Oh to be a fly on the wall….
COMPASS AGENT: Hey Bill, I just wanted to give you a quick call. Our CEO is in a fight with Zillow and I just wanted you to be aware your house won’t be listed for sale on Zillow.
Bill (Home Seller): Not on Zillow? Why? A fight?
COMPASS AGENT: It’s part of our “3 Phased Marketing” Agreement, remember the agreement you signed when you listed with us?
Bill (Home Seller): I never signed anything that said our house wouldn’t be on Zillow. That’s crazy, we found our house on Zillow ferchistsake…
COMPASS AGENT: Umm, well, we wanted to test the waters, remember, find the right buyer, our CEO says its the best thing eve……
Bill (Home Seller): Are you fucking serious?? I can tell you right now if you don’t put our house of Zillow I’m gonna fire you…
COMPASS AGENT: But what about Days on Market and…
Bill (Home Seller): –click—-
COMPASS AGENT: Bill?….Bill? Bill??? Shit.
If a firm yells “Seller Choice!” but their real playbook is to suppress true market signals, they’re not empowering sellers — they’re managing buyer perception.
So the real impact is:
Sellers who play fair get punished
Buyers get misled
Market data gets distorted
The MLS loses credibility – and that opens the door for even more off-market manipulation.
It’s not just about buyers being misled in the moment — it’s about unfair market distortion that disadvantages sellers (and listing agents) who play by the rules.
Why do people do business with them?
Because the short-term illusion of advantage — “Seller Choice!” — sells better than the long-term value of honest, fair-market competition.