Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Who’s Marketplace?

The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player!

Overview

Rob and Greg dig into the Northwest MLS settlement with Compass, unpacking what it signals for the industry beyond the specific deal terms. The core debate: has Northwest MLS quietly redefined “open marketplace” to mean the MLS itself (its paying subscribers) rather than the open internet — and if so, is that a genuine philosophical shift or just a pragmatic compromise to get lawyers off the clock? They dive into the “First Look” compromise, real numbers on how many listings actually go private, why Zillow treats this as an existential threat, and whether a bigger “grand compromise” between brokers and MLSs is still coming.

Key Takeaways

– Northwest MLS and Compass reached a settlement/compromise rather than continuing costly litigation.
– Rob’s central argument: NWMLS is effectively redefining “open marketplace” as its member agents/brokers, not the general public internet.
– The compromise centers on “First Look” — a window where members can see listings before they hit the public MLS/internet.
– Greg pushes back that this is more pragmatic business compromise than a deep philosophical shift.
– Cited numbers: roughly 96% of listings still go straight to the MLS; of the remaining ~4% held privately, only about 10% actually sell.
– Rob argues Zillow’s aggressive opposition to private listings stems from fear the practice could scale dramatically due to competitive incentives for brokers.
– Windermere reportedly has the most exclusive listings in Northwest MLS despite historically opposing this practice publicly.
– New Northwest MLS rule requires listing agents get equal visibility to buyer agents on portals and websites.
– Consumer advocates (Nick Aufenkamp, Wendy Gilch) argue this shift hurts buyers by fragmenting where listings are visible.
– Rob floats a “grand compromise” concept: everything goes into the MLS, but brokers get full marketing freedom outside that requirement.
– The conversation touches on Glenn Kelman/Redfin’s more consumer-mission-driven leadership as a philosophical counterpoint to the “customer = agents” framing.
– Both agree litigation risk (state inquiries, potential class actions) remains a live wildcard going forward.

Links

OpenAI Astra 
Direction of Travel
In the listing wars, consumers are a proxy for the real customer

Connect with Rob and Greg

Rob’s Website 

Greg’s Website 

Watch us on YouTube

Our Sponsors:

Cotality 

Notorious VIP

The Giant Steps Job Board 

Production and Editing Services by Sunbound Studios

Three numbers. One date.

I’ll explain soon.

#331 #realestate #comingsoon

Who really has sovereignty over MLS data? [Sponsor]

How can we be the best stewards of our data? It’s a question every MLS, broker, and agent is asking, and one that deserves a straight answer.

FBS believes the MLS is the true steward of its database, and brokers own their individual listings—that’s a winning combination. Their technology is built to support this, giving your team simple, effective tools to manage data based on your specific market, honor broker distribution preferences, and keep compliance straightforward with built-in tracking. With the Spark Datamart, They’ve brought licensing, approvals, and usage tracking together into one central, easy-to-use dashboard for your team. They’re also introducing new photo watermarking technology, so you can easily verify that your listing photos are being displayed exactly as agreed.

The result is a data model shaped around each MLS’s own market and its own policies, not a template FBS hands down the same way to everyone. For an MLS weighing the long-term value of its data, that’s a distinction worth understanding.

One Partner. Unlimited Potential. See how to put your MLS’s data ownership to work

Thanks again to FBS for supporting Vendor Alley this month.

Webinar: The State of CMA: 2026 Insights

My friends at Lone Wolf have asked me to participate in a webinar later this month about “The state of CMA”. I’ll be joined by my friend Kyle Hunter. We will go over some of the results of our joint survey, Best Practices for CMAs and Listings Presentations, Giant Steps did with Lone Wolf.

Here’s the link to register: Webinar: The State of CMA: 2026 Insights

If you run an MLS and want to promote some good information for your members please share the link!

We will be discussing a few things:

  1. Key insights from the survey
  2. Why real estate agents think a CMA is more relevant than ever.
  3. My thoughts on AI and pricing
  4. Why a “driveway CMA” is a HORRIBLE idea.

Things might get spicy!

Join us on Thursday, September 17 at 2:30pm Eastern

What is an MLS based on “First Principles”?

The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player!

Overview

Rob and Greg are joined by Michael Wurzer, President and CEO of FBS, for a live continuation of the IDX/data-distribution debate that started at the Columbus Realtors event and continued in a series of dueling LinkedIn posts. Rob argues the MLS should get out of data distribution and marketing entirely; Wurzer defends a reformed, usage-based IDX system; Greg plays referee. The conversation ranges from first-principles arguments about what the MLS is actually for, to pricing and licensing models, to whether a national MLS is closer than anyone thinks.

Key Takeaways

  • Wurzer proposes keeping IDX but shifting to volume/usage-based licensing instead of blowing up the current system
  • Rob argues the MLS’s only legitimate first-principle purpose is brokerage cooperation, not data distribution or marketing
  • Wurzer: licenses should follow use — display rights are separable from participation rights
  • Rob compares reforming IDX incrementally to “improving slavery” rather than abolishing it — Greg pushes back hard
  • Wurzer references Craig Cheatham’s writing on shifting licensing focus to how data is used, not who’s using it
  • Discussion of whether non-broker companies (House Canary, Zillow, OpenAI) should get separate syndication licenses distinct from broker/participant data licenses
  • Rob argues MLS “creates no data” — all data originates from brokers and agents (the “ultimate UGC”)
  • Wurzer counters that aggregation itself has independent value, distinct from the underlying listings
  • Debate over whether a national MLS is realistic — Rob claims only ~25 MLSs are needed to reach 85% listing share
  • Both agree clear cooperation as a nationwide mandate was likely a policy mistake
  • Wurzer references Daniel Jones (Hive) as working on a formal “MLS constitution” concept

Links

Riposte with Rob

Connect with Rob and Greg

Rob’s Website 

Greg’s Website 

Watch us on YouTube

Our Sponsors:

Cotality 

Notorious VIP

The Giant Steps Job Board 

Production and Editing Services by Sunbound Studios

AI tools you will actually want to use  [Sponsor]

A feature earns a headline. A habit earns its place in someone’s workday. FBS’s approach to AI is to earn that place in your workflow, building tools you’ll utilize without thinking twice.

