Greg Haig, 77, founder of 72SOLD, has practiced as a lawyer, built a real estate business, and spent decades refining his seller-focused strategies for property presentations, home viewings, and negotiations. Now, as the newly appointed Director of Home Sales Strategy for Compass International Holdings, he is bringing that strategy to one of the hottest modern companies in the residential real estate industry.
Mr. Haig’s appointment adds another champion of seller choice to Compass’ evolving post-anywhere build and brings him directly involved in discussions about how homes should be marketed before they are listed on the MLS or major portals. And Haig doesn’t seem like the type of person to join Compass and advise agents from the sidelines.
In an interview with Inman, Haig revealed that the role was not just about presenting scripts and lists. Rather, it’s part of a broader seller selection philosophy that aligns closely with Compass CEO Robert Refkin’s efforts to challenge MLS rules, portal policies, and the industry’s default assumptions about how homes are sold.
Haig rejected the idea that Compass’ private exclusives and broader three-tier marketing strategy hide homes from buyers, criticized Zillow’s lead generation model and said lawmakers who have pushed for broader public marketing requirements are “wrong.”
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Inman: What attracted you to this role now?
Haag: Most of my professional career has been focused on dealerships. I grew up in this business. My father sold real estate in Cincinnati and eventually founded a company with seven offices, and growing up he always talked about real estate.
Over the years, I’ve become intrigued by the question of what I can do to get better results for sellers in how they market their homes, how they show their homes, and how they negotiate.
I’m in my 70s. I wake up at 4:30 in the morning. I work 10, 12 hours a day. This is not a job. I don’t have a salary. Robert can fire me, but my income will not be reduced. I’m doing this because I believe in it so much.
How does your training fit into Compass’ three-tier marketing strategy?
The Hague: Think more than just a compass. That’s not really a fair characterization. That’s CIH. They are Compass, Coldwell Banker, Century 21, and other brands from the CIH world.
My strategy complements the three-tier system. they don’t change it. What I’m trying to make available for free to all 300,000 agents within the CIH world is completely free. Not required. Since they are independent contractors, it is simply something they value.
I’m not their boss. They don’t have to do what I say. I don’t want them to feel obligated. Am I the one out of 300,000 agents who can tell me what is best for a particular seller in a particular situation?
What are some examples of those strategies?
Hague: I don’t teach my agents to characterize price as list price or asking price. I teach you to redefine it as a starting price. Same price. But that’s just better recognition.
Asking price naturally gives the impression that this is what we want, but we’re not going to get. When you say a starting price, you convey the understanding that the offer starts from there. Does that mean all offers will be at or above that price? No, but it’s a better perception.
The 72SOLD system is also based on a 72-hour release weekend. Saturday is the show, Sunday is the negotiation, and Monday is the presentation of the offer to the seller. This is when the seller intends to sell, but is not obligated to sell.
Critics of private listings say they reduce transparency and keep homes away from buyers. what is your answer?
Hague: That’s a myth. That’s totally misleading.
When we sell a home, we actively market it whether it’s off the MLS or inside the MLS. My trained agents don’t hide it. They actively market to all buyers they can contact through social media, outreach, and all listing agents who own similar properties.
Every buyer agent can show it, sell it, and earn a commission based on what they negotiate. Therefore, nothing is private.
Robert and I have talked about this and he agrees that the term “private exclusive” probably doesn’t accurately describe what it is.
How does it actually work before a home joins MLS?
The Hague: Once your home is listed, it’s time to start actively marketing it through the MLS. why? Let’s see what kind of activities you can get.
Let’s say you live in Chicago. Available in front of all agents in Chicago. There’s no need for MLS to do that. You can disseminate this information to thousands of agents in the Chicago area through our electronic flyer system. And if it says, “New, off MLS, not online yet,” as a buyer agent, I would say, “Wow, no one knows about this.” I plan to call the buyer soon.
I offer it to all agents in the market. Why only CIH? But I do it in a way that doesn’t track days on market.
And I set up what’s called a launch weekend. Contact from buyer agent: Can I show the house? To be honest, the sellers are busy, so they asked me to set up a showing this Saturday from 2-4 p.m. I can give you 3:15.
