The MLS Fight Is Missing the Biggest Question

There is a massive fight happening in real estate over listings, MLS rules and who gets to control the inventory. And I think almost everybody is starting with the wrong question.
I recently watched a Knowledge Brokers Podcast discussion with Tom Ferry about Compass challenging MLS rules and CRMLS pushing back. They talked about private listings, consumer access, recruiting data, government regulation, Zillow, Compass, NAR, MLS organizations, who is disrupting whom, who is protecting consumers and who may ultimately get to make the rules.
Those are legitimate issues. But one comment in the discussion gets much closer to what I think really matters.
Brokers built the MLS by giving it their listings.
Think about that. The MLS didn’t create the houses. It didn’t create the sellers. It didn’t create the inventory. The industry gave it the inventory.
And I would go one step further. Before a broker ever had the listing, a property owner decided to sell a house.
The seller created the inventory. That’s where the value begins.
Once enough of that inventory was concentrated in one place, something predictable happened. The marketplace became powerful. And once the marketplace became powerful, businesses formed around the marketplace.
Portals. Lead companies. Referral businesses. Advertising systems. Data companies. Brokerages. Technology companies. Buyer-agent systems. Recruiting companies.
Some of those businesses provide real value. But look at what the industry is fighting over today. Who can withhold listings? Who can distribute listings? Who can use the data? Who can recruit from the data? Who gets access? Which rules apply? Who controls the consumer? Who controls the leads?
Who controls the listing?
Meanwhile, the seller’s objective is remarkably simple.
Sell the house.
That doesn’t mean selling a house is simple. Professional photography may help. Video may help. An experienced agent may help. Pricing advice may help. Negotiation may help. MLS exposure may help.
The question isn’t whether professional services have value. The question is why every seller should automatically have to enter an entire system in order to obtain the particular services they want.
And there was another comment in that Knowledge Brokers discussion that I think deserves much more attention. Essentially, if you don’t like the MLS rules, you don’t have to use the MLS.
I agree.
The problem today is that the MLS has the inventory. And because it has the inventory, agents reasonably feel that they need it. Buyers search where the inventory is. Portals want access to it. Brokerages compete over it.
Inventory creates the power.
But that isn’t proof that the existing model is the best possible model. It only proves that everybody keeps putting the inventory there.
That is why Rethink Open House exists.
I’m not suggesting every agent stop using the MLS tomorrow. Use it when it helps your seller. But start asking a question the industry doesn’t ask often enough.
What if there were a better place to put the inventory?
A place where the property presentation stays connected to the people actually selling the property. Where agents control their branding instead of disappearing behind somebody else’s lead-generation system. Where owners can decide how much professional assistance they want. Where buyers can experience the property online before walking through somebody’s home.
Where professional photography, video, property information and direct communication are brought together for one primary purpose.
Sell the house.
That’s Rethink Open House. First Showing Online.
And this is where the current fight between Compass, MLS organizations, portals and everyone else becomes useful. They’re proving something.
Inventory is power. Everyone understands it. They’re fighting over it.
I just disagree with the assumption that the answer is deciding which existing institution should control more of it.
The better question is: Who created the inventory in the first place?
The seller.
And what is the inventory supposed to accomplish?
Sell the house.
Build the marketplace around that, not around protecting the marketplace itself.
Rethink Open House intends to become a primary place people go to sell and find homes. Today, the MLS has dramatically more inventory. I’m not hiding from that fact. That’s its power.
But inventory can move.
Agents can put properties on Rethink Open House while continuing to use the MLS. Sellers can tell their agents they want Rethink Open House. Media professionals can help create property experiences. Owners can participate.
And as the inventory grows, buyers have another place to find homes without requiring another giant economic machine between them and the people actually selling those homes.
So while the industry keeps fighting over who gets to control the existing system, Rethink Open House is asking a different question.
Which model is actually better for selling the house?
The MLS has the inventory. Rethink Open House has the better model.

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