Prefer your own AI tool? The Flexmls MCP server gives it direct, secure access to real-time Flexmls data, so you can bring the tool you already like and get answers grounded in accurate MLS data. The same connection turns an MLS’s own rules, forms, and policies into an AI-searchable resource, giving MLS staff and subscribers fast, reliable answers exactly when they need them.

Prefer a tool that works inside Flexmls itself? An AI Assistant will soon give you the ability to get answers, analyze MLS data, generate reports, and more, all without leaving the MLS system. Alongside it, Auto Assistant+ speeds up listing entry by auto-populating fields from photos and existing listing data, for quicker, more complete listings. Together, they turn the MLS into something agents actively reach for to manage their business and understand their client relationships more clearly.

Whether you’re pulling data or putting AI to work analyzing it, FBS keeps you grounded in real MLS data you can trust, built around how you already work, not someone else’s idea of how AI should feel. 

One Partner. Unlimited Potential. See how FBS is building AI worth using

My thanks again to FBS for sponsoring Vendor Alley this month.

FBS [Sponsor]

If you’ve worked around the MLS industry for a while, you probably know FBS or at least one of the products they’ve built.

Flexmls is probably the name most familiar to many of us. FBS has been building technology for the MLS industry for decades, so they’ve had a front-row seat to a lot of change in this business.

This September, FBS is sponsoring Vendor Alley, and I’m happy to have them here.

If you haven’t checked out what they’ve been doing with Flexmls lately, take a look:

Discover Flexmls

Many thanks to FBS for sponsoring Vendor Alley this month.

MLS Reset [Sponsor]

A quick shout-out to MLS RESET for sponsoring Vendor Alley this August.

If you spend any time in the MLS world, you know there’s no shortage of things to talk about right now. MLS RESET is getting a bunch of those people in the same room to do exactly that.

Should be some good conversations.

If you haven’t registered yet, take a look.

Register here

And thanks again to MLS RESET for supporting Vendor Alley.

Gail Liniger passes

From Victor at WAV Group

A Gale, Not a Breeze: Remembering Gail Liniger

“Alongside her husband Dave, Gail built a company from a single Denver office in 1973 into a global network of nearly 145,000 agents across more than 120 countries and territories. She joined the fledgling operation as its first employee in 1971, was promoted to vice president within the year, rose to executive vice president in 1978 and president in 1979, and in 1991 took the reins as CEO, a post she held for close to three decades while leading RE/MAX’s expansion far beyond North America.”

I did a lot of work with RE/MAX back in the early/mid 2000s. Saw her at a couple events, never got to officially meet her, but was always told she was first class.

The Buyer Side of the MLS with Dan Cooper

The Listing Bits Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player!

Overview

Greg Robertson sits down with Dan Cooper, founder of Gitcha and the Buyer Listing Service (BLS), to talk about his path from spec-home builder to real estate broker to proptech founder. They dig into why Dan built a platform that flips traditional reverse prospecting on its head — letting buyers broadcast exactly what they want instead of waiting to be matched — and how that product is rolling out at the MLS level.

Key Takeaways

  • Dan Cooper grew up mostly in Eugene, Oregon, and got into home design and spec building in 2004 without formal architecture training
  • He’s designed over 200 homes and worked alongside his father, who joined the business after exiting the HVAC industry
  • Dan opened a real estate brokerage in May 2020 to better serve clients he couldn’t find homes for
  • The idea for Gitcha originated in 2011 while trying to sell his own home during a market downturn
  • Gitcha is the public-facing product where consumers can view buyer “wants” and reach out to agents
  • BLS (Buyer Listing Service) is the MLS-level input product; agents submit detailed buyer requests, which can optionally syndicate to Gitcha
  • The core pitch: reverse prospecting is static and seller-initiated, while BLS lets buyers steer the market by broadcasting specific, detailed wants
  • Buyer requests can go far beyond standard MLS fields, including narrative detail on exactly what a buyer needs
  • Dan sees the product addressing agent-to-agent communication that’s fragmented across Facebook groups and other informal channels since NAR’s Sitzer-Burnett settlement changed cooperation rules
  • Current MLS/association partners include the Lubbock Association of Realtors, MyBor (BLC), and Momentum MLS in Western Arizona
  • About 5% of MyBor’s members signed up within three weeks of launch, with 120+ buyer listings already in the system
  • Greg and Dan go back and forth on the elevator pitch, landing on “expand inventory” as a cleaner message than “increase supply”
  • Dan credits Greg’s Giant Steps consulting group with early guidance when he was starting the company

Links

Sponsors

Aligned Showings — MLS-owned showing software built to simplify scheduling, improve communication, and keep MLS data where it belongs.

Giant Steps Job Board – Built for organized real estate and PropTech, not generic tech bros and recruiters who don’t know what an MLS is.

Production and editing services by:

Sunbound Studios

Sponsored By FBS