Compass Ignites Petty House Wars with Lawsuit On Zillow’s New “Private Listings” Rule…

Let’s be honest: nobody under 40 is buying a house unless their parents die or the Fed gets hit by a meteor. But that hasn’t stopped Compass from going full scorched-earth on Zillow, dragging them into federal court over who gets to control the world’s most depressing pastime… scrolling listings you’ll never afford. 

(Source: Reddit) 

In short, here’s what’s got Compass big mad: Zillow just dropped a new rule that says if you so much as whisper about a new listing anywhere, you have 24 hours to post it on Zillow or it’s dead to them. No more “coming soon” exclusives or “private” listings for your rich neighbor’s friend’s dentist. You want the Zillow eyeballs? You play by Zillow’s rules, which will start taking effect on June 30th (a.k.a. Six days from now). 

(Source: CNN) 

However, Compass, the largest brokerage in the U.S., is calling it the “Zillow Ban” (dramatic, but go off) and says it’s a straight-up anticompetitive shakedown. Their whole marketing playbook is built on this three-phase tease: first, quietly float the house to Compass insiders, then slap a “coming soon” on their own site to generate some FOMO, and finally, let the plebs on Zillow and Redfin see it. About a third of Compass listings are in this “private” or “coming soon” limbo at any given moment… So yeah, this new rule hits them right in the wallet. 

Zillow, of course, is acting like they’re defending democracy with this. “We just want everyone to see every house. Hiding listings is bad for buyers, sellers, and America, apple pie, etc.”, but don’t let your favorite house p*rn platform fool you. Perhaps you’ve heard, but Zillow’s entire business model is built on hoovering up listings and selling leads to agents. The more listings, the more eyeballs, the more money. Transparency? Sure. But don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining, Rich Barton. 

(Source: Giphy) 

Meanwhile, Compass is getting dragged for “double-ending” deals. Translation: They’re keeping listings in-house so they can collect commission from both sides. Critics say it’s basically the real estate version of playing Monopoly with your little cousin and stealing from the bank. Compass denies it, but if you’ve binged watched “Selling Sunset” the amount of times my wife has… you wouldn’t be buying their copout. But alas, the rest of the industry is picking sides, while mostly just throwing shade. For instance, eXp Realty’s CEO called Compass desperate, which is hilarious coming from a guy who built his company like an MLM for people who love open houses. Redfin didn’t even bother to comment, presumably because their stock is too busy ripping faces off (read: 48% YTD) to notice. 

And yet, the fallout is as follows: If Compass wins, get ready for even more “secret” listings and backroom deals. If Zillow wins, everything gets blasted online and you get to see every house in your zip code labeled with a Zestimate that’s $200K less than the asking price, plus a “climate risk” badge that makes it look like the place will be underwater by 2027.

(Source: Reddit)

The bottom line here? Is this really about “consumer choice”? No. It’s two companies fighting to see who gets to own your doom scroll. Meanwhile, the rest of us are just waiting for mortgage rates to come down so we can lose bidding wars to cash buyers instead of bots LOL. Of course, for now, this suit is in the early stages, and I’m sure more shade will follow. But in the meantime, keep your eyes on this story and place your bets accordingly. Until next time, friends… 

At the time of publishing, Stocks.News does not hold positions in companies mentioned in the article.