As the industry continues discussions around NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, and the Grand County MLS now includes tools that offer both flexibility and compliance. Flexmls has provided a solution for brokers and agents with our Office Exclusive feature, a powerful and customizable tool that helps maintain MLS transparency while allowing listings to remain private until the agent is ready to make them public.

What is the Office Exclusive Feature?

The Office Exclusive field in Flexmls is a simple Yes/No setting that allows brokers and agents to determine who can see their listings. The field name “Office Exclusive” simply describes the function of the setting–but the MLS can name the field anything they want.  When an agent marks a listing as “Yes” in the Office Exclusive field, the listing is only visible and shareable to other members of their same office or company, as well to clients, but not to other agents—making it an ideal way to manage listings that are kept private until they are ready for wider exposure.

How Office Exclusive Works in Flexmls:

As with most everything in Flexmls, the Office Exclusive function has been customized for our MLS. What’s listed below are our recommended best practices.

• Private Listings Before Public Exposure: When an agent sets a listing as “Yes” for the Office Exclusive field, that listing is kept private within the office or company. Agents can still share the listing with their clients, but it will not be visible to other agents or the broader MLS.
• Transitioning to Public Visibility: When the agent is ready to list the property publicly, they can easily change the Office Exclusive setting to “No”. This transition automatically:
  • Makes the listing searchable by all MLS members.
  • Triggers the listing to appear on the Hot Sheet as a new listing.
  • Updates the Days on Market (DOM) for the listing.
  • Records the change in the listing history, including updating the begin date to the current date.
• No Impact on Inactive Listings: If a listing is not active, changing the Office Exclusive setting does not affect its status or visibility.
• Automatic Public Access Upon Sale: Once an Office Exclusive listing is sold, it automatically becomes visible to all MLS members, ensuring that final sale data remains transparent.

Why is This Important?

The Office Exclusive feature supports brokers, agents, and their clients—offering the option for a period of exclusivity while also complying with the NAR Clear Cooperation Policy. This feature also keeps the MLS at the center of the listing entry process, retaining their valuable data while still giving everyone a full picture of the market.