Compass CEO Robert Lefkin lays out 10 questions he asks in the wake of the NAR committee settlement in his latest debate against the consumer choice and CCP.
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We are always grateful for Gary Keller’s leadership in our industry. When many leaders are silent, he says frankly:
“NAR sold us a long time ago. What drives you absolutely insane is that trade associations aren’t supposed to be in your business.”
“As long as you have rights to your work products, you’re fine. The second is that MLS or NAR, or someone else has it on Realtor.com, or you’ll have it on Trulia. It’s the second to decide that you can’t decide for yourself whether you have or want to have Zillow. As long as that’s your decision, we’re good.”
We did not appreciate the context of these citations sufficiently until the NAR settlement, where our industry collectively paid $1 billion for “essential” NAR and MLS rules. After such a public failure, I have had thousands of agents ask the following questions:
Why did NAR/MLSS hand out lists 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. Why doesn’t MLS let agents see their photos? Why am 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-party agreements” justified? “Maximum exposure equals the maximum price” MLS research claims that it will increase by 17.5% in MLS, and the most sophisticated profit-driven seller of real estate – developers and home builders If you sell more than 300,000 homes, you’ll be off MLS last year? Why doesn’t real estate developers and home builders need to follow clear cooperation when individual homeowners have to follow it? How many homeowners are aware that they will force MLS to give a list to clear cooperation after a day of public marketing? MLS collaboration was designed decades ago for agents to share lists with agents from other brokerage companies. Why are agents forced to “work” with companies that do not have agents, listings, or 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? Why is the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigating NAR’s clear cooperation policies? DOJv. A judge in the suit during NAR (April 2024) said why DOJ “believes that a clear cooperation policy will limit housing options and eliminate competition from new listing services.” mosquito? ” I saw DOJ asked NAR to change its clear cooperation to allow homeowners to publish 60 days (rather than one day) from MLS. Why is NAR not doing what the DOJ asked? My client asked the listing not to have a history of prices or days in the market. Why doesn’t my MLS allow my clients to do what they ask? In response to such a question, why does MLS say, “If you don’t like our rules, you don’t have to be a member of MLS”? And rules like clear cooperation are preventing me from competing with my local MLS, alternative listing systems that can offer me multiple options.
There are so many questions like these that there are no good answers. NAR and MLSS should remove “required” rules such as clear cooperation that lead to these concerns. Force agents and their clients to do things they don’t want to do is not a victory strategy.
Robert Lefkin is the founder and CEO of Compass.
