Sellers are Buyers; Buyers are Sellers

The logical fallacy of the Clear Cooperation Policy debate

The National Association of Realtors policy on how listings are publicly marketed on the MLS, otherwise known as the Clear Cooperation Policy, is the subject of much recent debate.

In a few weeks time, the NAR will be issuing new guidance on how the policy works, and both proponents of the status quo and opponents of its regulations are becoming increasingly vocal.

The leader of one of the country’s largest brokerages argues that “seller’s choice” is paramount in these policy discussions, meaning that sellers should have the full right to market their property however they want, without any restriction imposed by the NAR.

Here’s the paradox that poses: any seller of a home was likely a buyer of that home at some point in the past. If at the moment of purchase they had an incomplete view of its value, then that’s not setting them up well for an eventual sale.

In any transaction, your purchase price is a key determinant of your exit value. Buying a home is no different. The concept of “doing what’s best for sellers” seems to oversimplify the fact that a seller’s cost basis could have been skewed by, for example, an unclear representation of days on market when they initially purchased the home. That’s why transparency and an open marketplace is so important.