by Darryl Davis March 27, 2026

Something has shifted in the real estate marketplace, and most buyers have no idea it is happening.

The listing landscape buyers have relied on for two decades — one central place, one search, one click to see every home — is fracturing. Two distinct categories now operate outside the traditional MLS. 

The first: true private listings, homes never publicly advertised, shown only within one brokerage’s internal network. 

The second: pre-market or coming-soon listings, homes publicly advertised on portals like Zillow and Redfin, but with showings restricted.

Compass Private Exclusives fall into the first category. Zillow Preview — with Keller Williams, REMAX and HomeServices — and Howard Hanna’s HannaList fall into the second. Buyers searching any single portal today will miss homes in both categories.

According to Compass’s Q4 2024 SEC earnings filing, 55 percent of all new Compass listings in February 2025 started as a private exclusive or coming soon — never reaching the MLS on day one. And Zillow’s own research shows that sellers who list off the MLS lose between 1.5 percent and 3.7 percent compared to MLS-listed homes.

The system is being restructured to benefit the largest brokerages, and most consumers don’t know it yet.



Here is what that means for you as a buyer’s agent: The job just got harder. And your value just went up considerably.

When the marketplace fragments, the agent who can navigate all of it becomes indispensable. You are no longer just the negotiator. You are the map.

What buyers are about to face

For years, the MLS — and the portals that fed from it — was the bedrock of our industry. Buyers could search Zillow or Realtor.com and be reasonably confident they were seeing the full market. That era is ending.

What buyers are about to experience is something closer to a treasure hunt than a search. Homes will be sitting in private brokerage networks, coming-soon platforms and agent-to-agent channels, each accessible only through the right connection at the right firm. A buyer going it alone will see a narrower market than the one that actually exists. They will lose homes they never knew were available.

That disorientation and frustration? That is your opening.

The silver lining: You are the aggregator now

In a unified marketplace, finding the property was table stakes. Any motivated buyer could pull up a portal and see the market. Your value was in your counsel, your negotiation skill, your ability to manage the transaction.

In a fragmented marketplace, finding the property is no longer something buyers can easily do for themselves. The agent who can aggregate — pulling inventory from direct brokerage relationships, coming-soon platforms and off-market channels — is now delivering something the buyer cannot replicate alone.

Your value proposition used to be: “I will help you negotiate and close.” Now it is: “I will find you homes the market cannot see, and then I will help you negotiate and close.” That is a more powerful conversation, and buyers are ready to hear it.

How to actually do this: 4 moves

1. Make direct calls to listing agents about co-broking on private inventory

This is the most underused skill in a buyer’s agent’s toolkit. When you have a pre-approved, motivated buyer, call listing agents at the dominant brokerages in your market. Not a mass email — a phone call. Tell them:

“I have a buyer looking for a three-bedroom in this neighborhood, price range X to Y, ready to move. If you have anything coming in the next 30 to 60 days, I would love to talk about co-broking it.”

You are asking for a conversation, not a commission. Most agents will take that call.

2. Build a detailed wish list for every buyer before you start searching

When you call a listing agent about private inventory, you need to describe your buyer precisely: location, price range, size, timing, must-haves and deal-breakers. The more specific you are, the more useful you are to that listing agent. Specificity opens doors that vague requests cannot.

3. Monitor coming-soon platforms every day, not every week

Zillow Preview — launched with Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America, Side and United Real Estate — displays coming-soon listings on Zillow and Trulia before MLS entry. Compass coming-soon listings now appear on Redfin via the Compass/Rocket/Redfin partnership. And eXp Realty will be syndicating coming-soon listings to Realtor.com, Homes.com and ComeHome.com in April.

A 48-hour lead on a coming-soon listing is the difference between writing an offer and reading a just-sold notification.

4. Know your market’s inventory landscape before your buyer needs it

Before your next buyer consultation, know which brokerages control the largest share of private or pre-market inventory locally, which Zillow Preview partners operate in your market, and which coming-soon feeds are active. The agent who walks in already knowing the landscape delivers a fundamentally different level of service.

How to say this to your buyers

“The real estate market has changed. The MLS is no longer the only place homes are sold. A growing number of properties never appear on Zillow or any public portal. My job is to find you those homes, not just the ones anyone with an internet connection can see. When you work with me, you are not searching the same database as everyone else. You are accessing a network.”

That is not a script. It is the truth. And buyers will understand it immediately, because it speaks directly to the frustration, they are about to feel.

The agents who win in this market

The MLS is not dead. Cooperation is not dead. But the era of the single, unified marketplace — where every available home was findable in one place — is behind us. What comes next rewards agents who know the landscape, make the calls and show up as the connector their buyers cannot be on their own.

This industry just handed you a reason to be indispensable. Use it.

Darryl Davis is the CEO of Darryl Davis Seminars. Connect with him on Facebook or YouTube.