There is an ongoing debate among agents, sellers, buyers and other commentators on the use of the off MLS listing service we all use and that sends out feeds to vendors like Trulia, Redfin or Zillow among others.

This essentially means that a property will be marketed to an exclusive and narrow group of agents or buyers. Don’t expect them on an open house or broker tour. Moreover, it’s unknown if this limited and focused marketing actually will fetch the best offer for sellers. A potential disservice is being committed then, right?

Well, not quite.

On the other hand, there are circumstances where owners do not like open houses, need to test the market, or have other circumstances that dictate the use of this mechanism. I suppose the answer on where you fall on the issue depends on getting access to these listings or being excluded from them. What do you think?