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Buyer and Seller Steering: What You Need to Know—Especially About Private Listing Networks
When buying or selling a home, you expect transparency, fairness, and your agent’s full commitment to your best interests. But there’s an important issue every buyer and seller should be aware of steering—and it happens more often than you might think, sometimes subtly, sometimes not.
Let’s break down what steering is, how it can affect you, and what you can do to protect yourself—especially when it comes to the growing trend of agents steering sellers into Private Listing Networks (PLNs).
What Is Buyer and Seller Steering?
According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), steering is prohibited behavior that can negatively affect a buyer or seller. Here’s how it’s defined:
- Buyer Steering occurs when a buyer’s agent directs clients toward certain properties because the agent will earn a higher commission—or away from others because they’ll earn less.
- Seller Steering happens when an agent tells a seller that offering a higher buyer-agent commission will result in more showings, thus pushing the seller to spend more to attract buyers.
Both forms of steering undermine fair representation. They also put the agent’s financial interests above your needs.
A Real-World Example of Buyer Steering
Let’s say Bob is a buyer’s agent. He sees two homes for his client:
- House X offers a 2% commission
- House Y offers a 3% commission
Even if House X is a better fit for the buyer, Bob may only show House Y because it benefits him financially. That’s buyer steering—and it’s unethical and a violation of that agent’s fiduciary duty to their client.
While NAR’s recent rule changes have attempted to curb this by removing commission offers (known as “Offers of Compensation”) from MLS listings, agents can still learn compensation details through phone calls, off-MLS platforms, or private marketing materials. So, while buyer steering may be harder to pull off, it has not disappeared.
Seller Steering Is Still Common—Even If It’s Rebranded as “Marketing”
A common line from listing agents is:
“If you offer 3% to the buyer’s agent, you’ll get more showings.”
That might sound like good marketing advice, but it’s still steering. And it’s costly to the seller. You’re being nudged to spend more just to make your property more attractive to buyer agents.
One way to push back? Ask your agent to let buyer agents know that Offers of Compensation can be submitted as part of an offer. This shifts commissions into the realm of negotiation—just like price, closing date, and other terms.
A New Form of Steering: Private Listing Networks (PLNs)
A rising trend, and a controversial one, is steering sellers into Private Listing Networks instead of listing properties on the MLS immediately.
PLNs are private platforms that show your home only to a select group of agents or buyers. Compass is one major brokerage promoting this approach. While it can sound exclusive and strategic, it may actually hurt your sale. Why?
Because logically, fewer eyes on your property often means fewer offers—and possibly a lower final sale price.
Some data from Bright MLS and Zillow suggests homes listed in PLNs don’t perform as well as those listed publicly on the MLS. Some conflicting internal data from Compass states that they perform better. This data is offered by those who have an interest for or against PLNs, so it must be taken with skepticism. Zillow has even taken a strong stance by banning listings that first appear in PLNs from later being listed on their platform. Zillow is by far the biggest portal in the game.
What You Can Do
- The best way to protect yourself is to stay informed and be inquisitive.
- Ask your agent if they are showing all of the homes that fit your criteria, not just ones with higher commissions.
- Reference what NAR says above about steering, state that you are aware of steering, and that you just want to make sure there is no steering as it is unethical. If an agent realizes that you know about steering, they will be less likely to do it.
- As a seller, demand offers of comp be submitted with the buyer’s offer, and do not offer a preset offer of comp.
- Go into PLNs knowing that they are probably only good for a few sellers, like celebrities, politicians, or others that need true privacy. More eyes = more offers.
- PLNs, commissions, and agent incentives are complex topics—and we’ll dive deeper into PLNs in a future post. But for now, the key takeaway is this: steering may not always look like a red flag—but it can quietly cost you thousands.
Stay aware. Ask smart questions. And always prioritize your own goals over someone else’s commission.
