In a recent opinion piece for RISMEDIA, CEO Bess Freedman expanded on her concerns surrounding Compass’ Private Exclusive Network. “For months, Compass has been touting a Private Exclusive Network as part of a three-stage marketing strategy for homesellers, and while it sounds great in marketing jargon, its core purpose is much more dubious," writes Freedman.

Compass has claimed that sellers want to market their homes off the public-facing MLS in order to avoid showing price adjustments and accruing Days on Market. “Why, then, is Compass one of the only brokerages to display a Days on Market count if they claim it’s such a deterrent? This runs counter to their own talking points!” highlights Freedman.

Further, Compass’ private exclusive network is currently only available to Compass agents and their clients. This severely limits the buyer pool and contributes to an inventory crunch the housing market is experiencing on a national level. 

Sellers have always had a choice in how they market their homes. There is no rule forcing them to transact on the open market, but the fact remains that listings garner more interest when they are accessible by a broad pool of buyers and brokerages. “Hoarding inventory from the MLS, other brokerages, and qualified buyers benefits only one entity in this scenario–and that’s Compass,” says Freedman.

You can read Bess’ full blog post about why Compass’ Private Exclusive Network is bad for buyers, sellers, and the larger real estate industry in RISMEDIA.

Click here to learn more about Bess Freedman