Home shoppers scrolling through real estate search engines like Zillow or Redfin this spring may notice some unusual listings: homes labeled “Coming Soon” or “Preview.”
They look like regular listings, with property photos and neighborhood details – but one key feature is missing: sales history, the information buyers use to see how long a home has been on the market or whether its price has been cut. The homes can still be purchased, even though they have not yet officially hit the market.
The new listing format is the brainchild of Robert Reffkin, the co-founder and chief executive of Compass. For nearly two years, Reffkin has pushed promoting new listings online before homes are technically for sale – a practice sometimes called pre-marketing – and other real estate firms are beginning to follow his lead.
Reffkin, who oversees the world’s largest real estate brokerage, is reshaping how homes are sold. Supporters say “Coming Soon” listings give sellers and real estate agents more control over how properties are marketed. Critics warn the approach could splinter the housing market, making it harder for buyers to know what homes are really worth; sellers could also struggle to test demand and get top dollar, they argue.
