Vendor Alley

Webinar: The State of CMA: 2026 Insights

September 3rd, 2026

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:

Key insights from the survey
Why real estate agents think a CMA is more relevant than ever.
My thoughts on AI and pricing
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”?

September 2nd, 2026

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]

September 2nd, 2026

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]

September 1st, 2026

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]

August 31st, 2026

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

August 28th, 2026

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

August 27th, 2026

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

Gitcha
The Buyer Listing Service

Production and editing services by:

Sunbound Studios

Aggregation Aggravation?

August 26th, 2026

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

Overview

Rob and Greg open with Greg’s car breaking down in 112-degree heat outside Barstow, then dig into the FTC’s settlement with Zillow and Redfin over their leasing business deal, which regulators viewed as an attempt to dodge merger review. From there, the two spend most of the episode debating a bigger question raised by Rob’s recent exchange with Mike Wurzer: did the MLS create genuinely new value by aggregating listings, or was that value always meant for real estate professionals rather than consumers? The conversation ranges across aggregation theory, the history of IDX and portal dominance (Zillow, Redfin, realtor.com), whether companies like House Canary and paper brokerages even qualify as “brokerages,” and the 2008 DOJ settlement’s actual scope. It closes with a debate over how to legally define a broker at all.

Key Takeaways

The FTC pushed back on Zillow’s attempt to acquire Redfin’s leasing business without triggering merger review; the settlement requires Redfin to restart its own rental business, though it can still display Zillow rental listings.
Rob calls the $100M settlement a “slap on the wrist” rather than a real penalty for either company.
Rob’s central argument: the MLS’s aggregation of listings created value primarily for practitioners, comparable to Lexis Nexis and Westlaw’s value to lawyers, not inherent value for consumers.
Greg counters that aggregation itself creates new value regardless of who captures it, and that consumers clearly benefit from having listings in one place.
The two trace the history of real estate going online — IDX, the rise of Zillow, Redfin, and realtor.com — and agree the portals won because they outspent brokerages on user experience.
Rob argues the industry should unwind IDX in favor of straight data syndication to portals, separating “cooperation” (MLS’s original purpose) from “data distribution” (a later add-on).
Greg pushes back that most agents don’t actually get leads from portals directly, but Rob argues that undercuts the case for IDX mattering to them at all.
A long tangent debates whether entities like House Canary or paper brokerages qualify as “brokerages,” and whether the 2008 DOJ settlement (about brokerage business-model discrimination) supports keeping IDX — Rob says no, Greg disagrees.
The episode ends unresolved, with both agreeing to continue the debate and possibly bring Mike Wurzer on to discuss further.

Links

Debating Rob Hahn In Ohio: Are MLSs Killing Themselves?

Continuing the Debate with Mike Wurzer

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

BMLD

August 25th, 2026

Be More Like Dolly. What an incredible human being. Rest In Peace.

What’s a Broker, Anyway?

August 20th, 2026

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

Overview

Rob and Greg open by unpacking the news that a federal judge has finally approved the Sitzer/Burnett settlement, tossing out remaining objections — officially closing that chapter for NAR and the industry. They debate whether this outcome was a “win” for NAR, discuss the power vacuum left in organized real estate’s wake, and praise NAR’s recent social media/PR efforts (specifically an Instagram explainer video). The bulk of the episode digs into Unlock MLS’s new tiered participant framework (base service, direct service brokerage, platform brokerage) — sparked by an op-ed from Emily Gerrard — and what it means to legally and philosophically define “what is a broker” in a post-compensation, post-NAR-settlement world. Rob and Greg spar over whether MLSs should double down on being cooperatives of brokerages or pivot to being data-licensing utilities, using Zillow, Homes.com, and hypotheticals (including an adult-content site and a NJ lead-gen “broker”) as test cases.

Key Takeaways

The Sitzer/Burnett settlement has been fully approved after the 8th Circuit rejected remaining objections
NAR reportedly told lawyers to negotiate the maximum settlement amount it could actually afford, effectively avoiding insolvency
Rob argues NAR is no longer the center of gravity in real estate, leaving a “power vacuum” in the industry
Both hosts praised a recent NAR Instagram explainer (legal/stats update) as a strong new-media format worth other associations copying
Rob floats the idea of NAR/MLS leadership doing authentic, unscripted weekly podcasts or livestreams to rebuild member trust
Unlock MLS introduced a new three-tier participant structure: base service, direct service brokerage, and platform brokerage
Emily Gerrard’s op-ed on Real Estate News argues participant definitions should be reframed around data usage rather than identity
Rob strongly supports Unlock’s move, calling it the biggest MLS innovation in decades; Greg is more skeptical of redefining “participant” and prefers a pure data-licensing approach
They debate whether Zillow, Homes.com, and similar platforms should be treated as “brokers” vs. licensed data users
Rob predicts Unlock will likely face a lawsuit over the new rules but believes they’d win
The 2008 DOJ/VOW settlement is revisited as historical context for why MLS participant rules can’t discriminate by business model
Discussion touches on AI/data governance, referencing a framework around who controls AI’s access to listing data
Episode closes with a running bet: Rob wagers Greg a steak dinner that fewer than 1% of brokers would define a broker as “a website that generates leads”