For years, the real estate industry has been caught up in battles over commissions, lead generation, and who controls access to listings.
Now, as brokerages experiment with private listing networks (PLNs) and MLSs push back, another fight has emerged—who should control where and how listings are shared.
But what if all of this—the entire debate over listing exposure and access—soon becomes irrelevant?
Not because of a policy change. Not because of a lawsuit. But because AI is about to reshape how buyers and sellers interact with listings entirely.
This isn’t speculation about a distant future. The industry is already shifting, and it’s happening faster than most people realize.
The End of Walled Gardens
For decades, real estate’s biggest players have relied on one thing to maintain dominance: controlling access to data.
- MLSs restrict who can list and see homes.
- Brokerages hoard exclusive listings to drive traffic to their own sites.
- Search portals charge agents to participate in a system that resells their own leads back to them.
Now, some brokerages are moving toward private listing networks (PLNs) in an attempt to further centralize power over inventory. The argument? More exclusivity, more control.
But control isn’t the future. Transparency is.
AI will either break through these walled gardens or make them obsolete. It won’t need industry approval—it will simply find the data wherever it exists and surface it to consumers.
Nobody is harmed if AI aggregates listings from multiple sources, sharing them directly with buyers. Having a listing reach buyers directly through AI will be a win for buyers, sellers and agents. And since MLSs are mostly broker-owned, their mission will still be fulfilled, brokers will still end up getting leads—only now, AI will deliver them directly.
This isn’t a hypothetical—this is how disruption works. Just as Napster made music freely available and Spotify rebuilt the industry around consumer choice, real estate data won’t stay locked away.
Commission control is gone. Listing control is next.
For years, MLSs justified their dominance by structuring buyer commissions into transactions. But that control has now been shattered by recent antitrust rulings.
Buyers, sellers, and agents no longer need the MLS to facilitate or dictate compensation—they can negotiate it however they want.
Now, AI will do the same to listings.
Sellers will no longer ask:
- “Is my home listed on the MLS?”
- “Am I getting exposure on a major portal?”
Instead, the only question that will matter is:
- “Is my listing AI-discoverable?”
If the answer is yes, it’s reaching the largest possible audience. If not, it’s stuck in a walled garden controlled by outdated gatekeepers.
AI Won’t Kill Lead Gen, But It Will Reduce Dependency on Middlemen
Lead generation has always been part of real estate, and it’s not going anywhere. Agents will always need new business.
What will change is how those connections are made.
Today, search portals dominate the process, gathering consumer data, repackaging it, and selling it back to agents.
AI changes the equation. Instead of buying pre-qualified leads, agents will be able to connect with consumers organically—through decentralized AI-powered search, hyper-personalized recommendations, and direct engagement that doesn’t require a middleman to access the market.
Agents will still compete, but instead of paying for leads, they’ll generate business through transparent, trust-based interactions.
Will large companies lead the AI revolution? Maybe, but history suggests otherwise.
Large companies have every reason to dominate AI-powered real estate.
They have the data. They have the money. They have the brand recognition.
But do they have the ability to pivot?
History suggests that market leaders rarely drive true transformation. They have shareholders to please, quarterly earnings to meet, and partners to keep happy.
AI will shake real estate to its core—but the most significant breakthroughs may not come from the giants.
Take what happened in AI just this past year. A small, unknown team built DeepSeek, an AI model that shocked the world by outperforming competitors with billion-dollar budgets.
Could one of today’s biggest real estate companies lead this shift? Absolutely. But until now they seem completely focused on preserving the status quo and it’s just as likely that the biggest disruption will come from outside the existing system.
How agents can orepare for AI-driven real estate
The mistake many people make is thinking AI is coming for agents. It’s not.
It’s coming for anyone who profits by restricting access to data.
Agents will thrive in this new world—if they align themselves with transparency.
What does that look like?
- Embracing AI-driven platforms that prioritize visibility over pay-to-play marketing.
- Understanding that listings will soon be aggregated whether the industry allows it or not.
- Moving away from lead-buying dependencies and toward consumer-driven engagement.
The worst thing an agent can do right now? Bet against AI.
The final thought: AI is going to make the rules
Right now, the industry is fixated on the wrong battle.
Instead of arguing over who controls what listing data and how it’s shared, the real question should be:
What happens when AI removes the need for control entirely?
MLSs, portals, and brokerages can fight for dominance all they want.
But they aren’t fighting each other.
They’re fighting the future. And AI is going to win.
Dean DiCarlo is the CEO at Homing
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of HousingWire’s editorial department and its owners.To contact the editor responsible for this piece: [email protected].
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