When it comes to private listings, the seller’s claims are being made in a big way, writes eXp CTO Carrie Lysenko. The voice of the buyer is hardly heard.
The people who brought the money to the deal continue to be left out of the conversation outside of MLS. That should be a nuisance to everyone.
I have spent my career on both sides of the glass. As CEO of Zoocasa, he built a portal to showcase people’s homes, and now as CTO of eXp Realty, he leads a brokerage that represents people buying and selling homes. I’ve been watching the current discussion about non-MLS marketing with particular interest. And growing concerns.
Not all “pre-marketing” is problematic
Let’s admit up front that much of what is called “pre-marketing” is completely legal.
Upcoming campaigns to increase awareness Time to make repairs before taking photos Preparing a proper launch instead of fumbling around with listings live Office conversations about which buyers are looking for what’s coming to market
All of this is in the best interest of the homeowner. Good agents have always prepared properties and timed their debuts, and they should. Sellers have the right to show their home in its best condition.
If the question is simply whether sellers should engage in thoughtful marketing, there is no debate. Everyone would say yes.
But that doesn’t matter anymore. Halfway through, the conversation quietly turned to “How can we successfully market our home?” “Should there be a private marketplace that is not easily accessible to the rest of the market or the buying public?” These are very different questions.
Most of the recent discussions in the trade press, however well-constructed, serve the second argument while sounding like the first.
So back to the buyer.
A buyer is someone who brings money to a transaction. Every dollar that closes the deal comes from their side of the table. In any discussion of how homes are sold, you might think that the buyer’s ability to make an informed decision would be near the center of the discussion. In fact, it has almost completely disappeared.
Consider what a buyer actually needs to make a healthy offer for the biggest purchase of their life.
Has this home been listed before? When? What is the price? Did you take it down and relist it to reset the clock? When did it actually become available?
These are not trivia. These are the facts and data that tell buyers whether the price is reasonable, where there is room for negotiation, and whether a “new” listing is actually new. That information is important for any offer.
Here’s the part of the current debate that should make everyone pause: One recent editorial defending off-portal marketing clearly states the argument against buyers checking days on market and price history. It means that the buyer will compete against the seller.
Please read it again.
In reality, the discomfort is not in the business model of any particular portal. It’s about the buyer having information.
I understand your frustration with Portal. I built it and competed for traffic and attention. They are a commercial company and are not neutral judges. The criticism that they are monetizing listings and channeling leads is a fair criticism.
However, the answer to the question “This portal is not completely transparent” cannot be “So let’s build a marketplace that is transparent to almost everyone.” The solution to incomplete openness is not enclosure.
That’s my real concern about private, publicly traded inventory owned by brokerages being sold and sometimes traded within the walls of a single company. When you can sell a home to a selective audience before the broader market sees it, several things happen at once.
Buyers outside of that network don’t get a fair chance. Sellers may never know how much the entire market paid. And the deal, price, terms, and real story never make it into the shared records that the appraiser, lender, and next buyer down the street all rely on.
Hidden transactions don’t just disadvantage one buyer. They quietly degrade the data that the entire market uses to know the value of everything.
Market structure
Marketplaces work because there is enough clarity on both sides to agree on a fair price. If the information leans too far in one direction, it is no longer a market. Approach private clubs with PR budgets.
I’m not advocating that sellers should give anything away or that agents should abandon the art of marketing homes. What I’m advocating is a simple principle that I think most people in this industry actually share by being directly stated. That means the person bringing the money is entitled to know the same basic facts that the person selling the home already knows.
So, as op-eds continue to appear, I want everyone reading them to be aware of who continues to be left out of the conversation. The seller’s claims are made loud and firm. The voice of the buyer is hardly heard.
Someone please listen. So I do that.
Carrie Lysenko is the Chief Technology Officer of eXp Realty and former CEO of Zoocasa. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Instagram.
