The off-MLS debate moves to Washington, and agents need a clear script

There is a number every listing agent should be able to explain this week: 4.6%. It is the premium Compass says its private listings earn sellers. There is a second number that says the opposite. And there is now a third party, the United States Congress, asking which one is true. Start with Washington, because that is what turns a marketing squabble into something bigger. On July 22, the House Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee sent letters to Compass CEO Robert Reffkin and MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen, giving both until August 5 to brief staff on their nationwide private listing network partnership. Chairman Scott Fitzgerald wrote that lawmakers are examining whether real estate companies use these networks “to insulate themselves from competition at the expense of consumers.” The letters named a specific worry: that private arrangements incentivize agents to steer sellers toward private listings so the brokerage can represent both sides of a transaction. Then, on August 6, Sen. Elizabeth Warren sent Compass and MRED a letter seeking details on their private listing network partnership and its national expansion. She cited concerns about hidden inventory, weaker pricing data...