Diana Roberts in Lakeway on Lake Travis

See It First™ Homes in Austin

Find more homes,before other websites have them.

Compass rebuilt Compass.com around one idea, See It First, so homes from Compass and its sister brands show up there before they reach other websites. I send you the ones that fit, and you can search them yourself, any time.

Diana RobertsTexas Agent · California Broker · Certified General Appraiser

In plain terms. See It First is how Compass.com brings early homes together for buyers. Three services feed it. A Private Exclusive is not on any public website; Compass agents see it inside Compass. A Coming Soon home is public first on Compass.com and Redfin.com, before the MLS. An MLS listing goes everywhere. Separately, a Make Me Sell owner isn’t listed at all, just open to the right offer. None of these tells you what a home is worth. That still takes evidence, and an appraiser’s eye.

9Brands in one See It First search
56%2More visits to Compass.com, Aug. 2026
340KAgents who can see a Private Exclusive
4.6%1Higher average close price
34%1Faster to contract

All figures are Compass-reported and national, not Austin-specific. Results vary. Read the data notes.

01 / See It First

One idea, built into all of Compass.com.

On September 22, 2026, Compass relaunched Compass.com in what it calls its biggest redesign in a decade, and built the whole site around See It First. The point is simple: help you find more homes, earlier, in one place.

On the home page

Featured up front.

See It First homes are featured right on the Compass.com home page, so you don’t have to dig for them.

In search

Marked in your results.

Search an area and See It First homes appear alongside everything else, clearly labeled, so you can tell an early home at a glance.

On every listing page

You know who to call.

Each See It First home shows the listing agent’s name and photo, so you know exactly who represents it.

Exclusive to Compass.com

Nine brands. One search.

See It First brings together early-stage homes from all nine Compass International Holdings brands, including Compass, Coldwell Banker, Sotheby’s International Realty, Corcoran and Century 21. Homes from those brands meet in one search on Compass.com, often before they’re available on other websites.

Any buyer, or any buyer’s agent at any brokerage, can ask about a See It First home. Coming Soon homes are open for anyone to browse. Private Exclusives stay inside Compass’s network, and agents from other brokerages can review them at a Compass office.

02 / The Services Behind It

See It First is the message. These are the services.

A seller chooses how their home meets the market, and many start with one of the first two. Each step brings the home to more buyers. See It First is how you, as a buyer, catch it at the earliest step you can.

Service 1 · Private

Private Exclusive

Shared with agents across Compass’s network of brokerages, about 340,000 agents, and their buyers. Not on any public website. Showings happen privately. With me, the ones that fit come straight to your Collection.

How I find them for you

Service 2 · Public first on Compass

Coming Soon

Public first on Compass.com and Redfin.com, from Compass’s own listing data, before the MLS. These are the homes most buyers meet under the See It First label. Many move on to the MLS.

Browse on my See It First page

Service 3 · Everywhere

The MLS + public websites

The home goes live on the MLS and the sites it feeds. Days on market start counting, price changes become part of the record and the full field of buyers can compete.

My current listings

Not listed

Make Me Sell

Some owners aren’t selling, but have told their Compass agent the price that would change their mind. Compass agents search those prices for their buyers. If your offer meets the number, the owner hears about it, with no obligation to sell.

Selling? Your home, your choice

The three services, side by side

Comparison of Compass Private Exclusive, Compass Coming Soon and public MLS marketing
Private ExclusiveComing SoonPublic Market
Who can see itCompass agents across its network of brokerages and their buyersAnyone on Compass.com and Redfin.comAnyone, through the MLS and public portals
Public days on marketNot accrued, per CompassNot accrued, per CompassThe clock starts
Price-change historyNone, per CompassNone, per CompassEvery change is visible
What it means for youFewer buyers competing, if you hear about itA head start before the full market sees itThe full field of buyers is looking too

Phase availability, display, public history and syndication depend on seller direction, brokerage policy, Unlock MLS rules, law and current Compass program terms.

03 / The Key

Your Compass Collection opens the door.

To see Compass’s private and early homes, you need a Compass agent to set you up. Diana builds your Collection around what you want, then it works two ways. Use both.

Sent to you by Diana

The right homes, as they appear.

Diana builds Collections around your criteria and sends you the matches: Private Exclusives, Coming Soon homes, Make Me Sell matches and new MLS listings. No endless scrolling.

Searched by you, 24/7

Search as much as you like.

With Diana’s invitation, you get your own access to Compass. Search just like the big home search sites, plus the private and early homes they don’t show.

  1. 01
    Tell Diana what you want. Areas, size, lot, price, timing and the trade-offs you will and will not make.
  2. 02
    Diana watches past your lines. Most buyers search inside one school zone, one neighborhood or one style of house. The home just outside the search is often the one that wins, and Diana hears about homes before they’re listed through her Austin agent network, inside and outside Compass.
  3. 03
    One login, start to finish. Your search, your Collections and, once you’re under contract, the timeline, tasks and documents live in your Compass One client dashboard. You keep access after closing.

You do not need an agent to browse Coming Soon homes on Compass.com. Private Exclusives are not published online; agents from other brokerages can review them at a Compass office.

