Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

Thrive Broker Summit [Sponsor]

The Thrive Broker Summit is a broker-focused event created by CRMLS to bring together brokerage leaders, MLS executives, and industry experts for conversations about where real estate is headed. The agenda covers everything from AI and technology to brokerage strategy, MLS data, and the future of organized real estate.

If your company builds products or services for brokers, it’s also an opportunity to be part of those conversations.

Sponsorships are available for companies that want to support the event and connect with the people helping shape the industry.

You can learn more about the sponsorship opportunities here:

Sponsorship Package

Congress Would Like a Word

Robert Reffkin and Rebecca Jensen you got mail! The House Judiciary’s antitrust subcommittee sent both CEOs letters asking for briefings on the Compass/MRED partnership, “as soon as possible” and no later than August 5. The concern, straight from the letters, is that the deal:

Judiciary subcommittee summons Compass, MRED CEOs for briefing

“could limit competition by fragmenting inventory, weakening price competition, and creating “velvet ropes” around certain properties that limit access to a select group of potential buyers, potentially limiting consumer choice”

“Velvet ropes.” On congressional letterhead. That phrasing sounds familar, and apparently Washington has been taking notes.

Now walk with me…. The Consumer Federation of America asks the DOJ and FTC to review Compass’s MLS agreements. Senators Warren and Wyden want scrutiny of the Anywhere deal. The New York AG opens an antitrust inquiry. Zillow drags everybody into federal court in Chicago. And now a House Judiciary subcommittee wants both CEOs in the room within two weeks. Here’s the part that should get Compass’s attention: this subcommittee is chaired by Scott Fitzgerald, a Republican from Wisconsin. Warren and Wyden are one thing. When the letters start coming from both sides of the aisle, “this is just politics” stops working as a talking point.

MRED’s response: “Whether it’s our customers or this committee, we’re always happy to help.” Never change, Rebecca.
Compass? Nothing yet. The guy who personally emails MLS CEOs across the country didn’t have a comment ready.

Nobody got subpoenaed. A briefing is the meeting you take so you don’t get the hearing or the subpoena.

Compass’ FAFO moment might be about to happen and something tells me saying “seller’s choice” a hundred times isn’t going to work.

Looking for a new gig?

Vice President of Sales – Rapattoni

“We are looking for a Vice President of Sales with proven experience in generating new customer partnerships, conducting effective software demonstrations, negotiating and closing deals. In this role the VP of Sales will conduct compelling demonstrations of our products and travel to customers virtually and on-site. The ideal candidate must be an entrepreneurial leader who thrives on building scalable processes and driving hyper-growth. The VP of Sales will be a part of our company culture that provides excellent service to our customers.”

To find out about this job or more please visit the Giant Steps Job Board

Better Than a Kick in the Nuts

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

Overview

Rob and Greg dig into the recent wave of MLS/association rev-share and rebate programs (NTREIS, MetroTex, Louisiana REALTORS, Bright MLS, CRMLS) as a new play in the old “sell real estate data to Wall Street” story — and debate whether cash incentives can actually replace cooperation now that compensation is no longer guaranteed.

Key Takeaways

  • Rev-share/rebate programs mark a shift from data-monetization business models (RPR, REdistribute, Cotality/CoreLogic’s InfoNet) toward paying brokers directly to stay engaged with the MLS
  • NTREIS, MetroTex, and Louisiana REALTORS have all announced versions of this; Bright MLS reportedly returned $4M to brokers last year
  • Rob argues real estate data’s value depends on geography/scale, use-case restrictions, and the broker-vs-participant pricing gap — and that MLSs need to consolidate to matter as data utilities
  • Rob’s old “Decentre” concept: charge everyone the same flat per-data-unit price regardless of broker/participant/hedge-fund status
  • Both raise the Blackstone/Google “arbitrage” problem — nothing stops a big buyer from just getting a broker license to access cheaper participant pricing (Zillow already does this)
  • Rob’s take: these incentive programs implicitly admit that cooperation, once free, now needs to be paid for
  • Greg pushes back that it’s more behavioral nudging (like data showing 10 CMA reports predicts retention) than a sign cooperation is dying
  • Middlemen erode payouts fast — Rob’s math: eight cuts at 5% each wipes out ~40% of the value
  • Rob compares the “usage-based” data pricing idea to Claude’s flat token pricing vs. a hypothetical usage-dependent AI pricing model — most people would pick the flat rate
  • Both agree the checks brokers get today are more symbolic than behavior-changing

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

Hey Lucy, Do My Data Entry

Rechat Wants Agents To Ditch The Keyboard For Its AI Assistant, Lucy

“Agents have never enjoyed typing notes into a CRM. We ask people who sell with their voice to sit down and type, then blame them for not doing it. Hey, Lucy does the data entry for you. An agent walks up to a listing, says a few words, and the work gets done instantly.”

— Audie Chamberlain, VP of Strategic Growth and Communications, Rechat

I’m still a bit hesitant to say voice entry will be the primary way we interact with computers, I’ve written about it before. But, there is a lot of evidence that it will be. And lots of companies are betting on this. And the industry has been trying to solve “agents won’t update the CRM” for as long as I’ve been in it. Rechat’s answer is to stop asking them to type at all.

