The Tease & The Treasure Trove The Tease To tease is to arouse hope, desire, or curiosity in without affording satisfaction. That’s what Coming Soon tends to conjure up in one’s mind. There are legitimate reasons to use this type of marketing like when a property is being readied for the market (i.e. being painted, new carpet, acquiring deed) or to simply create heightened interest and excitement about a property. Unfortunately, not every agent who employs this type of marketing has good intentions or the intentions are only good for themselves and not others, like sellers and buyers.

Before a REALTOR® ventures into using the Coming Soon strategy, they need to take into consideration the elements of compliance in regard to licensing laws and Code of Ethics:

Must have consent of owner to market the property (i.e. place sign on property, advertise online, etc.). Reference: License Law & Code of Ethics, Articles 9 and 12

No requirement for property to be listed; however, if not listed, marketing agent has no protection that there will be payment if property sells unless the authority to market includes an agreement of compensation. Reference: Wise Business Model

If property is listed and agent/broker is a subscriber/participant of MLS, agent/broker must follow MLS rules. (Submit the listing within the required time frame, complete necessary paperwork [Listing Validation Form].) Reference: MLS Rules & Regulations

Must avoid making a known misrepresentation like marketing/listing agent tells cooperating agent property is not available for showings, but shows to own clients or, even better, cooperating agent’s clients when they call out of frustration of not being able to get in through their agent. Reference: License Law & Code of Ethics, Article 2 & 3

Avoid conduct that would cause violations to the fair housing laws. Reference: License Law & Code of Ethics, Article 10

The Treasure Trove

…otherwise known as a Pocket Listing, seems pretty benign, and, just like pre-MLS, they exist with no offer of cooperation or compensation. The motive of this may appear to be the same as a legitimate reason for a Coming Soon or be a cover for something else like “I want it all for myself”. Perhaps the seller is choosing this route because of security or privacy concerns, they don’t want a sign in the yard nor the listing in MLS. However, one of the biggest concerns would be if the seller is trying to control who does or does not buy the house, a.k.a. an attempt to go around fair housing laws.

All of the same compliance concerns cited above for Coming Soon listings apply to Pocket Listings, plus one more. If, as a buyer’s agent/broker, you are able to bring a buyer who successfully closes on the property, you may not get paid. Why? Because neither of these listing types offer compensation

through the MLS channels which provide a “guaranteed” payment plan. An agent/broker who participates in the sale of a property not in MLS, be it a Coming Soon, Pocket, For-Sale-By-Owner or For-Sale-By-Builder, must secure a written compensation agreement with the “listing” brokerage (signed by the “listing” broker not just the “listing” agent). Compensation Assumption can be very costly.

Copyright© Karen Schlosser June 2014

Pocket Listings