Your voice matters: Shape the future of real estate in your community

The real estate industry is facing another change. This isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last. 

• In 1908, agents formed the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, a precursor to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR). They soon formalized a code of ethics and operating policies. Written agreements became commonplace. Today, these are known as an Exclusive Right To Sell or a Listing Agreement.
• In the 1960s, brokers created the first MLS in booklet form to create a true marketplace of the inventory that was for sale.   
• In 1992, the industry established buyer agency so that buyers could have exclusive representation. 
• In 2019, NAR implemented the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) to address concerns around “pocket listings.”

In the face of change, the industry has always innovated on behalf of buyers and sellers. This time, it’s about updates to the Clear Cooperation Policy. 

What’s at stake?

NAR has announced new flexibility in the CCP for NAR-affiliated MLSs that gives sellers more choice about how and when their homes are marketed. The crucial part to understand is that local MLSs have the opportunity to decide: 

• The period of time a listing can remain in “delayed marketing” status before it must be publicly marketed through IDX and syndication. 
• How days on market are calculated.
• How the price change history is displayed publicly.
• How new disclosure forms should be implemented.
• Any additional rules they want to implement. 

Those decisions could directly impact every buyer and seller in your area. This is where you come in.

Why you should care

Real estate professionals have one job: to serve their clients’ best interests. The CCP changes affect how both buyers and sellers are served. As we understand it today, office exclusive listings still exist where an agent may promote a listing within their brokerage, and agents still have one business day to input their listing into MLS once they begin marketing it to the public. However, NAR has further defined its position with a few CCP changes:

• Sellers choose – Sellers now have the additional option to delay public marketing through IDX and syndication of their home on the MLS for a specific period of time.
• MLSs determine delay period – Local MLSs decide the length of the delay.
• MLSs determine how days on market is calculated – Local MLSs decide whether to count the days a property spends in a public delayed market status as a part of the cumulative “days on market”.
• MLSs determine price change history display – Local MLSs decide whether to show price change or sold history of properties in a public delayed market status as part of the pricing or sold history.
• Signed disclosures required – Listing agents representing sellers who choose to delay the public marketing of their listing must secure a signed disclosure documenting their informed consent.
• MLS visibility still required – Sellers who choose “delayed marketing” will be able to have their listing entered in the MLS and displayed to MLS participants, as well as shared through websites, social media, etc., but the listing will not be syndicated or shared through IDX feeds until the seller chooses or the delayed marketing period ends. 
• MLSs determine if data will be collected – MLSs can require office exclusive listings to be submitted, even if they will not be shared with other MLS members. (Most likely, MLSs need the data to fulfill their services to their members.)

You should be a part of any discussions that craft policies impacting your clients. These decisions will shape your local market for years and should be made locally and with your input!

Your voice can make a difference

If you are a member of a local association or MLS, here’s what you can do right now:

• Don’t be silent – Make sure your voice is heard on these decisions.
• Don’t wait – Decisions must be made by September 30th, 2025.  If your MLS rushed these decisions, ask them to re-engage.  They might revisit them if enough members speak up. 
• Disclose, disclose, disclose – Regardless of your position on CCP, your fiduciary role should be to explain the pros and cons of all these options. You should share any relevant data, facts, or information that might help your clients make their decision. Sellers who choose delayed or exclusive marketing must sign a disclosure documenting informed consent. This is how they get informed and you get protected. NAR has not released a disclosure form, as it will be up to local MLSs and brokerages to provide. 

The bottom line

Today, there is an opportunity to shape changes to the Clear Cooperation Policy.

As fiduciaries, you want to ensure that local policies serve your clients’ needs above all else. That means making sure local voices guide local decisions.

Don’t let others decide what’s best for your clients. Be part of the conversation. 

Take action today. Your clients are counting on you.

Gary Keller is the co-founder and executive chairman of Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.

To contact the editor responsible for this piece: zeb@hwmedia.com.