates a real estate listing portal and it doesn’t want the industry to forget that it too has skin in the the debate surrounding the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP).
According to a statement from Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman on Monday, “Redfin.com will not publish any listings that have been publicly marketed before being shared with all real estate websites via the MLS.”
Kelman said Redfin is doing this because it “believes that all buyers should be able to see all listings.”
This policy echoes that of Zillow, which it issued last Thursday, which states that if a listing is publicly marketed to any buyer it must be put in an MLS and be able to be published on Zillow as well as other sites that receive internet data exchange (IDX) feeds, within 24 hours of the first public marketing.
However, in what Kelman says is an effort to preserve a seller’s ability to control how their property is marketed, Redfin is also “asking MLSs to create a coming-soon designation for listings that precludes search sites from showing how long a home has been for sale and at what prices.”
Kelman notes, however, that this would differ from the coming soon listings idea supported by some brokerages, which would limit access to just agents and potentially only to the agents in the brokerage the listing belongs to.
“This violates the principle established in the last great real estate anti-trust battle, settled in 2008, that all brokerage customers should be able to see all MLS listings, online or via an agent,” Kelman said. “And that principle exists for a reason: once brokers give our clients control over how their listing appears online, every client will want that listing to appear everywhere.”
These policies have come in response to NAR’s recently announced Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy, which creates the idea of delayed marketing exempt listings. If a seller choose to delay their listing, the property is still entered into the MLS, but it cannot go on IDX feeds or syndicated to any websites. Despite these restrictions, the seller and their agent can publicly market the property however they see fit, including posting a yard sign, sharing the listing on social media or even hanging flyers at the local grocery store.
Zillow and Redfin are not the only firm with strong opinions about this issue. Over the weekend, CoStar CEO Andy Florance sent a letter to agents in which he called Zillow’s new policy a “pure power play of epic proportions.”
“Rest assured, if Zillow does block your listing it will still be seen on Homes.com and the other sites,” Florance wrote.
While it has yet to make a formal decision on the matter, a Realtor.com spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement that while they believe NAR’s MLOS policy is a “
sensible approach that balances flexibility for sellers, agents, and MLSs with the need for fair and equal access to listings,” it is “giving the topic thoughtful consideration.”
The spokesperson noted that Realtor.com “firmly supports listing cooperation.”
So far, both eXp Realty and NextHome have signed on to Zillow’s new listing standards. It remains to be seen if others will take a similar stand.
English (US) · 