Every time you as a buyer’s agent say, “I don’t want to wait until Saturday, could you come earlier?” And that’s where it gets interesting. I say, “Tell me about your buyer.” you explain them. I said, “Why don’t you call the seller and see if they can let you move in early?”
I called, the seller said yes, and suddenly this wasn’t just a regular showing. You’ve been watching it since before it was released to the public. I feel special.
You mentioned that days on the market can “affect the price” of a home. what do you mean?
The Hague: It’s been 3-4 weeks since you put your home on the MLS. Buyers are going to see it, but they’re not going to pay as much as early buyers. Later buyers are unlikely to pay the same amount because they feel the previous buyers have been denying them for weeks.
Negative perceptions of time on market negatively impact home prices. That’s why Robert and I are big believers in marketing freedom.
Why list your home online now? Start tracking days on market. Creates a record of price adjustments. I haven’t tested the price. It doesn’t create urgency. You are not giving yourself the opportunity to build the perception that buyers are setting themselves apart from many other buyers.
Why do you think major portals are part of the downside of MLS-first marketing?
The Hague: Zillow is a website that uses listings to attract buyers and sell to agents who pay them for the leads. Everyone knows that.
Zillow’s “Contact Agent” button does not connect you to the listing agent. It connects you with an agent who pays a referral fee, but that agent typically doesn’t know much more about the home than the buyer can from looking at the photos.
There is a place for MLS in the world. I’m not against MLS. Zillow has a business model. I don’t like it, but I understand how they make money.
But what about the idea that you have to list your home on the MLS and Zillow and start marketing your home within 24 hours?Are you kidding me? I haven’t tested the price. You can instantly track days on market. It doesn’t create any sense of urgency. You’re not giving yourself the opportunity to build the perception that buyers feel ahead of other buyers.
Several states, including Washington and Wisconsin, are pursuing legislation regarding public marketing requirements. Do you think those legislators got it wrong?
Haig: They’re completely wrong.
These laws are based on the theory that homes should be exposed and publicly sold, not hidden away. But let’s take a compass as an example. These are Phase 1 listings that have not yet entered MLS, and no one is hiding them. These agents are in no way prohibited from selling them in any form.
All U.S. buyers can visit the Compass website now to view all Phase 1 listings.
They just don’t want to accumulate a record of visible days on market or price adjustments, and some buyer has a guide on the side that says they should lower the price. You don’t want to have something like that in your home unless you have to.
Zillow, NAR, MLS – These are not regulatory bodies. These are private institutions. The regulatory agency for real estate agents is the state licensing department, whose mission is to protect the public.
How does your training address commissions? Do you advise agents on what to charge?
Hague: I’m not going to tell my agent what to charge.
There’s a lot of debate about whether a percentage fee, rather than an hourly rate, is the best billing method for this industry. But percentage fees are the accepted method, so let’s deal with it.
Most agents have been in business for a period of time and have developed a track record of charging a certain amount of money for their services. What I want to teach them is how to better justify what they are charging.
They can go to a seller and say, “Look what I’m doing compared to my competitors.” If the seller understands how these things increase the likelihood that the buyer will offer a higher price (there are no guarantees), then the seller will see the value.
Does your role relate to Compass’ broader growth strategy or 30/30 vision?
Hague: I didn’t discuss that with Robert in detail.
It would be great if Compass could grow and capture a large share of a large market. But I’m not here to recruit agents. I’m not here to steal market share. I’m there to help agents run their business by voluntarily getting them to use strategies that I know work so that their business can be better.
I can’t change the tires on my car. There are many things I’m not good at. However, I believe I know how to teach agents how to represent sellers to another level. That’s my passion. I want agents to become the Uber of the taxi world. They don’t want people to think they are better taxis. I want sellers to say, “My agent never told me everything.” That’s what I’m here to teach.
You’ve been very open about your admiration for Levkin. What shaped it?
The Hague: He ran a company that was worth billions of dollars and was publicly traded, and he stood up and picked a fight with Zillow and MLS and said, “This is wrong.” Who would do that?
I’d like to think of myself as a courageous person, but I honestly don’t know that I could do something like that with a company I started and put the company’s future at risk.
I think he’s a hero. I don’t think I’ve ever said that to anyone in this industry.
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