There was a time when real estate marketing was synonymous with spectacle. Colorful signage, wide-angle listing photos, open houses with fresh cookies in the oven—all of it aimed at mass exposure. Visibility was the currency of value. But for the ultra-wealthy and hyper-private, this strategy has always been a mismatch. These are not people looking to sell quickly to the highest bidder; they’re looking to pass along a legacy, quietly, with discretion and control.
Now, as the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) finally introduces a policy allowing for “delayed marketing exempt listings,” it appears that the industry establishment is beginning to accept what smaller, quietly sophisticated players have practiced for years: the future of elite real estate doesn’t shine under floodlights—it thrives in the hush of carefully brokered trust.“There is a difference between selling and matching,” says Harold X. Clarke, founder of Private Listings and Luxury Big Island, two Hawaii-based platforms serving some of the world’s most discerning property owners. “Our work isn’t about traffic. It’s about precision.”
Discretion as a Design Principle
The new NAR policy, effective March 25, 2025, gives sellers the ability to delay public marketing of their listings for a negotiated period. It’s an attempt to accommodate clients who, for reasons ranging from security to market timing, don’t want their properties widely advertised. This is no fringe group. According to Redfin, nearly 15% of luxury real estate sales in 2024 were completed off-market in major U.S. cities. In Hawaii, that number is higher.
The trend reflects a growing demand for customized, deeply personal real estate experiences—particularly at the top of the market. Think of the typical public listing process as airport travel: efficient, standardized, but exhausting. Off-market real estate, by contrast, functions more like a chartered flight: tailored, secure, and intimate. It’s not about volume, it’s about nuance.
Mandana Clarke, who co-leads MegaCapital Hawaii Corp with Harold, puts it simply: “Our clients don’t want their intentions on display. They want to move purposefully and quietly, with people who understand why.”
Why Now? Why Privacy?
Part of the shift is cultural. The modern UHNWI (Ultra-High-Net-Worth Individual) is navigating a world where privacy is increasingly elusive. Their homes—especially in high-profile areas like Hawaii’s Big Island, Oahu, or Maui—are not just investments; they’re safe havens, status symbols, and sometimes, political statements. In that context, discretion becomes more than a preference. It becomes a need.
There’s also a tactical reason. When the right buyer and seller are connected in private, a property’s value is not subjected to the volatility of public bidding or media speculation. Deals are done with intentionality. Time is saved. Dignity is preserved. Public listings, with their digital footprints and algorithms, are often blunt instruments in a process that requires surgical precision.
The Clarkes’ model reflects a philosophy closer to private banking than traditional real estate. Clients are curated. Properties are treated not as inventory, but as assets with emotional and financial dimensions. Even their website for Private Listings is password-protected, with properties behind an additional layer of digital velvet rope.
Regulatory Recognition, Not Innovation
To be clear, NAR’s policy change is not a revolution. It is an accommodation. The policy does not upend the MLS structure, nor does it shift the balance of real estate marketing broadly. What it does is provide cover for a mode of business that’s been quietly gaining traction for more than a decade.
What’s striking is not the policy itself, but the delayed recognition. Much like how policymakers often lag behind cultural evolution, institutional real estate is only now catching up to a behavioral reality that has existed for years. The Clarks and a handful of other boutique operators saw this coming. They built infrastructure for it. They built trust around it.
“We’ve had agents copy our websites, our branding language, even our pitch decks,” Harold notes, “but what they can’t replicate is the years of quiet, handshake trust that make this model sustainable.”
Selling Homes Like You Sell Art
The success of Private Listings and Luxury Big Island suggests that real estate—at least at the elite level—is evolving into an ecosystem rather than a platform. Public marketing channels still have their place, just as commercial flights still serve millions. But for those with the means, preferences are moving toward managed, curated, concierge-level engagement.
This has implications beyond luxury homes. As generational wealth transfers accelerate and the concept of home becomes increasingly enmeshed with personal branding, privacy-first real estate may become not just an option, but a default for select categories of buyers and sellers.
The question now isn’t whether this model works—it does. The question is how the broader industry will respond. Will it double down on scale and automation, or will it invest in intelligence and intimacy?
What the Broader Industry Might Learn
There is a quietness to the Clarkes’ operation that mirrors the homes they handle: elegant, well-guarded, and not for general consumption. But beneath the surface, there is also movement. Repeat clients, referrals from family offices, and access to Hawaii’s top three private listings—all indicate that this is not a novelty model. It’s a blueprint.
As the noise of the housing market grows—rising rates, urban flight, policy changes—the clarity of this approach is worth studying. Not every buyer needs cookies at an open house. Some just need the right key to a locked door.
And for that, it helps to know who holds the keys.
