Compass is set to bring 500,000 off-market listings to Redfin, thanks to the firms’ new deal. Yet, a significant share of Texas luxury home sellers may hang back, agents say.
Under the former rivals’ new agreement, Compass agents can syndicate “Coming Soon” listings to Redfin, offering the exposure of 60 million monthly viewers to home sellers who choose Compass’ three-phase marketing strategy. Private exclusive listings will eventually follow. Agents say that plenty of wealthy sellers want exposure if they can hide their home price, but also that a meaningful slice of owners in the luxury market will eschew Redfin for exclusivity and discretion.
“I do foresee some private exclusives for luxury not going to [Redfin]. However, we have never had access to this large of a buyer pool to really test aspirational pricing,” said Somer Padilla, a Compass agent who works in the Houston area.
Off-market deals are popular among luxury home sellers in Texas metros, generally to keep property tax appraisals low. These sellers tend to want a large buyer pool, according to Compass agent Michael Reisor, who works in Austin and New York.
“If we have a seller whose objective is to get maximum information and exposure before going on MLS, then the Redfin path is a great option,” Reisor said. “You don’t have days on market, you don’t have price drops, you don’t have anything like that.”
Since Compass agents will be able to list “Coming Soon” properties without an asking price — a major draw for sellers evading the appraiser — Redfin will meet at least one need that other off-market databases in Texas, such as Clubhouse, were founded to satisfy.
“This is historic in my eyes,” Padilla said.
However, while sellers of more expensive homes have a greater incentive to hide their real value from the appraiser while seeking maximum exposure, luxury sellers also tend to value privacy for its own sake.
“Higher-end sellers — typically it’s higher-end properties — they’re often personally private, which is kind of the genesis of off-market private listings to begin with,” Reisor said. “They don’t want their personal items and the home really ever to reach that volume of people.”
On top of the practical considerations, off-market deals also have a certain mystique, Padilla said. Anywhere CEO Ryan Schneider once described Compass’ private inventory as a “walled garden,” tempting outsiders in.
“Exclusivity. There is value in everyone not having access to that property,” Padilla said, citing the reason some sellers pursue private marketing.
Padilla said Redfin’s mass exposure won’t flatten the appeal of an off-market listing.
“If a seller does choose to leverage the Compass/Redfin Coming Soon platform, it does not diminish exclusivity,” she said. “It allows us to define it.”
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