With over 360,000 real estate brokerage firms and 1.5 million Realtors across the country, competition is fierce. Brokerages and agents will pull out every trick in the book to ensure they stand out among their competitors. One old trick that’s back in vogue? The promise of successful private listings.

Also known as pocket listings, quiet listings, exclusive listings, or off-market listings, these are properties that are for sale but not publicly marketed on a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or broadly advertised. Instead, they are available to a select group of buyers and/or agents.

The recent $1.6 billion acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate by Compass highlights the growing influence of private listings in today’s real estate market. The deal expands Compass’s agent network and reinforces its focus on exclusive listings.

Compass positions this as giving sellers more discretion and flexibility, while critics warn it reduces transparency and fragments the buyer experience. Analysts predict that competitors may follow suit, making it harder for buyers to see all available homes in certain markets.

This move underscores a growing trend in real estate: brokerages marketing VIP-style listings, emphasizing exclusivity and prestige—but, as the data shows, these listings often underperform by every metric compared to publicly marketed listings.

While daily conversations between Realtors and their clients often revolve around home prices, interest rates, and market stability, there’s one critical topic that’s been flying under the radar—homeowners insurance. As buyers enter the market and sellers upgrade from a starter home to their forever residence, many are unaware of the significant shifts occurring in the insurance industry and how those changes directly impact homeowners.