Courtney Poulos, founder and CEO of ACME Real Estate in Los Angeles, argues that direct partnerships between major brokerages and listing platforms are accelerating a power shift moving control of listing data away from agents and toward technology companies. With 20 years of experience building a boutique brokerage, Poulos has watched agents steadily lose ground in their ability to control how their listings are distributed and monetized.
The core issue, as Poulos sees it, is that agents bear the costs of creating listing content but have the least say in how it is used. Agents fund professional photography, staging, videos, and marketing materials while sellers authorize the use of their property information. "Everyone has a claim to the data, but the people who create it and own the properties have the least say in how it’s used," she says. The fragmentation of the MLS landscape exacerbates the problem, with more than 1,100 separate MLS systems nationwide operating under different rules and standards, preventing agents from having a unified voice when negotiating with national platforms.
The financial arrangement highlights the imbalance: MLSs collect fees from platforms in exchange for access to listing data, while agents absorb all upfront content creation costs. When a listing fails to sell, the agent takes a total loss on photography, video, and marketing spend, while the MLS has already been paid. "MLSs are being paid by platforms for our listing data," Poulos says. "We’re funding the photos, videos, and marketing materials. When a listing doesn’t sell, that’s pure loss for the agent, but the MLS has already profited from syndicating that content." For boutique brokerages like ACME Real Estate, which closed $155 million in sales in 2024 across 35 agents, this imbalance is particularly acute.
Poulos supports consolidating the nation’s MLS systems into a single nationwide platform accessible to all licensed agents, which would standardize data across markets and give agents collective bargaining power they currently lack. The direct partnership agreements now being announced between major brokerages and listing platforms are setting precedents that will shape listing distribution for years. "The real test is whether these deals result in agents having more say in how their listings are marketed, or whether they’re just new arrangements that maintain platform control," she says.
For independent and boutique brokerages, the stakes are concrete. If major national firms lock in exclusive or preferential platform relationships, smaller brokerages will compete at a structural disadvantage. "Unless there’s collective action through restructured systems, independent brokerages will continue to have limited leverage," Poulos warns. Consolidating MLS systems would require cooperation from organizations benefiting from the current structure, but Poulos argues the cost of inaction is higher. Without structural change, agents will continue absorbing content creation costs while platforms consolidate distribution control.
Poulos expects the next 12 to 18 months to be decisive, stating that deals being negotiated now will set precedents shaping real estate for the next decade. Her advice to agents is to pay attention to where leverage is concentrating, as those operating in isolation have little ability to influence outcomes. Collective action through a restructured national system is presented as the mechanism that could restore agent control over listing data.
