![Visual Overview Top Section: Under the heading "How many houses sold," there is a large box containing data for two areas labeled "Cville" and "Alb" for the year 2025. Cville 2025: Lists 417 total ($500k), with sub-categories: 297 det (detached), 53 att (attached), and 67 condo. Alb 2025: Lists 1576 total ($558,700), with sub-categories: 947 det, 501 att, and 128 condo. Middle Section: An arrow points down from the box to the number 1993, which is underlined. Bottom Section: A list of specific property attributes associated with the 1993 figure: 1003 had 1st floor primary 718 < 1 acre 171 between $600k - $900k 117 > 1900 [sq ft] 61 > 4 br (bedrooms) 61 > 2 ba (bathrooms) 49 detached 5 new const. (construction) The page is written on lined cream-colored paper, and the handwriting is cursive-leaning and informal. A small note on the right margin mentions 2026.](https://www.realcentralva.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_5939-1060x1457.jpeg)
Bear with me here. The MLS’ utility and value are being threatened.
You might be familiar with pocket listings; this is worse.
Q: How many homes sold in Charlottesville last year?
A: That’s not that hard of a question to answer, thanks to the MLS.
Nor is the following specific home search.
More specifically, how many homes sold in Charlottesville and Albemarle in 2025 (1993)
- with a first floor primary,(1003)
- under 1 acre (more likely to be closer to the city center), (718)
- between $600K and $900K, (171)
- at least 1900 above grade finished square feet, (117)
- at least 4 bedrooms, (61)
- at least 2 baths, (61)
- detached, (49)
- and new construction? (5)
How many are on the market right now that fit that criteria?
- 1
- including resales (7)
How many are pending right now?
- 5
- including resales (15)
Now – imagine a world where we don’t have a mostly-comprehensive database of homes for sale and that have sold.
Think about how much harder it will be:
- To help sellers price their homes fairly
- To help buyers offer fair, or aggressive, or lower prices on homes
- To determine where things are selling
- Where they are not
- To search for homes for sale in a particular school district
- Or zip code
- To know how active a market segment is – how many are pending?
By seeking to create private listing networks, the real estate industry is shooting itself in collective feet. Again. We/they have a habit of doing that.
A: (possible) – I don’t know. We need to make sure we’re searching Zillow, the MLS, signing up for alerts from this brokerage, that brokerage, talking to those agents because I know they farm those three neighborhoods, make sure we drive through the neighborhoods looking for signs and/or lockboxes, checking Nextdoor and Facebook groups (I really hate facebook), and then there’s probably going to be a service or seven that, for only $19.99 a month will guarantee at least one closing a year because they will find that one home that’s hiding.
What the hell are we doing?!
Just use the MLS. We all benefit.
Consumers – (particularly sellers)
If your agent is professing the values of a “private listing” – either in-house or within a small segment of the realtor population – ask questions. (I have done this, and in some occasions, it does benefit the seller who might not need or want to make the most profit, but wants to create and define an easier and less invasive transaction) – ask them why you shouldn’t go to the full market. What’s the benefit? What is the likelihood of single agent dual agency?
Related/background
From The Dose by 1000 Watt
A year and a half ago, we thought there was a voice missing in our industry argument about private listings: The consumer’s.
So we fielded a survey of 2,000 homeowners nationwide, half of whom had sold before, and asked them to respond to questions from their point of view as either prospective or experienced sellers. While we had an opinion on the issue, we took pains to limit bias in the presentation of our questions. We wanted a clean read.
The results were clear, but demonstrated just how malleable people’s views are in this area.
For example, while 27% of all respondents were inclined to choose private/off-MLS when presented with two hypothetical scenarios, that number dropped to 7% when we noted that there was research showing off-MLS homes sold for less.
Roughly half of respondents validated the argument that many sellers view display of days on market and price drops as contrary to their interests, but we did not ask them to consider the consequences this may hold for them as buyers, something that would likely temper this view. Most sellers are also buyers, of course.
Real estate consumers face a huge information asymmetry when they enter into transaction mode, even in the AI era. They are influenced heavily by context and framing, which means their agent has a lot of power.
Whatever your view of private listings, it seems wise to remember that with power also comes responsibility and risk.
From Real Estate News
Majority of agents ‘would not recommend’ private listings
Consumer interest in private listings is low: Of the 437 Real agents surveyed in the U.S. and Canada between March 25 and April 7, 69% said no client had inquired about the possibility of listing their home privately, while 23% said 1 in 10 clients or fewer voiced interest in the option.
Over half of respondents (54%) said they “would not recommend” a private listing for any client. Agents who were open to the strategy viewed it as a potential option for a luxury property or for a seller’s unique needs.
Similar agent sentiment surfaced in a recent survey from Cotality and ResiClub, which found most respondents were critical of private listing networks. A majority of participants in that survey reported infrequent use of this marketing strategy, partially due to low interest from sellers.
The benefit to sellers remains a point of debate, with Zillow research indicating that off-MLS listings lost sellers an estimated $1 billion in 2023 and 2024 and Compass positing that pre-marketed homes sell faster and for higher prices.
From NYTimes
What to Know About Zillow’s Major New Listings Feature (archive.ph link)