Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

9 Listings

MRED cuts off listing feeds to Zillow

“Zillow has effectively decided not to display 99.98% of MRED’s listings on its platforms because it, in its own judgment, disagrees with the lawful marketing strategy associated with the remaining 0.02% of listings.”

Let that sink in. Nine listings.

That’s MRED’s line, and it’s a good one. But it works in both directions.

Zillow pulled 43,000 Chicago listings off its platform because it refused to display nine Compass Private Exclusives. That’s the hill Zillow chose. And honestly? I think it’s the right hill. Because if Zillow caves on nine today, it’s not nine tomorrow. It’s ninety. Then nine hundred. Then every listing that got pocket-listed first gets laundered through an MLS and shows up on Zillow like nothing happened. Zillow’s whole pitch to consumers is “see everything.” The moment they start making exceptions for Compass’s private listing machine, that pitch is dead.

But here’s the thing. Those nine listings? They’re not even in Chicago. They’re Compass Private Exclusives in California, Florida, and Georgia. MRED, a regional MLS in Lisle, Illinois, cut off 43,000 Chicagoland listings to force Zillow to display nine homes thousands of miles away. That’s also a hill to die on. And it’s a weird one.

MRED changed its own rules last October, after Compass CEO Robert Reffkin personally emailed MLSs across the country asking them to cut Zillow’s feeds. Then MRED went national with Compass as its first partner, with Compass subsidizing the first 100,000 agents. Then MRED demanded Zillow display Compass listings nationwide or lose everything. And when Zillow said no, MRED pulled the trigger.

That’s not rules enforcement. That’s a favor.

Now, Zillow isn’t doing this out of the goodness of its heart. Their “transparency” standards happen to protect a lead-gen business that made them $1.8 billion last year. They know that. I know that. But being self-interested and being right aren’t mutually exclusive.

The judge seemed to agree… sort of. The TRO put MRED’s listings back on Zillow but told Zillow it can’t exclude MRED listings either. Both sides claimed victory. Which means nobody actually won.

And that brings us back to nine.

Nine listings that Compass didn’t want on the open market. Nine listings that Zillow refused to display. Nine listings that MRED was willing to nuke 43,000 Chicago listings over. Nine listings that a federal judge had to sort out on a Friday afternoon.

Compass calls this “seller’s choice.” But when 72% of your private listings double-end and 68% of sellers say their agent never explained what private even means, that’s not choice. That’s a sales pitch wrapped in a permission slip.

I don’t know how this ends. But I know the number everyone will remember.

Nine.

Cotality [Sponsor]

Trust, But Verify: What Homebuyers Really Want from AI

According to Cotality’s recent “Trust, but verify” report, 75% of homebuyers already assume AI is working behind the scenes—whether they’re browsing listings or applying for a mortgage. But just because it’s there doesn’t mean they fully trust it.

There’s actually a growing gap between using AI and trusting it. In the U.S., confidence in AI to help find a home has taken a sharp dip. Instead, buyers are increasingly turning back to human experts to double-check those make-or-break decisions.

Buyers want speed—but not at the expense of certainty

AI is clearly helping. It makes things faster and surfaces information quickly. But when it really counts, buyers want to know the information is accurate—and they still want a human “second look”. That’s where tools like Cotality’s Realist® property intelligence platform come in, helping real estate professionals confirm the details. That human layer—verifying and applying information—is what turns uncertainty into confidence.

The takeaway for the industry

AI isn’t going anywhere, but it’s not the whole answer either. The future of real estate is a mix of both—smart technology paired with trusted data and real human expertise.

Read full survey findings here

Zillow Wins Preliminary Injunction – MRED Must Restore IDX and VOW Feeds

Judge orders MRED to restore Zillow listing feeds in Chicago

“In an emailed statement, a Zillow spokesperson told HousingWire, that the ruling on its motion was “an important first step for the Chicago home buyers, sellers and agents who have been harmed by a coordinated scheme between MRED and Compass to reduce transparency in the housing market.” 

“In the middle of a housing affordability crisis, powerful industry players colluded to hide listings, suppress competition and steer consumers toward a single dominant brokerage,” the spokesperson wrote. “The court immediately recognized what was at stake, not just for Zillow, but for every person trying to find or sell a home across Illinois and beyond. We will continue to fight to ensure this anti-consumer conduct is not allowed to take root permanently.”

Welp, it looks like Mr. Reffkin will need find a place to store his billboards.

DAY 3: No Soup for You!

DAY 2

The Struggle is Real

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

Overview

This episode starts with Greg discussing Giant Steps’ new MLS channel guidebook and the growing difficulty vendors face navigating organized real estate. Rob and Greg unpack how MLS relationships, site licenses, and enterprise deals have changed, why vendor distribution is getting harder, and how AI could completely reshape SaaS and real estate technology business models. The conversation then shifts into AI as “labor” rather than just software, token-based economics, infrastructure wars between Zillow, Compass, and the MLS ecosystem, and how the fallout from Sitzer/Burnett continues to reshape the industry. They also debate BLX, MLS cooperation, and whether MLSs are behaving more like governments than businesses.

