Jason Haber, co-founder of the National Association of Realtors, wrote that the trade group articulated a vision for how listings should work, and that it is now becoming industry practice.
A month ago, Clear Collaboration was controversial. Today, it has become the new norm.
The real estate industry has a clear direction. What was once debated is now being adopted. What was once a challenge is now becoming a reality.
When Compass and Redfin announced their partnership three weeks ago, critics called it a war on transparency. This week, Zillow launched Zillow Preview in collaboration with Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America, Side, and United Real Estate.
And just this week, eXp Realty announced that it would be syndicating Coming Soon properties to Realtor.com, Homes.com, and ComeHome.com.
The entire industry is now adopting pre-market listing strategies. What was called radical a month ago is now consensus.
give sellers choice
When the American Association of Realtors (ARA) introduced Clear Collaboration last year, we made a simple argument. It requires MLS submissions but does not require mandatory syndication. We give sellers the ability to choose when, where, and how to sell their home. We put our clients first, not platforms, portals, or legacy systems.
We were told we were having a mess for a mess. We were told that the real estate industry wasn’t ready yet. The seller was told that no further options were needed.
The past three weeks have proven otherwise.
Compass was the first to make the move, partnering with Redfin to display upcoming listings to 60 million visitors each month. Then Zillow, which had previously cracked down on private products sold publicly, launched Preview, a premarket product built on the very principles the company had opposed. eXp, currently the largest intermediary on the trading side, has announced non-exclusive syndication to three major portals.
All major companies are now moving in the same direction. And that direction is Clear Collaboration.
What’s remarkable is how quickly the framing changed. Zillow’s own partners are currently using language that could have come directly from our proposal. Gary Keller said sellers “need to have the opportunity to reach the broadest range of potential buyers if they wish.” eXp’s Leo Pareja said the industry’s role was to “create the most open and efficient marketplace possible for buyers and sellers”. These are not our words, but they reflect our principles.
Role of ARA
This is not a story about who won or lost in a corporate battle. This is about the real estate industry recognizing what agents and sellers have known for a long time: that flexibility serves customers better than rigid, one-size-fits-all mandates.
ARA did not build these products. We did not negotiate these partnerships. But we did something important. It gave 30,000 agents a framework and a voice. We have defined a vision for how listings work in the modern marketplace. And even as traditional institutions pushed back, we kept pushing.
Now that we have discussed Clear Collaboration, the focus turns to implementation.
How can we ensure these tools serve consumers reliably? How can we maintain collaboration among agents while increasing seller choice? How can we prevent fragmentation while enabling flexibility?
These are issues that ARA continues to focus on solving. Our work isn’t done when the industry catches up to our ideas. We do it when those ideas lead to better outcomes for the families we serve.
We are proud to help lead the way.
Jason Haber is an associate broker at Compass in New York and co-founder of the American Association of Realtors.
