Compass launches 'See It First' feature in website redesign

Compass, a New York-based brokerage, has launched a significant redesign of its website, Compass.com, marking its most substantial update in a decade. The centerpiece of this overhaul is the introduction of a new feature called "See It First." This initiative is designed to provide prospective buyers with earlier access to a wider range of homes and simultaneously offer sellers a platform to gauge pricing and market demand without initiating public days on market.

The revamped Compass.com now consolidates thousands of properties across various marketing stages from Compass International Holdings’ nine brands into a unified consumer-facing destination. To amplify the launch, Compass is backing the redesign with a multimillion-dollar national advertising campaign targeting homebuyers.

According to Julie Keef, Compass’s head of consumer search, the "See It First" feature aims to enhance the home discovery process for consumers by bringing more homes and local expertise together. The platform has been integrated throughout the website’s search flow, including the homepage, search interface, and listing detail pages, with new on-site elements like "See It First" badges and a dedicated landing page highlighting homes earlier in their marketing lifecycle.

Compass stated that the feature is intended to increase inventory visibility for buyers, enable sellers to "test and learn" discreetly, and provide agents with an additional marketing tool. The company also noted that any buyer or buyer’s agent, regardless of their brokerage affiliation, can view and inquire about participating listings on Compass.com. Information about the listing agent, including their name, photo, and brokerage, will remain prominently displayed to ensure inquiries are directed appropriately and to provide early demand signals to agents and sellers.

Compass believes that a centralized experience on a national search portal could significantly influence how buyers discover homes and how sellers and their agents strategize their pricing and public listing decisions, especially as early-access and pre-market listing programs become competitive differentiators in the real estate market.

Traffic to Compass.com saw a 56% year-over-year increase in August 2026. The brokerage is building on this growth with its new advertising campaign. An internal analysis by Compass of homes sold nationwide in the 12 months ending March 31, 2026, indicated that properties categorized as strategically marketed tended to sell faster.

Compass confirmed that the "See It First" feature will not affect its existing coming soon listings syndication deal with Redfin.