Real Estate From The Trenches

For Sale, But Not to You? The Fight Over Private Listings and Buyer Access

October 3, 2026

UPDATE: Well, we did not have to wait long to see whether this fight was really headed to court. On October 5, 2026, CRMLS sued Compass in federal court, one day before Compass’s deadline for CRMLS to change its rules or face an antitrust lawsuit. Read my follow up on CRMLS suing Compass and what it means for the private listing fight here.

After the Sitzer/Burnett commission litigation, the DOJ scrutiny, the Clear Cooperation battles and all the other disruption the real estate industry has been through, you might think we would be running out of major fights. Apparently not. The next one may be over something even more fundamental: who actually gets access to homes that are for sale.

Opening Up the MLS: Good for the Industry, Even if It Hurts at First

November 26, 2025

The National Association of REALTORS® just made a move that, frankly, they should have made a long time ago. By removing the requirement that MLSs only serve REALTORS®, NAR is no longer forcing agents into association membership just to get access to the MLS (though it was an “optional rule”, many MLS’s, if not most, throughout the country have adopted it). That might sound like a subtle policy tweak, but it could end up reshaping the entire structure of organized real estate.

For many MLSs, this change simply brings national policy in line with what they were already doing. CRMLS, Bright MLS, HAR, and several others have allowed non-REALTORS® to subscribe for years. Now others like SmartMLS in Connecticut and Doorify in North Carolina are following suit.

Want to See Real Chaos? Try Buying a Home Without the MLS

August 14, 2025

Think the American housing market is a mess? Try buying a home in Europe.

In a recent Business Insider article, James Rodriguez recapped real estate executive Brian Boero’s frustrating experience buying a second home in Italy, a process that felt like, in Boero’s words, “feeling around in the dark.” No reliable listing portal, no pricing consistency, and no central database. Just window shopping (literally) and chasing down agents who may or may not know what’s actually for sale.

MLS Subscribers Surge Past Realtors as Access Models Shift

June 11, 2025

Number of MLS members vs Realtor Members

The MLS is Growing, But Not the Way You Might Think

The structure of organized real estate in the U.S. is undergoing a quiet but meaningful transformation, and for agents and brokers navigating multiple markets, the implications are real.

The Growing Push for Private Listing Networks: What Home Sellers Need to Know

March 20, 2025

A growing number of real estate brokerages are steering sellers toward private listing networks rather than listing homes on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). According to a January 2025 Harris/Zillow poll, this shift is happening despite a lack of consumer awareness about what private listings mean—and how they can impact a home sale.

The survey of over 2,000 U.S. adults highlights an alarming trend: most sellers aren’t being given all the facts about listing options. Here’s what you need to know before deciding where to list your home.