Could agents replace portals with a platform they own and govern?

"We take the listings. We walk the homes. We sit at the kitchen tables. We negotiate the deals. And then, somewhere between the listing agreement and the closing table, we hand the keys to our business over to companies that have never sold a house in their lives. It's time for an agent-owned national MLS or portal. I want to float an idea. It may make some powerful industry leaders uncomfortable, and that's alright. The agents who take the listings should own the platform where those listings are shared with each other and presented to the public. Not a vendor. Not a portal. Not a tech company in Seattle. Us."

"I have enormous respect for the MLS model. The local MLSs were built by hardworking people, and the underlying idea, agents pooling their listings so every agent and their buyer has a fair shot at every home, is one of the most beautiful cooperative ideas any American industry has ever produced. That part isn't broken. What's broken is that the cooperative tool we built for ourselves has been layered, year after year, with rules we no longer set, fees we no longer control, and mandates we never voted on."

"And the public-facing side of our work has quietly been carried off by third parties that built billion-dollar audiences on the back of our listings and now sell that audience right back to us. That isn't a conspiracy. It's just what happens when professionals stop paying attention. Picture this with me. One national MLS. Every listing in America in one place. Owned by the agents who take those listings. Every member an owner. Every owner a shareholder. The shareholders elect a board. The board hires the people who run it."

American real estate agents currently have less control over how listings are shared, marketed, and monetized than they do now. Agents take listings, tour homes, negotiate deals, and then transfer control of their business to companies that have not sold houses. The MLS concept is respected for its cooperative pooling of listings so every agent and buyer has a fair chance. What is seen as broken is the layering of rules, fees, and mandates set by others, plus the public-facing distribution being handled by third parties that build large audiences using agents’ listings and then sell that audience back to agents. A proposed solution is a single national MLS containing every listing, owned by the agents who list them, with member ownership, elected governance, and hired management.

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