Open Real Estate: We’re almost there, but not quite

Picture a homeowner at the kitchen table. She likes you. She trusts you. And she says something agents hear every week: “I want you to sell my house. Just you. I don’t want a parade of strangers walking through my bedroom with agents I have never met. But I don’t want to hide it either. Advertise it. Get the word out. I want the best price.”

That is not a strange request. Some homeowners would happily give up a few dollars on the sale price for less stress, more convenience, and the peace of working with one agent and one office. And right now, the newest system in real estate has no way to say yes to it.

2 doors, and neither 1 fits

On October 26, Keller Williams, AGNT (the parent of eXp and NextHome), HomeServices of America and Real REMAX Group launched Open Real Estate (ORE). Four competitors came together to stop listings from disappearing into company silos. They deserve real credit. But read the FAQ, and you will see the system gives a seller only two doors.

• Door one is ‘market.’ The listing goes to the MLS, the portals and every agent. Any agent can show it. For most sellers, that is still the best choice.
• Door two is ‘participant view.’ Only agents at member brokerages can see it, and nobody may market it publicly. Not the listing agent. Not the listing brokerage. Nobody.

Now go back to our homeowner. Door one sends strangers through her bedroom. Door two gives her one agent but forbids anyone to advertise her house, the last thing she asked for. She wants one agent and full marketing. ORE makes her pick one.

That is not seller choice. That is a choice between two things she did not ask for.

The 3rd door: the true exclusive

Here is the option that is missing, and it is simple.

1. The seller signs an exclusive listing agreement. Only that agent and that brokerage show the house.
2. That brokerage markets it as hard as it wants. Signs, ads, social media, open houses, its own website. The address is not a secret.
3. The listing still sits in participant view. Every member company knows the house is for sale. When it sells, everyone has the information to do their comps.
4. An agent with a great buyer calls. If an agent at another company has the right buyer, they ask the listing agent to co-broke the listing for that one showing.
5. Fiduciary duty kicks in. The listing agent must tell the homeowner about that buyer, and the homeowner decides whether to make an exception and let that agent show it.

The seller gets privacy for her home, full exposure for her listing and a way for the right buyer to reach her.

This is not a Coming Soon tease

I can already hear the objection. “Darryl, isn’t this just a pocket listing with a nicer name?”

No. A pocket listing is hidden. A Coming Soon tease builds buzz while keeping other agents out, and nobody, not even the listing agent, can show it. The true exclusive is the opposite of both. The house is actively marketed to the public, and every member company knows it is available. The only thing exclusive is who walks through her front door.

Think of a restaurant that only takes reservations. Everybody sees the menu and knows where it is. You call first, and the owner decides who gets a table. Nobody calls that a secret restaurant.

What about the double dip?

Let’s say it out loud. In a true exclusive, the listing agent may well sell the house to their own buyer and get paid on both sides. For some sellers, that is exactly why they choose it. They understand that one cook in the kitchen managing the whole process beats two, especially when the second one is an untrained buyer’s agent.

How ORE could build it

ORE already has what it needs to offer this, and technology can make the fiduciary piece stronger than ever.

• Add the third door. Let the listing brokerage alone market and show a participant-view listing.
• Put co-broke requests in writing. When a member agent asks to show the home, ORE logs the request and sends it to the seller automatically. Nothing depends on someone passing along a phone call.
• Have the seller sign up front. A short disclosure on what the true exclusive gives her and what it may cost her.
• Send the data where it belongs. Put the listing in the local MLS marked exclusive, so every agent in the market knows it exists, and appraisers get the numbers.

‘But what about CCP and my MLS fining me?’

CCP had the right intentions. NAR wanted to stop listings from disappearing. But it was the wrong strategy, and it did the opposite. Once a listing is publicly marketed, it must go into the MLS within one business day.

Keep it quiet, though, and it falls under the office exclusive exemption. That does not tell agents to share. It tells them to stop advertising and keep the listing inside their own company. The brokerage itself became the pocket.

A rule meant to bring listings into the open pushed many further underground. As I wrote earlier this year, a Redfin analysis found pocket listings rose 67 percent after CCP passed. NAR leaves enforcement to local MLSs, and in a lot of markets, they have quietly stopped enforcing it or issuing penalties. A rule on the books but not enforced protects no one. It only confuses the agents trying to follow it.

For newer agents: Before CCP, a seller could hire one brokerage to market and show her home exclusively. But those exclusives usually stayed out of the MLS, so other agents often never knew the house existed. The true exclusive keeps what sellers liked about the old way and adds what was always missing: every agent knowing the house is for sale. That is the replacement.

Until this exists, we are still hurting people

ORE got a lot right. But forcing sellers to choose between privacy and exposure is not a choice. Every seller pushed through the wrong door may leave money on the table, some buyer never gets a shot at the right house, and the industry tees itself up for another lawsuit.

Let’s give our homeowner the third door: one agent, full marketing and a way for the right buyer to find her. That is real seller choice.

Until a model like this is in place, we are still hurting buyers and sellers. Period.

The views and opinions expressed here are those of the contributor and separate from the Inman newsroom.