“We are building a more open, competitive marketplace — one that gives homeowners and agents real choice, more transparency, and smarter strategies.”
ROBERT REFFKIN,
FOUNDER & CEO, COMPASS
Your Home.
Your Choice.
For decades, organized real estate, including multiple listing services and associations, have dictated how homes are marketed and sold in the United States. These entities profit from controlling access to listings and information, limiting both competition and consumer choice.
As a result, home sellers are forced into a one-size-fits-all approach. Once a home appears on MLSs and portals, it’s immediately subject to negative insights like days on market, price drops, and automated value estimates — all of which can quickly work against a seller’s best interest. Sellers are forced to either accept these negative insights or list their home as a Private Exclusive. There is no other option available because organized real estate dictates how listings must be marketed.
At Compass, we believe homeowners should have the freedom to decide how to market and sell their home. Every seller deserves a strategy that aligns with their goals, timing, and comfort level.
That’s why we created the Compass 3-Phased Marketing Strategy, giving homeowners the same advantages as real estate developers and professional homebuilders.
Compass Is Giving Homeowners the Same Advantages as Real Estate Developers and Professional Homebuilders
Professional homebuilders and real estate developers have a sophisticated playbook on how to sell homes and just like some homeowners, have properties they want to advertise that aren’t ready to be shown.
Here are the key things they do:
Test Aspirational Pricing
They test an aspirational price or validate a pricing strategy privately before listing on the MLS.
Learn from Engagement Insights From the Listing Page
They learn from the data and analytics they get from their websites, including property page views, visits, and engagement insights.
Harness the Power of Marketing
They market while staging and preparing the home to create interest and anticipation before it’s ready to be on MLSs and portals.
Protect and Control Their Data
They control which websites their photos, address, and data appear on and protect their data.
You Decide How Your Home Is Sold
At Compass, we believe selling your home should feel as personal and considered as the home itself. Our 3-Phased Marketing Strategy offers distinct pathways that are crafted to align with your goals, your timing, and your vision.
To help you make the most informed decision, we’ve outlined all available options in our
3-Phased Marketing Strategy Disclosure Form.
Some Portals Hurt Homeowners By Displaying Negative Insights That Devalue Homes
At Compass, we put homeowners first.
Eliminate Days on Market & Price Drop History Risk
Extend your marketing runway by controlling when the property is put on the MLS and portals, helping minimize public days on market or price drop history. Excessive days on market and price drop history can devalue your property in the eyes of buyers.
1.
Avoid Missed Buyer Inquiries
Some third-party sites block buyers’ ability to contact the listing agent directly. These leads are sold to other agents who may be unfamiliar with your home and may not represent the buyers in a way that results in a sale.
2.
3.
Control your Pricing
Automated home valuations on third-party sites use outdated algorithms and incomplete data, often mispricing homes and negatively shaping buyer expectations before you even list.
No Negative Insights Added to Your Listing
Portals can add their own assessments and information to a listing, which may not accurately reflect the true condition, value, or desirability of your property.
4.
The Compass
3-Phased Marketing Strategy
A Smarter, More Flexible Way to Sell
Compass Private Exclusive
PHASE 1
The rigid rules of organized real estate limit how agents can compete and how sellers can showcase their properties. However, Compass Private Exclusives give both agents and homeowners the freedom to tailor their marketing approach.
Because all marketing is public by definition, a Private Exclusive isn’t hidden or secret. It is a way to publicly market in the manner that best serves the homeowner — without exposing the property to negative signals that can reduce perceived value.
Every buyer and brokerage searching on Compass.com can see how many Private Exclusives match their criteria and connect with a Compass agent to learn more. In fact, while almost every real estate company in the United States has private listings, Compass is the only one that offers this level of transparency to consumers.
On Compass.com, every home search displays the exact number of available properties — including Compass Private Exclusives — providing equal visibility and opportunity for every consumer and brokerage regardless of any buyer characteristic.
Make your listing available to 340,000 top agents across our network of brokerages and their clients – and to any buyer or brokerage who contacts a Compass agent.
