Zillow has partnered with Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America and Side for Zillow Preview, a “public, pre-market” listing phase available on Zillow, Trulia and affiliated brokerage and agent websites.
“For 20 years, Zillow has been guided by a simple idea: Real estate works best when information is open and accessible,” CEO Jeremy Wacksman said in a press release. “No one should have to obligate themselves to an agent from a specific brokerage just to know the full breadth of inventory available.”
All participating brokerages will have access to Zillow Preview, which is structured to operate within local MLS frameworks. The partnership marks a slight departure from Zillow’s stance that banned private listings — a policy that effectively prohibited off-market “coming soon” listings, namely those from Compass. Zillow maintains that Zillow Preview listings, however, are broadly available to the general public, unlike “coming soon” listings in private networks.
“We believe an open market serves consumers the best,” said Gary Keller, executive chairman and co-founder of Keller Williams. “Sellers should have the opportunity to reach the broadest pool of potential buyers if they choose to do so, because broad exposure generally benefits the homeowner.”
Keller added that sellers should retain the right to set the parameters around how their home is marketed.
“Our job as professionals is to fully disclose and explain the options and let the seller decide,” he said.
The franchise’s pre-market rhetoric echoes that of Compass personnel throughout the brokerage’s ongoing battle with Zillow.
“When shared with a national consumer portal, these listings stop being surfaced just for agents and private networks and are now available to everyone,” said Keller Williams President and CEO Chris Czarnecki. “When sellers choose to market their property to the public before it officially hits the market, it can create energy and demand around their listing … That’s why we chose to roll this out with Zillow, the most visited consumer housing search portal in the country.”
Listing agents may receive a portion of the Zillow’s revenue earned from transactions initiated through Zillow Preview.
NAR’s stance on ‘coming soon’ listings
For its part, the National Association of REALTORS® maintains a position of neutrality. A spokesperson for the association provided this statement:
NAR respects the rights of individual brokers to make their own business decisions and does not comment on specific brokerage practices or business models. NAR does not have a national policy regarding coming soon statuses. Listing statuses are matters of local discretion, with each MLS determining the appropriate statuses for its marketplace. Brokers and agents who choose to participate in an MLS agree to comply with that MLS’s policies and rules, which are designed to benefit consumers and their marketplace.
The association added that “broad market access” provided by the MLS is part of a “pro-competitive and pro-consumer” marketplace.
This article was last updated with NAR’s statement on Mar. 17.