Selling a home without advertising to the public, long popular with celebrities, is gaining credence in major U.S. cities, data show Moving to the Tampa, Fla., area, Claude and Alesia Barfield toured at least 50 homes but couldn't find what they were looking for until they saw a four-bedroom with a pool that hadn't been publicly listed. WASHINGTON-The 19th-century brick rowhouse on a leafy street in the capital's upscale Dupont Circle neighborhood is the sort of property that usually would spark a bidding war in a hot real-estate market.