I have written before about selling a home off market to home buying “services” which might be a good idea if you want to sell your home for pennies on the dollar. It also might be a good idea if you want to get SUED by that home buying “service” when you back out of the deal after you determine that they are offering you pennies on the dollar. Like this, this, this or even this.
In summary: JUST SAY NO. I do not recommend selling to a home buying service for many reasons, the first of which being you can always price your home at half of what it’s worth (what a home buying service would likely pay you) and get multiple offers over the extremely low asking price and close quickly, maybe even quicker than those “services.” Which will more than offset any commissions you might have to pay to real estate agents.
And it’s not just the commission, it’s the expert representation and the limitation of your liability. (see above linked examples)
But I digress… this post is about trying to sell your home off market other ways, like pocket listings. If that pocket listing doesn’t pan out and you want to put your property on the market, there is now a strong likelihood that your listing will not appear on Zillow-owned sites or Rocket Companies sites like Redfin. (Not sure what Realtor.com, owned by Rupert Murdoch/Fox News’ NewsCorp is going to do on this front, so stay tuned.)
Don’t get me wrong… you absolutely CAN sell your home without listing it on MLS (which admittedly worked better in faster-moving markets than 2025 is proving to be). Against my strong recommendations to the contrary, in writing, that the sellers signed and agreed to, I have sold a few properties off market myself.
Zillow has published its Listing Access Standards detailing their compliance requirements, which include, and are currently being defined as any promotion, marketing or advertising of a listing to the general public, including but not necessarily limited to:
- Flyers and yard signs
- Social media posts
- Public-facing websites or apps
- Email campaigns and mailers to consumers
- Newspaper advertisements
- Open houses, previews, and showings
- Multi-brokerage listing sharing networks
- Virtual tours
- Brokerage private listing networks accessible to consumers
Key Point: Per Zillow, public marketing focuses on making listing information available to consumers or the general public, rather than just agents.
BAREIS (my primary MLS) suggests these Best Practices:
Listings entered into the MLS exclusively for access by MLS members and their clients (such as Coming Soon status listings or Active status Publish to Internet – NO listings) remain Zillow compliant as long as they are not publicly marketed for more than one business day before becoming Active and available through IDX or VOW feeds.
Coming Soon Listings: Special Considerations
Coming Soon listings require careful handling to maintain Zillow compliance:
- Yard signs promoting Coming Soon listings constitute public marketing
- If your listing is available via IDX or VOW, public marketing is permitted
- Since BAREIS does not furnish Coming Soon listings via IDX/VOW, listings must be made Active with Publish to Internet Yes within one business day of public marketing.
- Unauthorized public promotion of Coming Soon listings by non-listing agents will not constitute a violation of Zillow’s Listing Access Standards for the listing agent.
Agent-to-Agent Communication
Broker tours are not considered public marketing when limited to MLS members.
Communication between MLS members about listings included in the MLS is Zillow compliant. This applies to standard agent-to-agent communications as long as the listing isn’t being publicly marketed to consumers.
Zillow Monitoring and Violations
Zillow actively monitors listings for compliance with their standards. Violations are tracked at the listing agent level, meaning unauthorized marketing by other agents won’t count against the listing agent unless the listing broker gave permission for that advertising.
- Blocking of violating listings: Zillow will not start blocking listings until June 30. Beginning then, an agent’s third non-compliant listing – and any subsequent non-compliant listings – will be blocked from Zillow and Trulia for the life of the listing agreement between that listing broker and seller.
- Listings that meet the standards will remain visible: Listings that align with the listing access standards will be on Zillow and Trulia, regardless of an agent’s past violations.
Best Practices for Zillow Compliance
To ensure your listings remain compliant with Zillow’s Listing Access Standards:
- Timing is crucial – Ensure your listing is entered in the MLS, Active and available in data feeds with Publish to Internet Yes (this is the default for Active status listings) within one business day of public marketing.
- Understand the definition – Remember that public marketing includes any consumer-facing promotion.
- Monitor your listings – Keep track of how and when your listings are being marketed.
- Communicate with your team – Ensure all team members understand these requirements.
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION: Zillow Policy vs. BAREIS Rules
BAREIS MLS rules have NOT changed. This article recaps Zillow’s new listing display policy, which is separate from and independent of BAREIS MLS regulations.
What This Means:
- BAREIS continues to support all current listing statuses, including “Coming Soon”
- Agents may still market listings according to their seller’s directives
- Pre-MLS and pre-internet marketing remains permissible under BAREIS rules
- Seller choice in marketing timeline and exposure level is still respected
The Distinction: Zillow (a third-party portal) has announced they may choose not to display certain listings based on their own business policies. This does not affect your ability to list, market, or sell properties through BAREIS MLS and other channels.
Long story short, Zillow is the most consumer-used real estate search website in the world. Realtor.com is second, and Redfin is third. There are plenty of others but Zillow is far and away the most used of all of them. To be clear, as a seller you can choose to market and sell your property any way that works best for you. However, if you want the most exposure, which will lead to the most buyers competing for your property and the highest and best offers as a result, you’re going to want your listing to appear on MLS so that it is populated on the aggregated websites like Zillow, Redfin, and Realtor.com.
Contact me with any questions.
Representing The Best Interests Of Sellers and Buyers Of Residential Real Estate Since 2002.
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