Where Real Estate Gets Its Dirt

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/

More WIFM

MetroTex to match NTREIS broker payments ‘dollar for dollar’

Last week I gave NTREIS style points for paying brokers for their listing content. The week since has been busy. MetroTex, which represents about 70% of NTREIS’s 53,000 subscribers, will match the checks dollar for dollar out of its own pocket. Here’s MetroTex CEO Justin Landon, via Andrea Brambila (good to have her back) at Real Estate News:

“The fees our marketplace generates come to us first, and we remit NTREIS their wholesale portion. So when we match these funds, it isn’t symbolic. It’s MetroTex putting our own retail dollars behind the same commitment NTREIS is making.”

A Realtor association spending its own retail margin to double an MLS’s broker checks. Yowza!

It gets more interesting in Louisiana. Word on the street is NWLAR’s board votes July 16 on its own match, but only for subscribers who are also Realtors. That’s an association writing checks to keep people Realtors. NAR should be taking notes, and possibly a collection.

I also said last week that NTREIS wasn’t the first broker revenue share program. Here’s the name I owed you: MARIS in St. Louis, back in December. Metered vendor feeds, every data-feed dollar passed through to brokers as an equal share per closed listing, revenue neutral in the budget, good year or bad. Office exclusives get nothing. The 23rd largest MLS in the country did it seven months earlier and got almost none of the ink.

One more thing buried in Brambila’s story. NTREIS takes over rule enforcement from its 16 shareholder associations at the end of 2026, and NWLAR’s CEO is “very excited” to hand it over, partly to “derisk” the association. Checks go out the front door, power consolidates through the back.

Cooperative compensation is dead. Long live cooperative compensation!

Aligned Showings Hits 6 Million Showing Milestone

Aligned Showings recently announced in a Summer Update that over 6,000,000 showing have been approved in Aligned Showings. The update also highlighted other news.

  • ARMLS launched the ShowingTime integration on June 10, joining RMLS and UtahRealEstate.com
  • Metro MLS scheduled to launch the ShowingTime integration mid-July
  • Backend performance improvements

New Features In Progress

  • Listing agent ability to edit and add to feedback survey
  • A separate broadcast message can be sent to past and future approved showings
  • More options to enable/disable types of notifications
  • Listing agent can add documents to be included with requested or approved showing requests
  • Routes: Request showings on a route one at a time and Change date of route
  • Add global settings option for showing team members – ability to create a member list for the showing side that will be added to all new showing requests
  • Improve interactivity of map display when searching for listings in Aligned Showings
  • Broker ability to run reports for entire office
  • Mobile performance improvement
  • Price Point Analysis and My Showings Activity reports added to mobile

Traci Anderson, product owner for Aligned Showings did a demo of Aligned Showing on the MLSListings YouTube, which is a great overview of the product. Schedule a Demo.

Fresh Listings, Fresh Trouble

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

Overview

Rob and Greg kick off with some World Cup talk before diving into the Zillow vs. Compass preliminary injunction hearing, covering media coverage (Real Estate News, Inman, Nick Alfenkamp’s Substack), key testimony from Errol Samuelson on listing freshness, and cross-examination details involving Robert Reffkin and MRED. They debate whether Zillow “rules the industry” or whether the MLS cooperative model still holds, unpack what legitimate competition looks like in real estate, and explore what Compass’s strategy should be going forward — doubling down on agents vs. positioning against AI and big tech. The episode closes with a wide-ranging, contentious debate on whether private/exclusive listings carry fair housing implications tied to America’s history of housing discrimination.

Key Takeaways

  • Coverage of the Zillow vs. Compass hearing came primarily from Real Estate News, Inman (AJ Trace), and Nick Alfenkamp’s Substack; Zillow reportedly covered Alfenkamp’s travel expenses to the trial.
  • Errol Samuelson testified that a new listing gets significantly more views on its first day than by day five, framing the core dispute as who gets to benefit from “fresh” listings — the listing broker/MLS cooperative or the largest portal (Zillow).
  • Reporting suggested Robert Reffkin encouraged Bright MLS to follow MRED’s example and reacted negatively when Bright chose to stay neutral; MRED had reportedly run private listing networks for a decade before Compass became a major player there.
  • Rob argues MLS rules were broken and Zillow is seeking a legal exemption; Greg counters that broker cooperatives generally avoid side deals with MLSs to preserve a level playing field.
  • A ruling from the judge is expected around the end of the month.
  • Rob and Greg discuss Compass strategy options: positioning as a tech company (rejected by Wall Street), inventory/listing differentiation (private listings), and scaling via agent count (the Anywhere deal). Greg suggests Compass should double down on agent quality/reputation and buyer-demand data rather than “cheat codes” like exclusive inventory.
  • They debate potential enemies for a Compass marketing strategy — NAR, Zillow, or AI/big tech broadly — with Rob arguing consumer trust in tech companies has shifted negatively in recent years.
  • Extended debate on whether competing on exclusive inventory is illegitimate specifically in real estate (vs. law, banking, etc.), including whether fair housing history and housing discrimination sensitivities explain the industry’s resistance to private listings.

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]

One of the things I’ve always enjoyed about this industry is that some of the best ideas don’t come from the stage. They come from the conversations.

The conversations about what’s working, what’s changing, and what everyone is trying to figure out next.

That’s what I like about the Thrive Broker Summit.

For two days, brokers, industry leaders, and companies serving the brokerage community will be in the same room talking about the issues shaping the business today. Technology, AI, operations, growth, and the realities of running a brokerage are all on the agenda.

The sessions are important. So are the conversations before the first session, after the last session, and everywhere in between. That’s where ideas get challenged, relationships get built, and you often leave with something you didn’t expect.

If you’re a broker, I’d encourage you to take a look.

Register here:
https://thrivebrokersummit.com/

P.S. If you’d like to get a feel for what Thrive is all about, here’s a recap from last year’s event:

WIFM?

A new MLS value proposition from North Texas Real Estate Information Systems: Pay the brokers

Every MLS in the country is getting the same question this year: what do brokers get for their data? MRED answered with a Compass partnership. CRMLS answered with an off-Zillow switch. NTREIS just answered with a check. Seven figures, self-funded, no data deal attached, going out this month to brokers based on listings entered, data completeness, and deals that actually closed. Here’s CEO Chris Carrillo:

“Brokers are the purpose behind the MLS and its primary content provider. The listings they input fuel the marketplace, provide transparency for buyers and sellers, and drive fair housing. NTREIS Rewards puts that value back where it belongs.”

Brokers have been grumbling for decades that the MLS charges them for access to their own data, then sells it back to them. This is what it looks like when an MLS finally answers the grumble. And note the direction: the rewards tilt toward brokers who kept their data clean and opted into syndication. While half the industry is hanging velvet ropes and calling it a business model, NTREIS is paying for the opposite.

This isn’t the first, or last, broker revenue share program. But it gets a lot of style points from me.

Time Flies

My son Toby attended Apple Camp at an Apple Store as a kid. Now he works at an Apple Store and teaches Apple Camp himself.

Sponsored By Thrive