Not because of a policy change. Not because of a lawsuit. But because AI is about to reform how buyers and sellers deal with lists completely.
This is not speculation about a distant future. The industry is already shifting and it happens faster than most people realize.
The end of walled gardens
For decades, the biggest players of real estate have been familiar with one thing to retain dominance: checking access to data.
- MLSS limits who can mention and see houses.
- Brokers hoard exclusive lists to bring traffic to their own sites.
- Search portals ask agents to participate in a system that sells their own leads.
Now some brokers are on their way to private listing networks (PLNs) in an attempt to further centralize the power over the inventory. The argument? More exclusivity, more control.
But control is not the future. Transparency is.
AI will break through these walled gardens or make them outdated. It does not require approval from the industry – it will simply find the data where it exists and it comes to the consumer on the surface.
Nobody is damaged if AI collects offers from multiple sources and share them directly with buyers. Having a list of a listing for AI will be a victory for buyers, sellers and agents. And because MLSs are usually in the hands of brokers, their mission will still be fulfilled, brokers will still get leads now ai will deliver them directly.
This is not a hypothetical – this is how disruption works. Just as Napster made music freely available and Spotify has rebuilt the industry surrounding the choice of consumers, real estate data is not locked up.
Commission check has disappeared. List control is the following.
For years, MLSS justified their dominance by structuring buyers committees in transactions. But that check has now been crushed by recent antitrust statements.
Buyers, sellers and agents no longer need the MLS to facilitate or dictate compensation – they can negotiate the way they want.
Now AI will do the same with lists.
Sellers will no longer ask:
- “Is my house mentioned on the MLS?”
- “Do I get exposure to a large portal?”
Instead, the only question that matters is:
- “Is my mention AI discoverable?”
If the answer is yes, it reaches the greatest possible audience. If not, it is stuck in a walled garden governed by outdated gatekeepers.
AI will not kill lead gene, but it will reduce the dependence on intermediaries
Lead generation has always been part of real estate and it doesn’t go anywhere. Agents will always need new things.
What will change is how those connections are made.
Nowadays search portals dominate the process, collecting consumer data, re -packaging and selling it back to agents.
AI changes the comparison. Instead of buying qualified leads in advance, agents can be able to make organic contact with consumer-by-decentralized AI-driven search, hyperpersonalized recommendations and direct involvement for which no intermediary is needed to access the market.
Agents will still compete, but instead of paying for leads, they will generate things through transparent, trust -based interactions.
Will large companies lead the AI revolution? Maybe, but history suggests differently.
Large companies have every reason to dominate AI-driven real estate.
They have the data. They have the money. They have the brand recognition.
But do they have the opportunity to turn?
History suggests that market leaders rarely stimulate real transformation. They have shareholders to please, quarterly income to meet and partners to stay happy.
AI will shake real estate in the core – but the most important breakthroughs may not come from the Giants.
Take what happened in AI this last year. A small, unknown team built Deepseek, an AI model that shocked the world by surpassing competitors with budgets of billion dollars.
Can one of today’s largest real estate companies lead this shift? Absolute. But so far they seem entirely focused on maintaining the status quo and it is just as likely that the largest disturbance will come from outside the existing system.
How agents can oepare for AI-driven real estate
The mistake that many people make is thinking that AI comes for agents. It is not.
It comes for everyone who benefits by limiting access to data.
Agents will thrive in this new world – if they join transparency.
What does that look like?
- AI-driven platforms embrace that prioritizing visibility over pay-to-play marketing.
- Insight into that entries will soon be aggregated, regardless of whether the industry allows or not.
- Going off in empty heights and to consumer-controlled involvement.
The worst thing an agent can do now? Betting against AI.
The last thought: AI is going to make the rules
The industry is currently fixed on the wrong battle.
Instead of arguing about who arranges what mention data and how they are shared, the real question should be:
What happens if AI completely removes the need for control?
MLSS, Portals and Makelaars can fight for dominance everything they want.
But they don’t fight each other.
They fight against the future. And AI is going to win.
Dean Dicarlo is the CEO of Homing
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial department of Housingwire and the owners.To contact the editor who is responsible for this piece: [email protected].
