Since MRED pulled Zillow’s IDX feed because Compass and its wholly owned companies’ private exclusive listings violated Zillow’s internal policies, there has been a strong reaction from the real estate industry. Everyone has a position, an opinion, or a prognostication about the future of both teams and their chances to win the World Series. Compass and its companies (the ones they own, not the companies operating under the franchises they bought when Anywhere became Compass International Holdings) are posting all over social media, claiming that Zillow doesn’t have the majority of listings in the Chicagoland Area.
EXP and Nexthome started touting the direct feed they’ve established with Zillow and recommending that midsize and smaller companies do the same (there are some restrictions on advertising elsewhere if you do that, but hey, it’s an individual owner’s choice, right?).
A bunch of people were newsjacking the event (talking about a viral story to elevate their online presence) to amplify their opinions. One in particular found it amazing that Robert Refkin had made deals with four MLSs in a very short time, seeming to indicate a conspiracy or a long-term conspiracy coming to fruition. Another accused Refkin of weaponizing the Compass-affiliated directors of MLSs (my own experience in working with individuals like this has been that they are careful and thoughtful about their roles as directors and have the same good intentions and integrity as any other directors) .
People who don’t like the idea of Zillow or portals in general thought MRED was heroic. People who didn’t like Private Exclusives thought that Refkin had seduced the MLSs with whom he had agreements, and Zillow was the good guy for standing up to them. Everyone seemed to be guilty of confirmation bias in their estimates of why you people were doing what they were doing.
Here’s the Box Score
Robert Refkin and Compass have aligned four MLSs, seeking financial gain or larger membership by aiming for a National MLS—an idea as impractical as perpetual motion or unicorns. This creates a proxy conflict, much like nations using proxy states, with MRED as the proxy. The outcome is uncertain, but MRED is making a bold move toward that high goal.
Zillow’s response to these MLS deals was a pivot back to direct deeds from brokers- harking back to where the portals began. If the MLS isn’t going to play nice, they’ll go directly to the broker to populate their portal in a pinch. It’s time-consuming and challenging, but they’ve executed difficult maneuvers before and seem willing to take it on.
Everyone was ready for the fight, and the real estate industry grabbed a bucket of popcorn and sat in the stands to watch the game. A pitch was made, the batter stood ready …
And then the game was called.
As part of the litigation, Zillow sought an injunction requiring MRED to restore its IDX feed, and it was granted. After a few short days (and lots of videos and social media posts), the first inning had been played, and the courts had called a mandatory timeout. While the opponents return to the locker room to strategize for the next inning, the other industry participants and the consumers they serve stand by with bated breath. The moves to come and the outcome of the next inning are anyone’s guess. But what’s really intriguing is that both parties went to their social channels and claimed victory!
As I understand the court’s decision, Zillow gets its feed back, but it is forbidden from filtering out the private exclusives that caused this entire kerfuffle (or any other zipcodes covered by MRED for the next year). In other words, the Judge said that, as a member, Zillow is entitled to the feed, but it must conform to the rules of the broker cooperative from which it seeks to derive a benefit.
So it was a week full of words and opinions, and it ended with both antagonists claiming victory. I don’t know who will win, and I am sure that we have not seen the last of this conflict. Mr. Refkin is really good at spinning his side of the story, and he has been doing yeoman’s work running from place to place, meeting to meeting, broker to broker to use his considerable charm and passion to espouse his cause. Zillow and the brokerages and agents aligned with it and its business model are likewise working to sway public opinion (and by public, I mean the real estate industry and everyone watching it).
So, what happens next?
We’re witnessing a struggle between the largest forces of our industry seeking control of the marketplace itself by manipulating the most important tool created to facilitate the efficient transfer of real property from sellers to buyers. And while I hate to be melodramatic, perhaps, we’re going to see institutions and individuals suffer if we aren’t smart enough to protect the MLS as a non-partisan joint effort to foster competition and help real people try to achieve the American dream of homeownership, build familial and generational wealth, and provide security for their families.
I am solely on the side of the broker cooperative – the MLS, and by that I don’t mean MRED alone, I mean the broker cooperative in its 500 variations all across the US and Canada. It is by far the most important tool ever created in our industry. I have my disagreements with both sides here. I told you what I thought of the idea of a national MLS earlier in this post, and I have told anyone who would listen what little regard I have for the concept of private exclusive listings. This is a position I have held for well over a decade and am unlikely to change (I am always conscious that the word “exclusive” has its roots in the Latin “exclusivus,” which is derived from “excludere,” meaning “to shut out”). I am and always have been a proponent of complete cooperation between brokers and agents to benefit buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants.
The purpose of the Broker Cooperative is not to serve as an advertising platform, though its data may be used for advertising by the members’ agreement. Its purpose is not to benefit any one member more than any other member. The strength of every MLS, and of the system itself, has always been the balance each organization strikes between the business interests of its participants and the obligation its Directors and staff have to the industry and the public at large. Those directors, officers, and staff have the obligation to put the interests of the MLS before their own business or personal interests, and most of the people in those positions take that obligation very seriously – and now more than ever, need to reaffirm their dedication to those principles. As long as they do that, the future of the MLS can be ensured. If they falter, it may not be.
The MLS promotes competition by addressing the inherent fractionalized nature of the residential real estate market that would exist in its absence. It is to facilitate the exchange of information among members so that buyers and sellers, and landlords and tenants, can navigate a more efficient real estate marketplace. And that requires all teams in the league to comply with their team’s and the league’s rules, whether it inconveniences them or not.