The Real Estate Industry Is Fighting for Control. Who Wins?

The Wall Street Journal just published an article titled, “The Fierce Battle to Control How Americans Buy and Sell Their Homes.” It’s about Compass, Zillow, private listings, and the battle for control of the real estate marketplace. But I think there’s a much bigger story here.
The money in the middle is consolidating. And if you’re a real estate agent, an independent broker, or somebody who owns a house, you should be paying attention.
For decades, the Multiple Listing Service has been the center of residential real estate. Agents bring the listings, the MLS brings the inventory together, and buyers find properties through agents and websites connected to that system.
There’s tremendous value in putting inventory in one place. But over time, the MLS also developed rules controlling how that inventory could be presented and distributed. In many MLS systems, those rules have restricted agent branding in photographs, videos, and virtual tours.
You earned the listing. You developed the relationship. You paid for the marketing. But when your property information entered the shared system, your personal branding could be stripped from much of the presentation.
And what happened next?
Companies like Zillow and Realtor.com built enormous consumer businesses around property information supplied through the real estate industry. They attracted the buyers, built their own brands, and developed advertising and lead-generation systems. In some cases, agents wound up paying to reach consumers who were attracted by the listings those agents helped create.
I call this the money in the middle.
And now, according to the Wall Street Journal, there’s another battle underway.
Compass has become an enormous force in residential real estate. In January, Compass completed its merger with Anywhere Real Estate, bringing brands including Coldwell Banker, Century 21, Corcoran, and Sotheby’s International Realty under the same corporate parent.
And Compass isn’t just buying brokerage businesses. It’s bringing technology, listing distribution, and consumer relationships together in a much larger network.
One of the most important parts of its strategy is private listings.
Compass offers a three-phase marketing approach. First, a property can be offered as a Private Exclusive to agents and buyers within its network. Next, it can appear publicly on Compass.com and Redfin.com. Finally, it can be distributed to the broader marketplace.
Compass argues that this gives sellers choices, protects privacy, and can improve marketing results. And there are circumstances where an owner might benefit from that approach.
But here’s something I find interesting. Compass promotes exclusive properties as available before they hit the market.
Before they hit the market?
If the owner wants to sell, agents are marketing the property, and buyers can purchase it, isn’t that property already on the market?
What Compass really means is before the property reaches the broader public listing system.
And that distinction is important. Because the company is building a marketplace where its own network can have access to inventory before everyone else.
Compass says it wants to empower agents and sellers. It has introduced programs that give listing agents more prominent contact information and opportunities to receive or refer buyer inquiries. Some of those changes are meaningful.
But consider what happens as the network grows.
The more inventory it controls, the more valuable the network becomes. The more valuable the network becomes, the greater the incentive for agents, brokers, and consumers to participate.
And the more dependent people become on that network, the more influence its operator may have over how business is conducted.
Does that sound familiar?
The MLS gained power because it accumulated inventory. Portals became powerful by attracting consumers to that inventory. Now, large brokerage companies are building proprietary systems to control more of the distribution and consumer relationships themselves.
Are we fixing the problem? Or are we moving the money in the middle into fewer, larger companies?
Imagine an industry where three or four corporations control a substantial portion of the listings. What happens to independent brokerages? What happens to the agent who wants to leave one company for another? What happens to the seller whose property is marketed through a network controlled by a company with its own financial interests?
I’m not saying Compass has announced a plan to eliminate the MLS or reduce the entire industry to a few brokerage corporations. It hasn’t. But consolidation creates the possibility of increasing marketplace power in fewer hands.
And that’s why the Wall Street Journal article matters.
It’s not simply about whether Compass or Zillow wins a dispute over private listings.
It’s about who will control the business of selling homes.
But here’s the question I believe the industry should be asking. Why should the central objective be controlling the inventory in the first place?
Why not build a marketplace whose primary objective is to sell the house?
That’s why I created Rethink Open House.
Rethink Open House brings the property, its presentation, and the participating professionals together in a branded online property experience. Buyers can view the house, learn about the people involved, and communicate directly with them.
We call it the First Showing Online.
We’re not selling buyer inquiries to other agents. We’re not building a referral business around the consumer who wants to see a house. And we’re not requiring agents to join one enormous brokerage company to participate.
Our objective is to remove unnecessary money in the middle.
Now, Rethink Open House doesn’t have the inventory or traffic that the MLS has today. I’m not pretending otherwise.
But here’s what I know. The MLS didn’t create the inventory. Neither did Zillow. Neither did Compass.
The property owner decided to sell. And the listing professional helped bring that property to market.
That’s where the value begins.
So if you’re a real estate agent or independent broker, consider this. You don’t have to abandon the MLS. You don’t have to leave your brokerage. But you can begin participating in a marketplace that puts your property presentation, your branding, and your direct customer relationships first.
And if you’re a homeowner, you can ask your agent why your property shouldn’t be presented that way.
The big companies are building their future around the inventory you provide.
Isn’t it time you started building yours?
The MLS has the inventory. Rethink Open House has the better model.

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