New entrants to the residential real estate field are betting that the post-NAR settlement will fundamentally change the way Americans buy and sell homes, with many consumers choosing to buy and sell their homes themselves.
After a soft launch earlier this year, Ownli, a consumer-centric real estate platform, has officially rolled out as a full-service product, positioning itself as an alternative to the traditional agent-led transaction model.
Ownli announced a national expansion Tuesday, expanding its consumer-centric real estate platform to 43 states and aiming to give buyers and sellers more control over pricing, real estate data and the transaction process.
As of March 1, 2026, the platform included more than 500,000 active listings across the United States, representing a total market value of approximately $313 billion, the company said. The median home price for these properties is $730,000, Ownley said.
The platform allows homeowners to list their properties directly, access verified data in real-time, and drive transactions with greater transparency around pricing. Ownli positions itself as an alternative to what many consumers view as a complex and opaque transaction experience by revealing costs and critical information early in the process.
For CEO Blake O’Shaughnessy, starting the company took years.
“We’ve been working on this Ownli idea since 2024,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We knew the NAR settlement was coming, so we were working hard on it part-time. When the settlement was reached, we began work on Ownli in earnest.”
The company quietly introduced sell-side capabilities in January, but the latest announcement signals a broader push to position itself as a national end-to-end platform for both buyers and sellers.
CEO says previous model is ‘broken in design’
Ownri’s timing is no coincidence. The platform enters a housing market that is still being readjusted after a landmark settlement by the National Association of Realtors, leading to increased scrutiny of commission structures and the role of agents in transactions.
At a time when buyers are stretching their budgets and sellers are scrutinizing every dollar of stock, Ownli says users are saving an average of $42,832 in commission costs. The company claims these savings allow consumers to retain more of their assets while achieving full market exposure for their real estate.
Unlike traditional brokerage models built around percentage-based commissions, Ownli allows sellers to list their properties directly and maintain control over their pricing strategy. Meanwhile, buyers can access verified national listings and real-time market data without relying on intermediaries.
The company is positioning this approach as a move away from fee-driven trading to a more transparent and streamlined process.
Properties span major markets in the United States, with the highest concentration in Texas and Florida, the most residentially active regions in the country. Ownri said the company’s platform includes more than 106,000 properties in Texas, worth about $59.5 billion, and more than 100,000 properties in Florida, worth about $75 billion.
O’Shaughnessy, a longtime agent himself, said his experience in the industry has led him to question traditional fee models. “I have been in the real estate industry for 10 years as a top sales agent,” he said. “We found that fees have little correlation to value for consumers. The fee system is broken by design.”
He went further and criticized the structure of the industry. “NAR operates as a cartel, the largest lobbying firm in the country,” he said, adding that consumers often “pay for a process that is now largely digital.”
A model built on reducing dependence on agents
Ownli’s core premise is simple. It’s about giving consumers the tools to manage their transactions.
The platform aggregates listing data, pricing insights, and transaction workflows into a single interface, allowing users to navigate the buying and selling process without relying on traditional agents.
“Traditionally, real estate has been very fragmented, and we’re automating that,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Our software provides everything you need to buy or sell a home and is geared toward the do-it-yourself consumer.”
The company believes that much of what agents traditionally provided, such as coordination, paperwork, and communication, can now be handled through software.
“Consumers are paying for a largely digital process,” he said. “As every other industry uses digital forms, agents are gone. But real estate has remained consistent.”
Ownli positions agents as optional participants
Despite its positioning, Ownli does not position itself as a direct anti-agent. At least not completely. Instead, O’Shaughnessy suggests that the role of agents may evolve with platforms like Ownli, rather than disappearing entirely.
“Agents don’t fit into the Ownli model,” he said. “But ultimately we feel that agents will be able to use Ownli. Right now, consumers are taking on too many inefficient agents.”
In the future, agents may move into more specialized or support-based roles, he said. “Agents will be able to use Ownli as a transaction coordinator,” he added.
At the heart of Ownli’s strategy is the belief that consumer expectations are changing and real estate is one of the last major industries to fully reflect that change.
“We want to give consumers a level of confidence that they can buy or sell a home on their own,” O’Shaughnessy said.
He points to other industries where technology has reduced or eliminated middlemen. “You don’t need multiple agents to buy a car,” he says. “It’s a little different than buying a house, but it’s similar.”
As committee structures come under increasing pressure, O’Shaughnessy believes platforms like Ownli will become even more necessary. “If the committee structure eventually disappears, we’re going to need a platform like Ownli,” he says.
For now, the company is focused on challenging long-held assumptions in residential real estate. “This is the important thing,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We’re not competing with agents; we’re competing on the premise that we need agents.”
He added that more consumers may be willing to test that assumption for themselves. He said, “Consumers want to buy and sell homes on their own, but they want to be careful not to mess it up.”
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