What to Do About ‘Coming Soon’ Listings Is Big Topic at Realtor Meetings

[Published May 16, 2013, in the Jeffco editions of the Denver Post's YourHub section and in five Jefferson County weekly newspapers]

When properties sell as quickly as they do nowadays, we find an increasing number of agents who keep their listings off the MLS in hopes of finding the buyer without having to share their commission with other agents.

At every Realtor or MLS meeting I attend, the topic of agents withholding their listings from the MLS is a recurring subject. 

Simple greed can be a factor, since withholding one’s listing from other agents increases the chance of selling one’s listing directly and not splitting the commission. I was told that this is not a clear-cut violation of the Realtor Code of Ethics, which frankly surprised me.  License law, on the other hand, does require agents to put clients’ interests ahead of their own, and one could argue that such is not the case when agents don’t expose listings to all buyers.