Last Updated on February 23, 2024 by CREW Editorial
It’s astonishing how fast the world of real estate has changed in the last 20 years.
It wasn’t that long ago when the Canadian Multiple Listing Service® was distributed in dozens of white books every month, featuring listings from across the country. Entire libraries of out-of-date MLS® books took up valuable space in real estate agents’ basements! Thankfully, proprietary technology (PropTech) marches on, and new innovations change the real estate industry. Today, MLS is entirely online through Realtor.ca, giving Realtors® an instant look at any listed property they want from any province. But as indispensable as MLS is for Realtors, there’s one area with some room for innovation.
Exclusive Listings, also called Pocket Listings or Off-Market Listings, are listings from privacy-focused clients who do not wish their information to become public during their property sale. As such, they do not want to be found on the public MLS, making it extremely difficult for Realtors to find these listings for their clients.
This meant there was an opportunity for a new player to come in to help fill that gap. It’s called BrokerPocket, one of the fastest-growing real estate PropTech innovations of the last decade.
MLS: An Invaluable Tool for Realtors
The MLS is a REALTOR® owned and operated system that has been a cornerstone of the real estate marketplace for over 65 years.
Without MLS, Realtors simply wouldn’t be able to do their jobs. The service provides comprehensive, high-quality housing market data, making it a critical tool for real estate agents, homebuyers, and sellers. By sharing property listings with almost 14,000 Realtors coast to coast, the MLS ensures the broadest distribution and the largest pool of homes for prospective buyers.
However, the very strength of MLS (information sharing) is also the reason why privacy-focused clients might prefer to use . If someone wishes to sell their house without making it public, they need an alternative. How can they get the word out about their property without advertising the sale to their friends, family, neighbours, or anyone else?
A Novel Approach to Off-Market Listings
That’s where BrokerPocket steps in to fill this niche.
This Canadian PropTech platform offers a unique proposition: a space for Realtors dedicated solely to off-market property listings. By doing so, BrokerPocket caters to those who wish to keep their property dealings private or those whose properties aren’t ready for public advertising. As of this writing, it’s approaching 8,000 active users and shows no signs of slowing down.
Eric Skicki, the CEO of BrokerPocket, was a Realtor himself and had firsthand knowledge of how difficult it could be to get the word out about Exclusive Listings:
“The challenge for Realtors is that some clients can be deeply private. They don’t want anyone to know they are selling their property, and their Realtor must respect their right to privacy. But it also put them in a tough spot. How do you advertise a property if you can’t do it through the public forum of MLS?
That’s when the idea of BrokerPocket came to me. If there was a platform or marketplace that could offer Realtors a chance to get the word out about Exclusive Listings without compromising the privacy of their sellers, well, I thought that could be a game changer. And it turns out, it was! There was a real untapped demand for this service, and I set out to ensure that BrokerPocket would be there to help!”
Facilitating Collaboration Among Realtors
While MLS excels in wide-ranging visibility, BrokerPocket’s strength lies in its consolidation of off-market listings. It enables agents to promote and sell their exclusive listings to other agents without compromising their client’s privacy. By doing so, the platform streamlines transactions, reaching only those directly involved in the sale. For those who are looking to quietly sell their home or wish to assign a pre-construction property, BrokerPocket could be a terrific solution.
Despite appearing to be in the same PropTech category, MLS and BrokerPocket are not competitors. In fact, Eric Skicki is adamant that MLS is still the right choice for conventional property sales:
“Look, MLS is deeply embedded within the fabric of the Canadian real estate industry, and that’s a good thing! It is an indispensable resource for Realtors, and the wealth of information it harbors is priceless. With thousands of listings from across the country and the backing of countless Realtors, MLS isn’t going anywhere, nor should it! BrokerPocket isn’t a competitor to MSL; it’s simply another tool Realtors can use to help their clients achieve their real estate goals.”
Conclusion
MLS will continue to be an invaluable resource for real estate agents, home buyers, and sellers into the foreseeable future. But PropTech is always on the move, and BrokerPocket does present a unique platform for off-market listings.
Currently, BrokerPocket’s services are only available in Ontario and British Columbia. However, with the niche they have discovered, it’s only a matter of time before they expand into other provinces and beyond, into the United States. Its potential to provide a space for more discrete, efficient, and targeted property transactions may make BrokerPocket a game-changer in the real estate industry and a piece of PropTech that Realtors will want to keep an eye on moving forward.
To learn more about BrokerPocket, you can visit their website or contact them at support@brokerpocket.com.
