Recent announcements involving Zillow, Compass, Redfin, and major brokerage alliances have made one thing plain: this is not mainly a fight about helping the consumer. It is a fight over who gets to be the first point of contact with the consumer.
That matters because first contact usually controls the conversation. And the one who controls the conversation often controls the lead, the loyalty, the data, and eventually the transaction.
Let’s stop pretending otherwise.
When portals and large brokerages say they are protecting the consumer, some of that language may sound good on the surface. But this is still big business fighting for position. They want to be the doorway. They want the consumer to come through them first. They want to be the place where the search begins, the inquiry happens, and the relationship gets shaped.
For years, the real estate professional was the center of the transaction.
Not because of a rule. Not because of a website. Not because of some artificial advantage.
Because the agent or salesperson was the one who knew the people, knew the inventory, knew the neighborhoods, knew the pricing, knew the timing, and knew how to guide someone through a major life decision. The professional relationship came first. The property search was part of the process, not the whole process.
That is what is under attack.
This battle between portals and mega-brokerages is really a battle over disintermediation. Who gets removed? Who gets pushed to the side? Who gets reduced to a function instead of being the trusted advisor?
And here is the truth: if your business is built on rented ground, you are vulnerable.
If you depend on bought leads, portal leads, assigned leads, or third-party traffic you do not control, then somebody else can change the rules on you. They can raise the price. They can reduce the quality. They can insert themselves between you and the client. They can decide who gets seen and who gets buried.
That is not a stable business model. That is dependence.
The answer is not panic. The answer is not anger. The answer is not pretending the portals will go away.
The answer is to get back to time-tested fundamentals.
You build a database of relationships so strong that no portal can disintermediate you.
Not a database full of dead names.
A living database. Real people. Real trust. Real conversations. Real follow-up. Real value. Real local knowledge. Real reputation.
When people know you, trust you, and think of you first, they do not need to be handed to you by a portal.
That is the game.
What still works
- Talk to people every day. Not just online. Not just through drip campaigns. Actual conversations. Ask questions. Listen well. Stay connected.
- Become known for local knowledge. Know your market better than the portals do. Know the streets, the schools, the tradeoffs, the feel of the neighborhoods, the pricing patterns, the hidden issues, and the opportunities. Data matters. Interpretation matters more.
- Follow up with value, not pressure. People are tired of being hunted. They respond to professionals who are helpful, steady, and informed. Send useful insights. Share updates. Check in without an agenda every time.
- Create an experience worth remembering. Consumers refer professionals who made them feel informed, calm, protected, and well-served. Emotional safety is not soft. It is a competitive advantage.
- Own your own audience. Build your email list. Build your client list. Build your referral base. Build your community presence. Build your brand in a way that does not disappear when an algorithm changes.
- Make referrals a natural result of trust. The best businesses are not built by constantly chasing strangers. They are built when people who know you say, “You need to call Mark,” or “You need to call this agent.”
That is how you stay at the center.
Why consumer choice still matters
Choice is better for the consumer.
A free market with multiple ways to find homes, multiple ways to market homes, and multiple ways to connect with professionals is generally healthier than one dominant gatekeeper. Monopoly control rarely helps the public for long. Overregulation and reduced competition usually do not create better service. They create more control, more friction, and fewer options.
So yes, I hope the courts and legislators are careful here.
Leave room for competition. Leave room for innovation. Leave room for brokerages, agents, sellers, and buyers to choose how they want to do business.
The bottom line
But no matter what happens in the courtroom or on the portals, this part does not change: a professional salesperson can still thrive for decades.
You do not have to buy your future from third parties. You do not have to wait for someone else to assign you opportunity. You do not have to become a disposable technician in somebody else’s platform.
Using time-tested skills, steady networking, superior follow-up, valuable content, and deep local knowledge, you can remain the point of contact for enough people to build a remarkable career.
That has always been true. And it is still true now.
The agents who survive this era will not be the ones who scream the loudest about portals. They will be the ones who quietly build such a strong reputation and relationship base that their business becomes hard to interrupt.
Do not spend your career trying to outspend the platforms. Out-relationship them. Own the relationship, not the lead.