Compass launches physical book for private listings

Compass, the residential giant which at one point spent $900 million outfitting its state-of-the-art technology stack, has unveiled its newest product offering to navigate the fracas over private listings — a physical book.

The company announced the launch of its Compass Private Exclusive Book, which contains Compass’ private exclusive listings to be available in the brokerage’s local offices. The physical book will be updated weekly, while a digital version will be updated in real time.

The use of physical paper is a marked departure for the “tech-enabled real estate services company” that has piloted some cutting-edge technology features, like Compass Collections and, more recently, its consumer-facing app, Compass One.

But the brokerage described the book in a press release as “a move to promote greater transparency and collaboration.” The move appears to be a response to the groundswell of pushback the firm has faced for the use of its three-phase marketing strategy, of which two phases involve listings that do not publicly appear on the MLS.

“If Compass’ goal were to double end deals, it would keep office exclusives in-house as NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy allows, but instead Compass is trying to share its Private Exclusives with the entire brokerage community,” the firm said in a statement.

The new offering comes after Zillow and StreetEasy announced tighter guidelines for private listings that involve some form of public marketing. Zillow said offending listings lose their shot at appearing on the national listing website unless they undergo a listing brokerage change, while StreetEasy warned it will remove agents using illicit private listings from popular programs like StreetEasy Experts and StreetEasy Concierge.

“Agents from all brokerages are invited to visit any Compass office to individually browse Private Exclusives listings on a 1:1 basis,” the release states, conjuring a rather bucolic image of a Douglas Elliman or Corcoran agent sharing a smile with a Compass agent over a printout of a two-bedroom condo.

The brokerage in the release said the book falls under listing standards set by the National Association of Realtors, multiple listing services and Zillow.

Compass cited NAR’s MLS Antitrust Compliance Policy, which says boards and local NAR chapters, along with their respective MLSs “shall not prohibit or discourage participants from taking ‘office exclusive’ listings.”

“NAR also recently clarified that any agent can share a Private Exclusive on a 1:1 basis with agents at other brokerages and/or clients,” the firm said in the release.

For those who have been in the industry longer than this reporter has been alive, the move might conjure up images of the days before an online MLS, when agents had to page through thick white sheets to find their clients’ dream homes.

Or as the release explains, “this initiative reimagines the spirit of the original MLS books by providing a centralized, physical resource to discover unique properties while respecting the privacy, security, and marketing strategies of today’s sellers.”

Although the book will not be available to all Compass offices immediately, those initially left out should fear not because, according to the release, “if the brokerage community finds it valuable, it will be extended to other offices.”

Compass said, Zillow said

Compass’ use of private exclusives has sparked criticism from listing platforms like Zillow and Redfin, as well as the Seattle-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service, which is being sued by Compass for alleged anticompetitive behavior after it shut off the brokerage’s access to its data feed.

Compass has insisted that its listings — whether in hard copy or digital — aren’t in violation of listing standards from MLSes or third-party listing services like Zillow or StreetEasy.

CEO Robert Reffkin told employees in an internal email obtained by The Real Deal, responding to StreetEasy’s new guideline, that “Compass private exclusives are not publicly marketed and are not impacted by this announcement.”

A spokesperson for StreetEasy said that listings published in a book, but also behind an online customer login, would not meet the platform’s listing standards. The representative cited that the book is being publicly marketed to customers without being submitted to StreetEasy, and outside New York City, an MLS.

A spokesperson for the platform pointed to the definition of public marketing as included in its announcement as a listing on a “brokerage website with the lure of exclusive inventory behind a consumer registration,” but did not take an explicit stance on Compass’ private exclusives.