I obviously chose today’s feature photo for a reason, but having said that, I went through various iterations and ideas before I landed on that one…

When I think “exclusive,” a lot of things come to mind.

I tried looking for photos of a swanky event with people all dressed up in tuxedos, but that didn’t work.

I thought about a bunch of rich people partying on a yacht, but couldn’t find a photo that worked.

I looked for a “secret passage” picture or some sort of “hidden entrance,” but those didn’t jive.

In the end, I sort of figured that the idea of an exclusive listing being a secret or that somebody needs to “keep it quiet” best fit the bill.

There are two reasons why I’m writing this post:

1) A comment made by blog reader, Serge on TRB last week.
2) The conversation I just had with a colleague in my office thirty seconds ago (for reference, it’s Saturday of the long weekend as I write this).

Let’s start with Serge’s comment:

Apologies to Serge – I would have edited what I think is a typo (Condp) but I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to say “common” or “condo.”

In any event, I responded to Serge to say that this was not a class thing (I mentioned $4M houses in my blog post), and Serge and I sort of concluded that the topic of exclusive listings would necessitate its own post.

As for the conversation I just had with my colleague, who I will call “Jimmy,” it went like this:

Jimmy: “Hey, father of the year, what the hell are you doing here on a Saturday morning at 9:30am?”

David: “I could say the same to you.”

Jimmy: “Yeah, my kids are in their 20’s, try again.”

David: “Well, sometimes you just need to get caught up…”

Jimmy: “Okay, we can do therapy another time; I heard you’re looking for off-market in Leaside?”

David: “Yes.  I have several clients looking.  Whaddya got?”

Jimmy: “It’s on (street address), solid house, built about fifteen years ago, it’s still the flagship property on the builder’s website…”

David: “Then that must be a really shitty builder with an even shittier website…”

Jimmy: “….do you want to hear about it or not?”

(David concedes)

Jimmy: “So it’s on a stupid-deep lot, like almost one-sixty or something, about thirty-four in the front, built-in garage, contemporary design….we’re aiming to bring it out after Easter, but if you want to show it now, I can get you in.”

David: “Would they sell off-market?”

Jimmy: “Absolutely.  They’d love to not have to lift a finger in there.  But they want, like, a July closing date.  That’s the catch.”

David: “I’m seeing my people tomorrow.  I’ll pitch it to them, but I can almost guarantee we’ll want to go have a look.”

Jimmy: “Okay, let me know.  I have another agent from (brokerage name) asking me about it.  I honestly have no clue where or how she heard about it.  I’ll let you show it first, and if your people don’t want it, I’ll let her through.  Good?”

David: “I will call you as soon as I speak to them.”

–

So after reading this, my question to you is simple: what do you think?

That’s a bit loaded, I suppose.  I mean, what do you think about the concept of an exclusive listing in terms of it being “fair” or not?

Is it fair for people to sell off-market?

Is it fair for a listing agent to only tell some agents and not others?

Is it fair for this agent to only let a different agent into the house after I’ve been through?

My answer to all three of these is, “Umm, of course it is!”  But some people might think differently, and that’s why we’re having this conversation today.

After all, and as I’ve said many times on TRB to prove a point, there are many politicians who love the term “It’s time for people start paying their fair share” with respect to a taxation system that has a top marginal tax rate of 54%.

So what is “fair” anyway?  Sliding scale, moving the goal posts; call it what you will.

Is it fair for people to sell off-market?

Of course.  This simply cannot be in doubt; otherwise, I will lose all connection with whatever is left of a rational, logical society in 2026.

We live in a free society.  We work in a free market.  If you want to sell your used hockey skates to your buddy, that’s fine, and if I want to sell my house to John Smith, that’s fine too.

There are rules, however, with respect to the intersection of exclusive listings and organized real estate.

A licensed real estate agent in Ontario cannot publicly market an exclusive listing.

Is that crazy or what?

But that’s how organized real estate works, love it or hate it.

What constitutes “publicly marketing” is a whole other conversation.  And to echo Serge‘s concern from the other day, once upon a time, there was a private group chat with several dozen real estate agents specifically for discussing exclusive listings.

But that got shut down by organized real estate, fair or not.

I can see Serge’s point.

What if this “group” discriminated against other agents, based on location, social status, brokerage, etc.  That wouldn’t be good, right?

Either way, this brings us to our next query: is it “fair” for an agent to share the exclusive listing with some agents, and not others?

Sure it is!

Why wouldn’t it be?

So long as this is working in the best interests of the seller client, that’s all that matters.

You might say, “If the listing agent were really working in the best interests of the sellers, he or she would tell everybody about the listing.”

Theoretically, yes.

But in reality, you have to go back to the word “exclusive” and re-examine this to understand where the seller and the listing agent get their leverage.

When a property is listed for sale on the open market, it’s clear that the sellers want to sell.  Right?  Not only that, as the “days on market” increase, the sellers lose leverage.  There’s an inverse relationship between days on market and leverage, and the longer a property sits unsold, the lower a buyer is going to offer in the end.

Not only that, when the property is on the open market, everybody sees it.  So when a property isn’t selling, the buyer who is interested can reason or even argue, “Everybody has seen this.  I’m the only buyer you’ve got.”

When a property is shopped exclusively off-market, all that goes out the window.