Gain exposure and build buyer interest without risking days on market or public price drops that damage your home’s value.
Invite competitive offers from buyers who may pay a premium for early access.
PHASE 2
Compass Coming Soon
Publicly launch your property on Compass.com and Redfin.com to expand your reach to 60 million buyers with no risk. Your listing receives premium placement in search results and is highly ranked on Google, helping ensure serious buyers find your home first.
Find out more about Compass Coming Soon here.
Market your home to 60 million buyers with no days on market or price drop history that damage its value.
Your listing is prioritized in search results and is more likely to rank higher on Google. All buyer inquiries go straight to your listing agent, the expert who knows your home best.
Receive key engagement insights on how agents and their buyers are engaging with your listing on Compass.com – data that is lost when it goes live on other platforms.
Go Live on All Platforms
PHASE 3
Go ‘Active’ on the MLS and portals with learnings from Phases 1 & 2.
With feedback from agents and buyers, we strategically launch your home on the MLS and portals to help generate maximum demand and position you for the best possible price and terms. Now that your home is on the MLS and portals, it will accrue days on market and visible price drop history.
Marketing by the Numbers
Our research shows that Compass sellers who used a phased marketing approach saw three measurable advantages over going directly to the MLS and portals:
Price
“Compass Private Exclusives Are Available To All”
On Compass.com, every home search displays the exact number of available properties — including Compass Private Exclusives — providing equal visibility and opportunity for every consumer regardless of any buyer characteristic.
Not being on the MLS to start helps more sellers and is good for competition. While a one-stop shop like the MLS or portals may seem convenient, in the long run, it hurts competition and limits consumer choice. The real estate market is no different. The free-market system thrives on diversity, with different companies offering distinct products and consumers empowered to choose what best suits their needs.
When choice disappears and control is concentrated in a single source or monopoly, the result is inevitable: higher prices, fewer options, and lower quality.
At Compass, we believe the same principles that drive a healthy economy should also define how homes are bought and sold. That’s why we’re building a more open, competitive marketplace—one that gives homeowners and agents real options, greater transparency, and smarter strategies.
Your Home.
Your Choice.
Your Freedom.
At Compass, we believe every homeowner deserves control over how their property is marketed and the freedom to protect its value.
The choice should always belong to the homeowner — not organized real estate.
Building the Smartest and Safest Place To List Your Home
* This is based on a Compass analysis that used a doubly robust causal inference methodology combining outcome regression (log transformed close price model) with inverse probability weighting (IPW). The analysis controlled for more than 50 confounding variables spanning property characteristics, agent and team attributes, seller demographics, neighborhood-level variables, and macroeconomic conditions. It included 70,809 closed Compass residential transactions listed between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026 across markets where the Compass brokerage operates. Pre-marketed listings—those initially listed as a Compass Private Exclusive and/or Compass Coming Soon—achieved a statistically significant average 4.6% increase in close price compared to listings that went directly to the MLS, after controlling for confounding factors (95% Confidence Interval: 4.2%–4.9%). This analysis is limited to closed transactions and does not account for listings that were withdrawn or expired without a sale.
Data on time to contract and price drops are descriptive statistics, and compare Compass residential listings that were pre-marketed and went active on an MLS to residential listings that were not pre-marketed and went active on an MLS. Values reflect a trailing 12-month moving average, calculated monthly to smooth for seasonality, across markets where the Compass brokerage operates. The analysis covers Jan. 1, 2024 through March 31, 2026. Price drop history is included for geographies where such data is available from the MLS. For the price drop comparison, the percent difference reflects the relative likelihood of experiencing one or more price reductions prior to going under contract.
The results provided are based on current data and methodologies, and should not be interpreted as definitive predictions of future outcomes. Compass utilizes a Compass Private Exclusive listing and/or Compass Coming Soon listing at the direction of the seller. Compass makes no warranty, representation or guarantee as to the accuracy of these results or any actual outcome of using the Three Phase Marketing Program. Results may vary.