How Strict Are the MLSs? Here’s How Compass Saw It
“As it prepared to scale up its 3-Phase Marketing Strategy, which includes two off-MLS phases, Compass set out internally to get a clear view of the rules that MLSs — big and small — had in place that might intersect with the plan.”
This story is from last week but I wanted to do some digging. I downloaded the spreadsheet the Inman story referenced. Compass ranked 171 MLSs on a 1-to-5 scale for “restrictiveness.”
Here’s what the numbers say:
| Score | MLSs | % |
|---|---|---|
| 5 (Most Restrictive) | 1 | 0.6% |
| 4 (Highly Restrictive) | 7 | 4.1% |
| 3 (Moderate) | 144 | 84.2% |
| 2 (Friendly) | 14 | 8.2% |
| 1 (Wide Open) | 5 | 2.9% |
Read that again. Only 8 MLSs scored a 4 or 5. That’s it. Eight.
Compass is betting they only have to fight 8 MLSs. The other 163? Either friendly or not worth worrying about.
The Score 5 club has one member:
- Northwest MLS (NWMLS)
The same MLS that cut off Compass’s IDX feed. The same MLS Compass sued. No surprises there.
The Score 4 list:
- CRMLS (California Regional)
- NTREIS (North Texas)
- Georgia MLS
- First MLS (Atlanta)
- SmartMLS (Connecticut)
- Greenwich Association of REALTORS®
If my math is correct these MLS Organizations represent about 290,000 real estate agents. Which if we say there are 1.4M members of NAR, then that’s about 20%. Also, nobody pushes Greenwich in to a corner!
Meanwhile, the “Compass-Friendly” Score 2 list includes:
- Bright MLS
- MRED (Chicago)
- Houston Association of REALTORS® (HAR)
- ACTRIS (Austin)
- San Diego MLS
- MLSListings (Silicon Valley)
- The MLS (Los Angeles)
- San Francisco Association of REALTORS®
That’s a lot of major markets where Compass sees a clear runway.
The irony? MRED — currently in a standoff with Zillow over its Private Listing Network (PLN) — landed on the Compass-friendly list. Turns out you can fight one portal while enabling another.
84% of MLSs got a 3. The vast middle. Compass is probably betting these swing votes won’t put up a fight if the big dominoes fall.
So if you’re an MLS executive, you might want to know where you stand on this list. Because Compass already does.
