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In the wake of last year’s settlement, many have expressed their legitimate dissatisfaction with a complete attack on our industry, our profession, and the value we offer to our consumers. As someone who has sold my life to a home and fed my family, I share that frustration. I devote 50% to 60% of my day to speaking directly with the agent, whether it’s a one-on-one conversation or a large discussion.
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Last year was defined by listening, learning and working on new paths, given the hands our industry has been addressed. I voicedly opposed how this unfolded, but my principles of guidance remained the same. Doing the best for consumers is a way to move the industry forward.
I also receive many questions from agents about the value of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Multiple Listing Services (MLSS), and Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP).
To be clear, I am not defending the status quo. If you are choosing to maintain or destroy CCP in its current form, the obvious answer is to keep it. But my preference is to change it. Agents are to listen to agents as market participants, while maintaining the benefits of functional cooperative data systems.
I also now continue to call what is disguised as consumer advocacy about what it really is: elegantly wrapped in self-interest, profit-driven manipulation, marketing speeches.
Make clear, collaborative conversations with these questions.
1. Why did NAR/MLSS pass the list to the portal? Why can’t MLS be written in the list description that I am a listing agent? This increases transparency when buyers are searching for portals.
MLS was not a “distribute” lists. To maximize exposure and access to consumers, it provided a structured market where you can view the list. As the internet evolved, brokers have called for the ability of a single entry point to provide consumers with greater exposure to their listings.
Allowing listing agents to insert their names directly into their descriptions creates an uneven playing field where dominant brokerages can drown out smaller agents, reducing competition rather than increasing transparency .
With MLS, consumers can contact listing agents directly, as listing brokers can belong via IDX links and non-live phone or email.
2. Why doesn’t MLS let agents see their photos?
MLS applies uniform standards to maintain professionalism and ensure consistent branding across all lists.
Even if individual agents see through the photos, they can lead to confusion, inconsistency and potential copyright disputes. Photographers own the copyright to professional photos, not listing agents.
3. Why was I forced to join and pay for three different associations (NAR, state and local associations) to access MLS? Are numerous lawsuits against NAR’s “three-way agreements” justified?
Not all MLS are owned by a local real estate agent organization. Many local associations have created MLS according to their need to provide a suitable service for brokers.
Three-way contracts provide a structured framework that guarantees professional standards and advocacy at the national, state and local levels. The benefits that agents use in their business are made on a large scale. Local benefits may include techniques and advocacy like Forwarn or CE class. The benefits of the state include form, technology, advocacy and professional standards. National benefits include advocacy, research and statistics, professional designation and training.
The alternative is fragmented and weak organizations that have less power to negotiate policy and scalability for tools that are less advantageous to agents and brokers.
4. What happens when “maximum exposure equals maximum price” or MLS research is the most sophisticated profit-driven seller of real estate – developers and home builders – if you want to sell more sales This is an MLS survey that claims it will be sold at 17.5% on MLS. Have you got a home for 300,000 people from MLS last year?
Developers and builders often have a marketing budget and sales team dedicated to selling large quantities of homes, with pre-determined pricing models.
Individual sellers lack their infrastructure, and for them, MLS exposure guarantees the widest market reach and maximum competition, leading to higher sales prices.
5. Why doesn’t real estate developers and home builders need to follow clear cooperation while individual homeowners have to follow it?
Developers and builders work in different categories, often controlling the overall fragmentation and using consumer sales models.
Because individual homeowners do not have sales teams, signage contracts, or dedicated lead funnels, MLS evaluates their arena.
6. How many homeowners are aware that after one day of public marketing, they will force MLS to give listings with clear cooperation?
Every homeowner who hires a knowledgeable ethical agent should understand the tools agents use to promote their property and the rules governing all kinds of promotions
Homeowners focus on the best prices for timing. Understanding more exposure can lead to better conditions.
7. Why are agents forced to “cooperate” with an agent, listing, or a portal that does not have clients? Its business model is to sell leads rather than homes. Why is it sold to the highest bidder rather than going to me? What agent knows the home best?
This is because the portal allowed brokerages to thrive by providing data access in the first place. Brokers may opt out of sending lists to any portal if selected
However, MLS remains the most structured and fair system that ensures that not only the highest bidders, but all agents can compete on equal arenas.
8. Why is DOJ looking into NAR’s clear cooperation policies? DOJv. A judge in the suit during NAR (April 2024) said, “The DOJ believes that a clear cooperation policy would limit the choice of home sellers and eliminate competition from new listing services. mosquito?”
DOJ has a historically scrutinized real estate structure dating back to the 1940s. Clear cooperation policies ensure transparency and competition by preventing secret out-of-market transactions that are disadvantaged to consumers.
The DOJ’s concerns focus on choice. Sellers need choices. For clear cooperation, there must be a publicly advertised list in MLS, but it must also be elsewhere. CCP does not restrict other ads or forums. A talented agent outlines all the options that sellers have in marketing their property
9. My client asked the listing not to have a price drop and days in the market. Why doesn’t my MLS allow my clients to do what they ask?
Transparency brings profits to buyers and sellers.
Hiding market data creates unfair benefits for some sellers while misleading consumers and reducing trust in the system.
10. Why does MLS say, “If you don’t like our rules, you don’t have to be a member of MLS”?
MLS is not exclusive. A collaborative platform designed to protect consumer interests and agent cooperation. Brokers can choose not to become subscribers and promote the list differently.
Cooperation with similar data provides a better experience for consumers and agents. Without a unified MLS system, agents will be stuck managing multiple fragmented databases, making transactions less efficient and confusing.
In short, clear cooperation is about fairness, transparency and efficiency, not self-interest. Promoting to eliminate what is useful for a specific business model and small set of agents rather than consumer benefits.