04 / Use the Head Start

A head start helps when you use the time well.

Diana’s search covers public listings, Coming Soon homes, available Private Exclusives and Make Me Sell prices, then treats each one as a property to understand, not another result in a feed.

01

Find it.

The search is built around the communities, property types and trade-offs that fit you, across every path a seller can choose.

02

Know the phase.

Private, Coming Soon or public changes how much history exists, who else is looking and how fast you may need to move.

03

Study the property.

Lot, construction, condition, location, privacy, views and resale still decide whether it is the right house.

04

Test the price.

Early does not mean cheap. Diana compares the home with the alternatives a real buyer would weigh. How Diana looks at value.

05

Decide.

More time should produce a better decision, not just a faster one.

Selling?

The same choices, from the seller’s side.

Make Me Sell, Private Exclusive, Coming Soon or the MLS: choose who sees your home first, with the trade-offs explained and a price that will hold up.

05 / Access Is Not Value

Private is a marketing phase. It isn’t a price.

Buyers sometimes assume an off-market home is a bargain. A home that never went public has no price history to lean on, and a Make Me Sell number can be twice what the home is worth. Early access changes timing. It doesn’t change what a qualified buyer will pay.

Diana is also a Texas Certified General Appraiser, so she reads an early-market home the way she reads any other: against the evidence.

Her appraisal services, including luxury home appraisal, are provided through The Appraisal Shop. An appraisal is a separate engagement from brokerage.

About Diana
01

Comparable evidence

Which closed sales and current alternatives would a qualified buyer actually weigh?

02

Property specifics

Lot, site, construction, condition, improvements, views, privacy and function.

03

Current competition

What else can a buyer purchase now, whether public, Coming Soon or private?

04

The appraisal still happens

If a buyer finances, the lender’s appraiser tests the contract price no matter how the home was marketed. A price that holds up there is a price that closes.

Diana Roberts arriving at a home for an appraisal inspection

06 / Questions

What buyers ask about seeing it first.

The terms sound simple. The practical differences matter.

All of Diana’s FAQs
What does See It First mean for a buyer in Austin?

See It First is how Compass.com brings together homes in their early stages of marketing from all nine Compass International Holdings brands, so buyers can find them before they reach other websites. Three services feed it: Private Exclusives shared inside Compass’s network, Coming Soon homes public first on Compass.com and Redfin.com, and homes listed on the MLS. Make Me Sell prices from owners who are not listed sit alongside them.

Do I need a Compass agent to see Private Exclusives in Austin?

You do not need an agent to browse See It First Coming Soon homes on Compass.com; any buyer or buyer’s agent can view and ask about them. Private Exclusives are not published online. A Compass agent can see them inside Compass, and agents from other brokerages can review them at a Compass office. With Diana, the ones that fit come to you in your Collection.

What is a Compass Private Exclusive?

A home shared with agents across Compass’s network of brokerages, about 340,000 agents, and their buyers, without a public listing. Showings happen privately, and there are no public days on market while it stays private, per Compass.

How is a Private Exclusive different from a pocket listing?

A pocket listing usually means a home an agent shops informally to a few contacts. A Private Exclusive is a seller-directed Compass program with a listing agreement, marketed across Compass’s network, with defined next steps into Coming Soon or the MLS.

Is Compass Coming Soon private?

No. Coming Soon is public first on Compass.com and Redfin.com, from Compass’s own listing data, before the MLS. It can last days, weeks or months under local MLS rules, and many Coming Soon homes move on to the MLS.

What is a Make Me Sell home?

A home that is not for sale yet. The owner has told their Compass agent the price that would make them sell, and the agent records it in Compass’s private system with the address and owner kept confidential. Compass agents search those prices for their buyers. If a qualified buyer’s offer meets the number, the owner is contacted, with no obligation to sell.

Can a buyer purchase a Compass Private Exclusive?

Yes, when one is available and suits you, subject to the seller’s instructions, the listing agreement, brokerage and MLS rules and negotiated terms. No agent can guarantee access to every privately marketed home.

Do pre-marketed homes sell for more?

Compass reports that, across its own sales from April 2025 through March 2026, homes pre-marketed as Private Exclusive or Coming Soon closed for an average of 4.6% more than comparable homes that went straight to the MLS. That is a national, Compass-reported average, not a promise for any single Austin home, and as a buyer it is one more reason to test the price.

See It First

See it first. Then know what it’s worth.

Tell me what you’re looking for. I’ll set up your Compass Collection, send you the See It First homes that fit, and read every one like an appraiser.

Diana Roberts · Austin Real Estate Advisor · Compass
Texas Agent · California Broker · Certified General Appraiser
512.888.8326 · diana.roberts@compass.com · Compass profile ↗

Read more in

DIANA ROBERTS · WEST SIDE OF AUSTIN

No. 04

Austin’s Second Market: The Homes That Never Reach the Big Websites

Private Exclusives, Coming Soon and Make Me Sell: how homes sell before the big websites, and how to see them first.

Read No. 04

Also · No. 03Inside 78738: One ZIP Code, Seven Different Markets