Key Takeaways

  • Greg explains why MLS site-license deals are becoming rarer and why vendors increasingly need direct-to-agent strategies.
  • Rob compares MLSs to government bureaucracies and argues vendors often need “lobbyists” to navigate the system.
  • Discussion on AI shifting from a SaaS tool to a labor replacement model powered by compute and tokens.
  • Rob and Greg explore how Zillow, Compass, and MLSs are competing to become the core infrastructure layer of real estate.
  • Debate over whether BLX strengthens MLS cooperation or creates a path around traditional MLS systems.
  • The long-term ripple effects of Sitzer/Burnett continue to reshape technology, brokerage, and listing distribution strategies.

Links

The MLS Channel Field Guide – From Giant Steps

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

Cotality [Sponsor]

Floor plans—from scan to listing-ready in MINUTES

AI is opening up new possibilities in real estate—and at Cotality, it’s built directly into everyday workflows to improve listing quality, strengthen marketing, and give agents more time back.

Cotality’s new CorePlans™ is a great example. It lets agents automatically generate detailed floor plans, room dimensions, and descriptions directly from their iPhone Pro. 

Leveraging LiDAR technology and Cotality’s proprietary CoreAI, agents can create ANSI-compliant floor plans in minutes—eliminating the traditional 24–48 hour processing turnaround— with 99.96% accuracy. Fully integrated into Matrix™, everything uploads with one tap, with room dimensions and descriptions automatically added to the listing.

According to a 2025 WAV Group study, 85% of buyers find floor plans extremely valuable. They are the new essential marketing standard that buyers expect. 

There’s a clear gap between what buyers want and what most listings deliver. CorePlans help close that gap. 

Available first to MLSs with the new Matrix Listing Manager, then rolling out to additional providers that meet requirements. Want to learn more? For more information, reach out to your Cotality rep to schedule a demo or visit cotality.com.

Did MRED Blink?

I’m not sure of the particulars of how the feeds work, and I know that some Chicagoland brokerages have already worked out sending listings directly in to Zillow. But this listing (from Keller Williams) this morning appears to be new, “1 minute on Zillow” and source is MRED. There are several others as well.

Did MRED back off on its threat to shut down Zillow’s IDX feed?

Anybody have the scoop?

MRED to shut off feeds to Zillow starting tomorrow

No Chicagoland Listings on Zillow

MRED Announces Potential Disruption to Listing Data Feeds to Zillow Group

“The rules of this MLS exist to protect every participating broker and every consumer who relies on a complete and accurate picture of the market,” said Rebecca Jensen, President and CEO of MRED. “Those rules apply equally to every participant, regardless of the size of their audience or the reach of their platform. MRED enforces its rules consistently and fairly, and hopes that Zillow returns to operating consistent with its longstanding agreements with MRED.”

Translation: Dracarys.

Zillow sues MRED and Compass

Zillow sues MRED and Compass for conspiring to hide home listings from buyers and restrict competition

“In April 2026, MRED and Compass announced a formal partnership to expand MRED’s private listing network nationwide. It allowed Compass agents anywhere in the country to enter listings into MRED’s system — supposedly to “protect” those listings from pro-transparency platforms like Zillow. The explicit purpose was to extend MRED’s monopoly leverage far beyond the Chicago region and force competitors nationwide to abandon consumer protections. 

MRED made good on the deal almost immediately. By early May 2026, MRED demanded that Zillow reinstate Compass private listings in states hundreds of miles outside MRED’s territory — listings from agents who had already been warned they were violating Zillow’s consumer standards. 

The same day, the technology provider that distributes MRED’s listing feed threatened to terminate Zillow’s access entirely if it did not comply. MRED CEO Rebecca Jensen also serves as chair of that distributor’s board of managers, meaning the same person controlled both the threat and the mechanism for carrying it out.”

It’s a fight that had to happen. And it’s going to get really messy. In my estimation Compass has a lot more to lose than anyone else. Zillow has shown it can pivot. But Compass has gone all in on their 3-phased marketing strategy and that’s what’s at stake.

And at the end of the day, can anyone tell me what MRED is fighting for? What do the other members of MLS GRID think?

My main fear is that the biggest loser will be the organized real estate industry itself. Zillow in my estimation has the strongest voice to the consumer. And as the saying goes, “you don’t fight the man with the microphone.” If Zillow can successfully push the narrative that Compass is hiding listings from buyers and restricting competition, then the blow back will affect all of us.

Is anyone else afraid of checking their email nowadays? Can we all just pop a gummy and chill out for a while?

Sponsored By Cotality