According to details of the new partnership, Compass Coming Soon listings will receive priority display on Redfin.com and buyer inquiries will be directed to Compass listing agents.
Compass International Holdings has entered into a three-year partnership with Rocket Companies to display upcoming listings in a way that aligns with the brokerage giant’s marketing strategy.
Compass CEO Robert Refkin detailed the new partnership in an email sent to all Compass distributors on Thursday. Inman obtained and reviewed the email. Multiple sources independently confirmed the existence of the agreement.
Under this agreement, sellers and Compass agents may choose to syndicate their Compass Coming Soon listings directly with Redfin. In this case, the listing has no days on market, price history, or estimated home value.
Eventually, Compass Private Exclusive’s listings will also appear on Redfin, Rocket said in a statement announcing the deal.
The partnership marks a major shift in the ongoing battle between Compass and what it considers “organized real estate,” the National Association of Realtors, multiple listings company Zillow. This would put Rocket Redfin in partnership with the nation’s largest brokerage firm, a new ally that Mr. Refkin said would give them significant leverage in challenging the rules that ultimately ensure listing on the MLS.
“This partnership ends the restrictions that MLS has placed on agents and sellers on how they sell homes,” Levkin said on a conference call with investors Thursday. “When they’re restricting agents and home sellers, they’re going to be restricting Rocket as well.”
Compass’ listings on Redfin will be prioritized in “premium,” Levkin said in an email. The agent’s name, photo and broker will be prominently displayed on the property, and potential buyers will be sent directly to the property agent without any referral fee, he added.
“This program has never been offered to sellers before and is exclusive to you and your customers,” Levkin said in an email.
The announcement came on the same day that Compass reported its fourth quarter results, which reported record quarterly sales of $1.7 billion and full-year sales of $7 billion.
Levkin said on a conference call with investors that MLSs with rules restricting the marketing of listings outside the MLS would “lose their moral narrative.”
He singled out California Regional Multiple Listing Service, North Texas Real Estate Information Systems, and Northwest MLS in particular, and suggested that Compass and Rocket are prepared to fight them and other MLSs that may seek to impose fines on Compass agents selling upcoming listings on Redfin.
“What will happen in each of these markets going forward is that MLS will fine our agents up to $5,000,” Levkin said. “If you try to look at the paper, the agent will say, ‘Can you help me?’” Yes, we will help them. ”
The move comes as Compass has been battling in and out of court to be able to sell real estate properties in ways that are currently largely prohibited by the industry’s own rules and policies.
Levkin also said real estate is the only industry where participants can be fined if they get their way.
“I don’t think agents at any company should be fined by MLS,” he said on stage at Inman Connect New York earlier this month. “This kind of thing doesn’t happen in other industries. No organization is imposing fines on their own employees. This is not normal.”
“When you impose $5,000 fines on Redfin and agents who market listings that are publicly searchable by 60 million people on these sites, are you doing it to protect fair housing? Are you doing it to protect transparency? Are you doing it to avoid double-end deals?” Levkin said. “Or are they doing this not to protect transparency, but to protect their business model?”
Rocket CEO Varun Krishna also confirmed the partnership in a statement, calling it a way to increase the supply of listings on the Redfin platform.
Rocket said it will offer Compass customers “preferential pricing,” including a 1 percentage point interest rate reduction for the first year of the loan and a $6,000 lender credit.
“As barriers are removed and supply increases, affordability improves,” said Varun Krishna, CEO of Rocket Companies. “Today’s challenges are friction and inventory shortages in the homebuying process. By combining search, agency, and financing into one connected platform, we can help more sellers enter the market, reduce complexity for buyers, and make homeownership more attainable.”
Jason Haber, an associate broker at Compass in New York, praised the partnership.
“Customers should be the ones deciding how their products are listed, where they are listed, and when they are listed,” Haber told Inman on Thursday afternoon. “I think that fits the zeitgeist of the moment.”
Email Taylor Anderson
