There’s a battle underway in real estate. The Compass versus Zillow lawsuit, the 24-hour rule and the debate over buyer access versus seller choice — but none of that is the real issue.
This fight is about something much bigger. It’s about gatekeeper control: The power to decide where buyers find homes, sellers find buyers and agents find leads.
The gatekeeper’s power playbook
Gatekeepers in every industry decide who gets access to whom. Who wins, who struggles, who survives. And they live by three immutable laws:
- Gatekeepers earn big profits. Everyone else gets leftovers.
- Gatekeepers make the rules. Everyone else obeys them.
- Gatekeepers are essential. Everyone else is replaceable.
That’s why this isn’t just a lawsuit. It’s a war for control of the gate.
Compass vs. Zillow
There are a few primary gatekeepers in our industry at present: Zillow, Realtor.com, Homes.com and, possibly, Redfin. Compass wants to be a gatekeeper, too. It doesn’t want to be beholden to Zillow (or any of the others).
Zillow is the most dominant gatekeeper in our industry today. Consumers think of Zillow when they want to buy or sell homes. Zillow wants to stay a gatekeeper. That’s what the 24-hour rule is about. Controlling its future is why Compass is challenging Zillow in court.
Your own gate. Your own fate
Could you or your brokerage build a site like Zillow, pull in the same listing feed, add your listings as early access “exclusives” like Compass and market it aggressively to attract buyers? Absolutely. But for most agents and brokers, that plan is cost-prohibitive.
Is there an alternative? Build a different kind of gate. Become a specialist, the absolute best, at something homesellers and/or buyers want badly.
Here’s a step-by-step plan to get started:
Your local gatekeeper game plan
1. Shrink your market to own it
Pick a small defined demographic you can message to consistently every two to three weeks. It could be a neighborhood, your church, your gym or your golf club. Start small. Become the go-to. Expand later.
2. Specialize to shine
What skill can you master so deeply, so visibly, that buyers and/or sellers seek you out even if they’re connected elsewhere? Price negotiation master. Video marketing guru. Probate and divorce expert.
For example, my wife, Teresa, is studying high-stakes negotiation strategies from FBI legend Chris Voss. She wows sellers by explaining the techniques she uses to negotiate with buyers for higher prices. She aggressively markets this specialty to a demographic of 8,500 luxury homes. Her marketing generates listing appointments. Explaining the techniques results in signed listings.
3. Market that skill like your life depends on it
Your specialty only matters if people are aware of it. Teresa chose a demographic where she could afford to market to all the households every week via a community newspaper.
A local newspaper? A church bulletin? Scorecards at your golf club? An HOA resident publication? When selecting your target demographic, consider the available media to reach it cost-effectively.
4. Leverage tech that levels the field
You don’t need a Zillow budget to look big, especially now. Combining a few powerful AI tools enables you to create and send attention-getting messages to a selected demographic cost-effectively:
- Synthesia
- Veo
- Hailuo AI
- Runway ML
- Pictory
- Napkin.ai
- Suno
- Veed.io
- Short.ai
- Jasper
- Copy.ai
- Syllaby.io
- Daily.ai
- Beehiiv.com
Ask Perplexity for precisely what you need.
Last month, I used ChatGPT, Suno, Veo and Veed to produce a captioned music video showcasing my community. I posted it on a one-page WordPress website. When I told the community newspaper, they featured it.
What happened? Two listing appointments for Teresa and a speaking engagement for me. Check it out below.
Don’t be better. Be the only
Make yourself a gatekeeper by being different, specialized and known. Don’t try to be better than your competitors. Don’t be a shinier version of the same old car.
Be a specialist offering a highly desired skill, creatively marketed to a specific demographic.
Be the only. That’s how you win — no matter who controls the gate.
Writer’s note: This analysis represents an informed opinion based on publicly available information and should not be construed as legal advice.
Greg Hague is the CEO of 72SOLD and has been a real estate broker and attorney specializing in real estate law since the 1970s. Connect with him on Instagram or LinkedIn.
