A new proptech startup, Unlisted, is aiming to change how private real estate listings are handled in Texas. The company has launched The Waitlist, a web app that allows homeowners to measure buyer interest before formally listing their homes for sale.
As the legality of private listings remains a contentious issue between major industry players such as Compass, Zillow, and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Unlisted offers an alternative by digitizing the process of off-market listings. The platform enables potential buyers to express interest in properties before owners decide to sell. Homeowners can then respond directly to those on their waitlist. The business model relies on selling exclusive zip code representation to real estate agents on its site.
Unlisted’s goal is to build Waitlist profiles for every home in the country, utilizing property descriptions generated from public record data purchased from ATTOM. Since its launch on June 18, about 7,000 homes with an estimated combined value of $5 billion have been added to waitlists.
Agents can buy exclusive rights to zip codes in Unlisted’s system, earning the title “Local Expert” and having their information attached to all home profiles in that area. So far, most participating agents are affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty.
JB Hayes, a Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s agent who has purchased five Dallas zip codes through Unlisted, believes the platform could help facilitate off-market deals. “Before, people would share off-markets with their colleagues that are in other brokerages, or people they’ve done deals with, but that’s illegal marketing now,” Hayes said.
Hayes referred to ongoing disputes over NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires listing agents to post properties on local MLS within one day of public marketing. Zillow supports strict enforcement of this rule and interprets actions like yard signs and social media posts as public marketing.
NAR and Zillow have taken issue with Compass for its use of private exclusive listings at scale—a practice that has also influenced firms such as Douglas Elliman, Corcoran, and Coldwell Banker to test the boundaries of NAR’s policy.
Despite this environment, Unlisted founder Katie Hill emphasized that her platform is not designed for off-market sales. “That’s not the vision right now. We want to be a readiness site, not a listing site,” Hill said. “The entire industry as we know it competes in listings; nobody competes in folks who are not for sale.”
Starting in November, homeowners will be able to authorize agents on Unlisted to update their property profiles.
The app may find particular traction in Austin due to local factors like high property taxes and no mandatory disclosure of sales prices—circumstances that favor privacy among luxury buyers and sellers. According to Jeanne Parker of Jeanne and Julie Residential Group in Austin: “Austin is an anomaly. California puts everything on MLS, everything. And Dallas and Houston put pretty much everything on MLS. So Austin’s really kind of an anomaly in the country.”
The group notes that while more ultra-luxury sellers in Austin are moving toward open market sales because of a shrinking buyer pool this year, there remains steady demand for private transactions among wealthy clients prioritizing privacy over top-dollar offers.
“People get the most exposure when you promote and market and list. That is definitely the best way to go, because you’re going to drive up the price, and there’s more people that are going to get their eyeballs on it. There are some people that just don’t care,” Hayes said.
“They get the price they want, they’re going to be happy. So why go through all the hoops to make the house show-ready?”
