Roubini Redux
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg riff on Greg's stalled car search, then dig into real estate and macro conditions — new industry efforts to boost housing supply, mounting federal debt and mortgage rate pressure, AI's threat to service jobs, and whether multi-generational living could ease the affordability crisis. Key Takeaways Realtor.com and 13 housing advocacy groups launched LetAmericaBuild.org to educate on zoning, permitting, and housing supply. Realtor.com data puts the housing supply gap at roughly 4 million...
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Who’s Marketplace?
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg dig into the Northwest MLS settlement with Compass, unpacking what it signals for the industry beyond the specific deal terms. The core debate: has Northwest MLS quietly redefined "open marketplace" to mean the MLS itself (its paying subscribers) rather than the open internet — and if so, is that a genuine philosophical shift or just a pragmatic compromise to get lawyers off the clock? They dive into the "First Look" compromise, real numbers on how many listings actually go private, why...
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What is an MLS based on "First Principles"?
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg are joined by Michael Wurzer, President and CEO of FBS, for a live continuation of the IDX/data-distribution debate that started at the Columbus Realtors event and continued in a series of dueling LinkedIn posts. Rob argues the MLS should get out of data distribution and marketing entirely; Wurzer defends a reformed, usage-based IDX system; Greg plays referee. The conversation ranges from first-principles arguments about what the MLS is actually for, to pricing and licensing models, to...
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Aggregation Aggravation?
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg open with Greg's car breaking down in 112-degree heat outside Barstow, then dig into the FTC's settlement with Zillow and Redfin over their leasing business deal, which regulators viewed as an attempt to dodge merger review. From there, the two spend most of the episode debating a bigger question raised by Rob's recent exchange with Mike Wurzer: did the MLS create genuinely new value by aggregating listings, or was that value always meant for real estate professionals rather than consumers?...
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What’s a Broker, Anyway?
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg open by unpacking the news that a federal judge has finally approved the Sitzer/Burnett settlement, tossing out remaining objections — officially closing that chapter for NAR and the industry. They debate whether this outcome was a "win" for NAR, discuss the power vacuum left in organized real estate's wake, and praise NAR's recent social media/PR efforts (specifically an Instagram explainer video). The bulk of the episode digs into Unlock MLS's new tiered participant framework (base...
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Big Deep Topics
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg dig into Brian Boero's "enshittification" post about online home search getting worse, and spar over whether that's really the story — or a distraction from the bigger issues of affordability, potential fair-housing lawsuits, and how AI is about to upend the agent's role entirely. They debate what an "ideal" buyer experience even looks like, whether the industry should be fighting for lower home prices instead of easier loans, and close out with a wider conversation about AI, housing...
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Panels, Parties, and Purpose
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg recap their time at Inman San Diego — the first Inman keynote without Brad Inman on stage, new CEO Tom Bohn's mixed reception, and Greg's fan encounter with his own book. From there they dig into a bigger debate: what's the actual purpose of real estate conferences, whether panels count as "education," and how MLS Reset and other events are trying to carve out a clearer mission. Key Takeaways Greg's second edition of "The Art of the CMA" is out; he's doing speaking engagements and bulk...
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When Claude Met Sally
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Greg launches the second edition of The Art of the CMA, along with new survey data showing agents believe CMAs are more relevant than ever, even as AI adoption grows. That leads into the episode's main debate: could AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude get direct MLS access and replace agents' role in producing CMAs and running transactions? Rob and Greg dig into MLS "participant" rules, a LinkedIn post from Craig Cheatham (Realty Alliance) pushing to redefine who qualifies as a real broker vs. a paper/AI...
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Better Than a Kick in the Nuts
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg dig into the recent wave of MLS/association rev-share and rebate programs (NTREIS, MetroTex, Louisiana REALTORS, Bright MLS, CRMLS) as a new play in the old "sell real estate data to Wall Street" story — and debate whether cash incentives can actually replace cooperation now that compensation is no longer guaranteed. Key Takeaways Rev-share/rebate programs mark a shift from data-monetization business models (RPR, REdistribute, Cotality/CoreLogic's InfoNet) toward paying brokers directly...
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Bright Idea?
Industry Relations
The Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player! Overview Rob and Greg are joined by Nick Aufenkamp (Realtor Gone Rogue), a Vancouver, WA-based broker and Substack writer, for a debate on the Zillow v. MRED lawsuit, private/exclusive listings, and whether the MLS should function as a public utility. Nick attended the preliminary injunction hearing in person and shares firsthand takeaways on Compass, MRED, and Zillow's roles in the case, followed by a wide-ranging debate on data access, buyer vs. public rights, Bright MLS's new listing rules, and NAR's recent...
info_outlineThe Industry Relations Podcast is now available on your favorite podcast player!
Overview
Greg launches the second edition of The Art of the CMA, along with new survey data showing agents believe CMAs are more relevant than ever, even as AI adoption grows. That leads into the episode's main debate: could AI tools like ChatGPT or Claude get direct MLS access and replace agents' role in producing CMAs and running transactions? Rob and Greg dig into MLS "participant" rules, a LinkedIn post from Craig Cheatham (Realty Alliance) pushing to redefine who qualifies as a real broker vs. a paper/AI brokerage, and a broader disagreement over whether AI is fundamentally different from past disruptors like Zillow, iBuyers, and discount brokerages.
Key Takeaways
- Greg's second edition of The Art of the CMA launched today, with a new chapter on AI and CMAs
- New survey (~2,200 agents, Feb 2026) shows 89.6% believe CMAs will be more relevant in the future — a 22-point increase from the prior survey
- Agents report CMAs now take longer to produce and use fewer comps than before
- Over 90% of agents cite the MLS as their most trusted data source for comps
- Current AI tools lack direct MLS access, relying instead on public sources like Zillow and Redfin
- Rob raises the scenario of OpenAI or Anthropic obtaining a broker's license to join the MLS directly as participants
- Craig Cheatham's LinkedIn post to CMLS argues for a more stringent definition of "participant" to separate real brokerages from paper/AI brokerages
- Discussion touches on the now-expired DOJ/NAR settlement and the "endeavor to cooperate" clause as precedent
- Rob argues AI replaces human labor and is fundamentally different from past disruptors; Greg argues real estate remains an emotional, trust-based decision AI can't fully replicate
- Rob contends a transaction handled by AI connected to MLS data may carry lower risk than one handled by an average, inexperienced agent
- Both agree AI brokerages are already emerging and expect the MLS participation debate to escalate soon
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