Although Leo Pareja and eXp Realty are vocal supporters of the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), Pareja is confident his firm has what it takes to succeed if the industry shifts to a private listing network model. “Given our size and scale, we would benefit the most from closed networks,” Pareja said on a recent industrywide call. While Pareja and eXp — which recorded more than 350,000 transaction sides in 2024, according to RealTrends Verified rankings — may feel well equipped to handle a world of private listing networks, others brokerages do not.
Regional presence
Five Star Real Estate, an independent regional firm based in Onekama, Michigan, believes it would be at a bit of a disadvantage. In 2024, Five Star Real Estate closed 8,129 transaction sides, still good enough for a top 50 finish in the RealTrends rankings but well below the number posted by eXp Realty. A large portion of these sales were recorded in western Michigan, where CEO Paul Carlson said that Five Star is the largest firm, Carlson thinks his firm would maintain an edge in the region, but in areas where they are not as strong, things don’t look as good.
“If CCP falls and we go to private listing networks, companies will win where they are strong,” Carlson said. “We would do very well in western Michigan because we have the largest market share by almost double our nearest competitor. But in other markets like in Florida, where I only have 27 agents serving the entire Tampa market, this would be terrible.” But while Carlson is confident that Five Star would be OK in its stronghold of western Michigan, he does have concerns over how much exposure his firm’s listings would get if they are only able to be seen on the company’s own private listing network. “If all the Keller Williams franchises or Anywhere Brands franchises put all of their listings on the same network, that is hundreds of thousands of listings compiled,” Carlson said. “I have a much stronger presence in western Michigan than the KW franchise here, but we sold 8,200 homes last year, so maybe I’d be able to drive several hundred listings onto a platform at once. Unless you break it out by market, it isn’t very impressive compared to all of Keller Williams’ or RE/MAX’s listings.” If brokerages advertise their listingnetworks based on their nationwide listing count, Carlson is sure that buyers would be more likely to go to the sites with the most overall listings — even if very few of them are in their search area. This would limit the exposure of his firm’s listings, potentially impacting the sales price and timeline. “We would look like an afterthought,” Carlson said. “This does kind of squash the competition. If you are a small broker, you could hypothetically still list on the MLS and have the listing sent to Zillow, but now Zillow is just one of the ponds for people to go looking for listings.”
Creating chaos
In Linda O’Koniewski’s mind, a move like this would take the industry back decades. “It would mirror what they have in Europe, where there is no MLS,” said O’Koniewski, the broker-owner of Massachusetts-based Leading Edge Real Estate. “It creates chaos for buyers who can’t find all of the listings and it harms sellers who aren’t getting full market exposure.” In the Greater Boston area, where much of O’Koniewski’s business takes place, the housing market is hampered by tight inventory. For her, this makes a world of private listing networks and exclusive listings even more challenging. “If any buyer gets in to see a listing, every buyer should be able to,” O’Koniewski said. “There is also the entire fair housing issue of who is selecting who gets to see these exclusive private listings.” Like Carlson, O’Koniewski wants her buyers to be able to see as many listings as possible. She believes if there are more private listings, this would make it even harder for her buyer clients to find a property.
Out in Los Angeles, Michael Nourmand, the president of Nourmand & Associates, is familiar with private listings. His firm has worked with celebrity clients who wish to keep their properties off the MLS to protect their privacy, but this is not why Nourmand was originally against the policy. “Originally, I was concerned that it would prevent agents at larger brokerages from being able to share pocket listings, which would result in agents perceiving that they would be at a disadvantage if they were not with a large brokerage — and fortunately, that hasn’t happened,” Nourmand said. “Fast forward to today, and now I’m in favor of CCP, because you can see examples of some larger brokerages trying to use their size to put their interests ahead of their clients’ interests, which in my opinion is a break of their fiduciary duty.”
Leading a company that is about to celebrate its 50th anniversary and is well known throughout Los Angeles gives Nourmand a feeling of confidence no matter what the future may hold for the real estate industry. But he said eh’s concerned about how an increase in the number of private listings would impact brokerages that are newer or don’t have the same connections. “They aren’t going to be able to see any of the inventory,” Nourmand said. “They are totally up the creek without a paddle.”
Serious considerations
In most of the markets served by Nourmand and his firm, there are five or six main agents who handle the majority of the listings in a given neighborhood — but the buyers are represented by a wider variety of agents. This allows agents and brokerages to expand their businesses into new neighborhoods. But in Nourmand’s mind, if the same listing agent trends continue, it would be that much harder for businesses to expand and it could also impact a listing’s ability to sell. “Let’s say I have a listing coming on in Beverly Hills, so I email every agent in my CRM who has done a deal in the last year within 10 miles of Beverly Hills. But there is an agent in Arcadia helping a client who is moving to Beverly Hills and selling their home in Arcadia, this will totally miss that Arcadia agent and their buyer,” Nourmand said. “I could also pick up my phone and call people, but a new agent or a new firm is going to get missed.”
Unlike other firms, Ralph Harvey’s ListWithFreedom.com is not geographically bound when it comes to the areas where lists properties. But Harvey also thinks that a repeal of CCP would put his firm at a disadvantage. Unlike traditional listing agents, Harvey charges sellers a few hundred dollars to list their property on the MLS, and he charges a commission of 0.25% when the home sells. He sees his role in the transaction as key to helping the seller stays in compliance with laws and regulations. If a client wants additional services such as professional photography, Harvey connects them with vendors who charge the seller directly. In 2023, Harvey recorded 2,692 transaction sides for a total of $826.5 million in sales volume, according to 2024 RealTrends data. “I think that if CCP is eliminated, it will be the death of small brokerages and the death of innovative brokerages,” Harvey said. “It would severely hamper our ability to compete in the market.”
The ‘Amazon effect’
Harvey shares a similar view to Carlson. Even if a firm has a strong presence in a certain market, it will be hard to convince buyers to visit their site if they have only a fraction of the listings that a larger national firm has. “It is the Amazon effect,” Harvey said. “We get the same products from Amazon that we could get online from other retailers, but they have more stuff, even if it all isn’t what we are looking for, so we go there anyway. The brokerages with a lot of national inventory are going to be able to shape the minds of people to convince them to go to their site at a higher rate.” Harvey thinks this will be bad for innovation within the industry. Small and innovative brokerages are at risk of being left out as consumers are forced to go to big brands to gain exposure for their listing or access to inventory to buy. Carlson shares a similar fear that the proliferation of private listing networks could impact the client-agent relationship as it exists today. “I think one of my biggest fears is what happens to buyer agency and what happens to people listing their homes with someone they feel they can trust and who they feel advocates for them,” Carlson said. “What also happens to a buyer when they aren’t hiring you because they like and trust you but because you have listings? It changes the relationship from the customer and the agent to the customer and the brand. And that isn’t good for anyone.”