The campaign itself is the interesting part. Spots run 15 to 60 seconds, shot handheld in natural light, no narration, no feature lists. Just agents at listings, in cars, at open houses, talking to Lucy while the work gets done. That’s a confident way to sell software. Although I have no idea the quality of the CMA (or other output) it creates. I imagine them to be designed with the assumption they will be consumed on a mobile device.

Unlike some legacy apps Lucy isn’t some ChatGPT-era rebrand or bolt on. Shayan Hamidi has been building toward this since before “AI assistant” was a required slide in every pitch deck.

First Real’s HeyLeo, now Hey Lucy. Every platform’s AI is on a first-name basis with us now.

The ads run through the end of summer on Meta, Google, and national sites. If the demos hold up in the field, great. If not… Lucy, you got some ‘splainin’ to do.

See you in San Diego

Santanu Barua from VestaPlus: Why your Next MLS Won’t Look Like Today’s

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

Overview

Greg Robertson talks with Santanu Barua, CTO of Vesta Plus, the tech platform owned by the Combined LA/Westside MLS (CLAW), about his path into MLS tech, the Checkmate compliance product, and Vesta Plus’s approach to AI and MCP servers.

Key Takeaways

  • Vesta Plus is a wholly owned subsidiary of CLAW, licensing its homegrown MLS tech to other MLSs since 2018
  • Santanu’s path: EE/CS at University of Houston → mortgage tech at Countrywide (2001–06) → MLS technology since 2006
  • Checkmate, born from a talk with former CLAW COO Gigi Marina, catches violations input rules can’t (bad remarks, photo violations via computer vision) and automates follow-up
  • Products are built modular/extensible so tools like Checkmate can later be sold to other MLSs
  • Vesta Plus has its own MCP server, launching soon to members — part of the “headless MLS” trend (Flex MLS/FBS also offers this)
  • Data access runs through a controlled API layer, not direct database access, for security
  • Greg pitches a “16 core fields + AI chat for everything else” MLS interface idea
  • They discuss a possible marketplace for member-built AI tools, like custom GPTs
  • New public-facing site (in development ~6 months) will let the public search agents and listings, with agents controlling how much history/testimonials they show
  • Santanu’s AI philosophy: build deliberately on existing data strengths, prioritize security over speed

Contact Santanu: santanu@themls.com

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

Compass to Zillow: hiding listings is our thing!

Compass opens new front against Zillow with complaints to regulators, MLSs

“When sellers choose to publicly market their homes and make them available to the broadest possible audience, Zillow is keeping those listings from buyers because they were not initially prioritized on Zillow,” the spokesperson said over email. “In some cases, Zillow is displaying active, publicly available listings as not for sale.”

You seriously can’t make this shit up.

Bright Idea?

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

Overview

Rob and Greg are joined by Nick Aufenkamp (Realtor Gone Rogue), a Vancouver, WA-based broker and Substack writer, for a debate on the Zillow v. MRED lawsuit, private/exclusive listings, and whether the MLS should function as a public utility. Nick attended the preliminary injunction hearing in person and shares firsthand takeaways on Compass, MRED, and Zillow’s roles in the case, followed by a wide-ranging debate on data access, buyer vs. public rights, Bright MLS’s new listing rules, and NAR’s recent guidance on exclusive listings.

Key Takeaways

  • Nick introduces himself: a broker of ~5 years in Vancouver, WA, founder of the DIY Home Buyer Academy, and writer of the Realtor Gone Rogue Substack, launched in February 2026.
  • Nick recaps the Zillow v. MRED preliminary injunction hearing, which determines whether MRED must keep Zillow’s data feed live for 40,000+ Chicagoland listings.
  • Discussion of whether Compass’s move to feed out-of-state listings into MRED forced MRED’s hand, and whether MRED “got played” in its partnership with Compass.
  • Debate over whether an MLS has an implicit geographic boundary, and who gets to define “objective criteria” for listing access under the 2008 DOJ/NAR settlement.
  • Analysis of Bright MLS’s new rule letting agents skip syndication and price/days-on-market tracking without penalty, and how it could reshape Compass’s “3-phase marketing” strategy.
  • Core philosophical debate: does the general public have any rights to MLS data, or only buyers — and does treating the MLS as a “public utility” mean it should be regulated as one?
  • Rob and Greg spar over whether hiding listing data (price, days on market) erodes public trust or simply reflects a legitimate marketing strategy.
  • Discussion of fiduciary duty and lawsuits as a check on bad-actor brokerages, versus more mandatory disclosure rules.
  • Closing debate on whether NAR is still genuinely invested in the MLS, and whether its recent guidance on exclusive listings is too little, too late.

Links

Realtor Gone Rogue

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

Thrive Broker Summit [Sponsor]

Selling to brokers isn’t easy.

It’s not because they aren’t interested. It’s because they’re busy.

Every company serving brokers is competing for the same inbox, the same calendar, and the same thirty minutes of attention.

That’s why I’ve always thought the value of a good event isn’t the booth or the banner. It’s the conversations that happen because everyone is in the same place.

You learn what brokers are actually worried about. You hear what they’re trying to solve. And sometimes you leave with a relationship that turns into business six months later.

That’s hard to replicate over email.

If your company serves the brokerage community, I’d encourage you to look at Thrive Broker Summit. You’ll certainly get visibility, but more importantly, you’ll have the opportunity to spend time with the people you’re ultimately trying to serve.

Relationships still matter in this business. They always will.

Sponsorship opportunities:
https://thrivebrokersummit.com/sponsorship-package/

Sponsored By Thrive