A month ago, Clear Collaboration was controversial. Today, it is the new standard.
The real estate industry has made its direction clear. What was once debated is now being adopted. What was once challenged is now being implemented.
Three weeks ago, when Compass and Redfin announced their partnership, critics called it a war on transparency. This week, Zillow has launched Zillow Preview with Keller Williams, REMAX, HomeServices of America, Side and United Real Estate.
And just this week, eXp Realty announced it will syndicate Coming Soon listings to Realtor.com, Homes.com and ComeHome.com.
The entire industry has now embraced pre-market listing strategies. What was called radical a month ago is now consensus.
Give sellers the choice
When the American Real Estate Association (ARA) introduced Clear Collaboration last year, we made a simple argument: require MLS submission, but do not mandate forced syndication. Give sellers the choice of how, when and where their homes are marketed. Put clients first, not platforms, not portals, not legacy systems.
We were told we were disrupting for disruption’s sake. We were told the real estate industry was not ready. We were told sellers did not need more choices.
The past three weeks have proven otherwise.
Compass moved first, partnering with Redfin to display coming-soon listings to 60 million monthly visitors. Then, Zillow, which had previously cracked down on publicly marketed private listings, launched Preview, a pre-market product built on the very principles it had opposed. Now eXp, the largest brokerage by transaction sides, has announced non-exclusive syndication to three major portals.
Every major player is now moving in the same direction. And that direction is Clear Collaboration.
What is remarkable is how quickly the framing has shifted. Zillow’s own partners are now using language that could have come directly from our proposals. Gary Keller said sellers “should have the opportunity to reach the broadest pool of potential buyers if they choose to do so.” Leo Pareja at eXp said the industry’s role is “to create the most open and efficient marketplace possible for buyers and sellers.” These are not our words, but they reflect our principles.
ARA’s role
This is not about who won or lost a corporate battle. It is about the real estate industry recognizing what agents and sellers have known all along: flexibility serves clients better than rigid, one-size-fits-all mandates.
ARA did not build these products. We did not negotiate these partnerships. But we did something important: We gave 30,000 agents a framework and a voice. We articulated a vision for how listings should work in a modern market. And we kept pushing when the legacy institutions pushed back.
With the debate over Clear Collaboration behind us, the focus now turns to implementation.
- How do we ensure these tools serve consumers?
- How do we maintain cooperation among agents while expanding seller choice?
- How do we prevent fragmentation while enabling flexibility?
These are the questions ARA will continue to focus on solving. Our work is not done when the industry catches up to our ideas. It is done when those ideas translate into better outcomes for the families we serve.
We are proud to help lead the way.
Jason Haber is an associate broker at Compass in New York and co-founder of the American Real Estate Association.
