Private listings networks just suffered a major setback, at least for now, which is good news for buyers and sellers all over the country.
Friday’s federal court ruling denying the preliminary injunction to block Zillow’s Listing Access Standards just reinforced what I believe is the ethos of our entire industry: Transparency and broad market exposure serve consumers, agents and markets alike.
The court’s decision makes clear that there was a lack of evidence proving that Zillow’s policy harms competition or unlawfully excludes rivals. In particular, the ruling notes that sellers and brokerages remain free to use alternative marketing strategies even if those listings forgo exposure on Zillow.
As I have said all along, it’s up to the agents to now educate their sellers about what it means to enter into a private listing network. What are the trade-offs? What is gained and what is lost? These are important themes that agents, as fiduciaries, should be explaining in great detail to their clients, and this court ruling has now all but ensured these fundamental discussions must take place.
I want to be clear that private listings are very different from a private listing network. Private listings, or whisper listings, have always been around, and Brown Harris Stevens handles them quite successfully. When a seller truly wants to keep their sale private for compelling reasons, we help them – as we always have. We make phone calls. We shop the property around discreetly.
We don’t drag it into our marketing arsenal and tout that it’s one of thousands of private listings you won’t see anywhere else. That’s a strategy to help the brokerage grow inventory, but it does very little to help sellers. In fact, studies show that sellers actually lose money when they circumnavigate the open market.
And let’s not forget the buyers who make up 50 percent of the transaction. Don’t they deserve to see everything that’s on the market without having to jump through hoops and surf various websites. Do we really want to find out what gatekeeping listings under the guise of a PLN could mean for fair housing abuses? That’s one history lesson we should never repeat.
This federal ruling marks an early procedural win for Zillow, but the broader lawsuit continues. An open, transparent market is necessary to foster trust inside and outside of this industry. Our job as real estate agents to be a constant source of truth and trust to our consumers, which is why this is so fundamental to our survival. It’s a battle we cannot afford to lose.
Bess Freedman is the CEO of Brown Harris Stevens in New York City.
