The Advantage of Compass Coming Soon in the “New” Restricted Coming Soon Market

As of February 1, 2020, our local multiple listing service, or MLS, (BrightMLS) instituted a new rule that Realtors can no longer market properties publicly before they go on the market UNLESS the property is already entered into BrightMLS as “coming soon.” A “coming soon” property cannot be shown while it is listed as such — househunters must wait until it is actively on the market.

However, there’s a catch! Realtors ARE allowed to market the property prior to going in “coming soon” status in the MLS in the following scenarios:

• In 1-on-1 communication with other Realtors or members of the public
• To anyone in any way within their own brokerages

So, what does all of this mean for consumers?

• It is now harder for most people to find off- or pre-market properties than it had been previously. Think no “coming soon” signs, Instagram or Facebook posts, mass emails to other agents in the community, etc.
• Having a pro-active Realtor matters! Realtors will now need to be a lot more dialed-in to the agent community in order to find off-market properties for clients through their agent relationships. One-on-one sharing is more important than ever.
• Working with a Realtor who has a network of off-market properties within their brokerage matters since we can do mass sharing and marketing within our own brokerage. Note that if a brokerage is franchised, they can only share within their own franchise, not within the whole “brand.” So for example, companies like Keller Williams or Sotheby’s can only share within their own franchise (which is typically limited to just a few offices). Companies like Compass that are not franchised have a competitive advantage under the new regulation.

I typically avoid hyper-opinionated posts but in this case, I would like to share my thoughts. I personally do not believe this change is a positive one for the industry as a whole and am hoping there is a revision in the regulation. That being said, it does put agents who work for teams and brokerages like ours at an advantage over individual agents or agents who work for smaller companies, franchised companies, or companies without a streamlined system for sharing their off-market homes.

At Compass, we have the advantage of utilizing “Compass Coming Soon.” If you haven’t heard of it before, Compass Coming Soon is a platform available to Compass agents throughout the United States in which we can list our off-market or coming soon properties. The good news is that we have the opportunity to post these inward-facing (to Compass agents only) or outward-facing (on Compass.com where anyone can search). The outward-facing platform can now only be utilized when the property is in “coming soon” status in BrightMLS. The inward-facing platform now gives Compass agents a wonderful way to find off-market properties with the click of a mouse. This information is live and in real-time. Most other brokerages might have a written list of properties their agents can access, but it is not a dynamic platform.

The advantage to a Compass seller? We can share their pre-MLS listing with thousands of the top agents regionally and across the country.

The advantage to buyers? Compass agents have access to hundreds of coming soon listings at any given time that NO ONE else has access to.

Not only can Compass agents search in their own market for off-market properties, but they can also provide access to their clients moving to another market that Compass serves. For example, if a seller in New York is moving to DC and working with a Compass agent, the New York Compass agent is allowed to share Compass Coming Soon properties with the client in advance of her move.

No other brokerage can claim this advantage. Why? Nearly all other national firms are franchised. Compass is also the only other brokerage to be a #1 or #2 market share leader in every single major market in the country. I’m not sharing this to be boastful or say that Compass is necessarily better than other companies (of course I believe it is, but I digress…), but rather to note why Compass agents have such an advantage in the current reality of the market.

In addition to the ease and functionality of the Compass Coming Soon platform, Compass is set up for success in the DC Metro area specifically given our overall market share. The more listings we have (and we have a lot!), the more listings our buyers have access to through Compass Coming Soon — before they hit the market. We also have 900 of the top agents across the DC Metro Area under the Compass umbrella.

Bottom line? We have hundreds of Coming Soon listings that interested buyers can find first with Compass, whether browsing our site (if they are in Coming Soon status in BrightMLS) or working with a Compass agent (who would have access to the inward-facing properties as well).

Are you ready to get started? Reach out today!