Compass Inc. (NYSE: COMP) has unveiled its new Compass Private Exclusive Book, a collection of its Compass Private Exclusives available for viewing in the brokerage’s offices.
According to the New York City-based company, agents from all brokerages can visit any Compass office to individually browse Private Exclusives listings on a one-to-one basis. The contents of the book are not publicly available online. Sellers with privacy or security concerns can opt out of being listed in the book, which will be available in paper and digital editions.
In a statement, the company claimed this endeavor “reimagines the spirit of the original MLS books by providing a centralized, physical resource to discover unique properties while respecting the privacy, security, and marketing strategies of today’s sellers.” It added that it did not expect to receive pushback from the National Association of Realtors, the MLS, and Zillow from this initiative, and the company stressed the new book supports fair housing for all protected classes.
“Private isn’t hidden, exclusive isn’t secret. The majority of Compass Private Exclusives that sell off-MLS are co-brokered with non-Compass agents,” said a Compass spokesperson. “Compass is now the only brokerage sharing all off-MLS listings with the entire brokerage community. Unfortunately, there is a persistent false narrative suggesting the motivation behind Compass Private Exclusives is to double-end deals, which couldn’t be further from the truth.”
Photo courtesy of Compass’ Instagram page
Well, if there was a couldn’t be further from the truth in there that’s valid, why do this at all? By doing this, Compass is DEFINITELY doing it to make it more difficult for non-Compass agents to see these listings. And, therefore, it makes it MORE DIFFICULT to co-op with a non-Compass agent and easier to co-op with a Compass agent. That is in plain sight here! The thing that just amazes me is that NAR’s clear cooperation policy that obviously turned our industry upside down for a bit is 180 degrees at the opposite end of the spectrum from Compass’s efforts to exclude other brokerages. It’s not fair to consumers, different races, colors and creeds to institute this policy and call it equal housing. This is just plainly ridiculous and I imagine that they will be sued because of it.