The seller and the listing agent have all the power, and that gives them leverage.

And when a listing agent allows one agent to show the property to his or her buyers, that creates the allure of…….wait for it…..”exclusivity.”

It then gives the listing agent and the seller even more leverage once the showing has taken place.  Think of the listing agent who says, “I can get you in for a viewing, but you’ve got to get back to me asap if you’re interested, otherwise I’m taking this other agent through.”

Now the buyers have to act if they’re interested, don’t they?

So is it “fair” for a listing agent to let one agent through before another?

Absolutely, so long as this is part of the strategy to maximize his or her clients’ best interests with respect to price, term, and condition.

The one part of this that might irk the general public is the fact that to “find” exclusive listings, the buyer agent must be connected.

But what does “connected” mean?

Experienced.
Professional.
Reputable.
Trustworthy.

I mean, if your buyer agent isn’t any of these things, and thus isn’t “connected” enough to find exclusive listings for you, then perhaps the problem isn’t the system being unfair, but rather you need a better buyer agent.

I digress…

Three weeks ago, I received a phone call from an agent whom I did not know.

The phone call went like this:

Jenny: “Hi David, it’s Jenny calling from ABC Realty.  Do you have a second?”

David: “That’s a vague, loaded question that could take us in many different directions, but sure.”

(Jenny laughs)

Jenny: “Yeah I know, I’m not a broker making recruiting calls or anything, don’t worry.  Actually, I’m calling about an exclusive that I have.”

David: “Oh, you had my attention, but now you have my curiosity…”

Jenny: “I know you work with a lot of buyers on the east side, and I see your name on a lot of trades, so I’m just trying to call around, put out some feelers, maybe find a connection, ya know?”

David: “Lay it on me; whaddya got?”

Jenny: “It’s a three-storey Edwardian, red-brick, semi-detached house, three bedrooms, three bathrooms, one-car garage off the laneway….”

David: “Keep going…”

Jenny: “It’s on (street name) street, and it’s about five houses in from (main drag street), super family-friendly street, lots of young families on the street if your clients have kids, or are going to, and dog-friendly….close to the dog park…”

David: “What condition are we talking here?  Like, letter-grade this for me.”

Jenny: “I’d say B.  Maybe B+, honestly, it’s in great shape structurally and mechanically, and the kitchen is five years old, they did the master bathroom last summer, and the backyard is awesome – they put in a new patio.”

David: “I might have somebody for it.  What kind of price are we talking here?”

Jenny: “We’re still working on that, but, like, probably $1.55 Million, thereabouts, give or take.”

David: “Let me chat with two of my buyers.  I know at least one will want to see it.  I’ll let you know.”

–

This is almost exactly how the call went, except we chatted about the market for a few minutes after I told her I’d get back to her.

I did have a buyer for the house, in fact.

My clients had seen a handful of homes and were super keen to pull the trigger, and we were heading out that week to see a handful more.

I sent them the specs on the house, but no photos.  The bullet points (beds, baths, parking, style, size), along with the location and the price, piqued their interest, so we set up a viewing with the listing agent.

We went to see the house, and we ran into another agent with his buyers as well.  And after our viewing, there was another agent with her buyers too.

The listing agent was doing her job.  She had clearly made calls, drummed up interest, and was showing the house.

My buyers loved it, of course.  Otherwise, this wouldn’t be a story for the blog!

To make a long story short, we bought the house for $1.5 Million.

Not only that, a few days later, we saw a house we valued less sell for far more on their scheduled “offer night,” with nine offers being presented.

We got the house we wanted, at our price, and we didn’t have to compete with other buyers.

What was in it for the sellers?

They were never really sure if they wanted to sell!  They did, but they didn’t.  They were nervous, they were anxious, they didn’t want to paint, clean, stage, pack, move, and uproot their lives, especially with three teenagers in the house.

So they asked their agent to “gently” market the property offline, quietly, discreetly, and see what the response would be like.

They wanted a longer closing date too, and they feared if they listed the house for sale on the open market, they’d be shooting themselves in the foot if they insisted on a closing date in line with the end of the school year.

They were private people and, believe it or not, had been in that house for thirty-one years!  They cringed at the thought of a “FOR SALE” sign on their lawn, with people gawking, and neighbours coming through the open house on the weekend.

In this case, I can honestly say that both the buyer and the seller got exactly what they were looking for.

After the deal went firm, I called the listing agent to tell her that I was impressed.

“You cold-called a slew of agents to generate interest, and it worked – you found us!  Great job, your sellers must be really happy with you.”

She was very humble and took it in stride.

But I added, “I’m serious – selling a property off market?  Calling agents you’ve never met, drumming up showings?  This is a skill set that most agents do not possess!”

She was grateful for my kind words, but something tells me that she had done this before many times.

It’s way more common than you’d think.

Say what you want about inventory levels out there right now, as some people see a lack of quality inventory (like me), and others see TRREB data that points to a high number of “new listings” and a low absorption rate (like the bears and cynics), but in certain market segments, there’s just nothing for sale.  As a result, buyer agents like myself have to resort to working the phones and calling other agents to try and “shake the trees” and see if a good property or two will fall out.

These “exclusive listings” will never make it to the open market, and it’s a classic case of the tree falling in the woods, not making a sound…