Good morning. Good morning. Here's the sick cycle the industry doesn't want you to understand—and sadly, most agents haven't realized they're perpetuating:
You hire an agent to sell your house. That agent pays the MLS to list your property. The MLS sells your data to Zillow. Zillow sells your interested buyers as leads to random agents. Those agents then demand commissions that inflate your asking price and use the buyer's money to pay for services the buyer never requested.
The system literally has you funding your own exploitation.
The Data Extraction Cycle
When you want to sell your house, you must hire a licensed real estate agent to access the Multiple Listing Service (MLS)—there's no other way to achieve full market visibility. Here's what happens next:
Your agent pays the MLS monthly fees to enter your property data into their platform. The MLS then turns around and sells your property data to third-party companies like Zillow, Redfin, and dozens of other real estate portals.
These platforms advertise your property using the data you paid to provide, then sell interested buyer information as "leads" back to agents who want to convert those buyers into clients. When those agents bring offers, fixed buyer agent commissions drive up transaction costs for everyone involved.
More simply: You pay for others to monetize your property data, then the system uses that monetization to inflate transaction costs for everyone involved.
The Uninformed Consent Problem
Agents rarely review MLS data-sharing permissions with sellers during listing appointments. While listing contracts mention MLS usage in standard legal language, they never disclose the monetization of your property data.
When agents enter your property into the MLS, they see options like "Do you want this listing to display on public websites?" The natural response is "yes"—thinking you're getting marketing reach.
What's never explained: You're consenting to a system that creates competing agents who will inflate your transaction costs. You think you're agreeing to "market visibility." You're actually funding a machine designed to extract maximum fees from buyers and sellers alike.
The consent process doesn't say "May we sell your property data to companies who will then sell your buyers to agents who will charge thousands in inflated commissions?" But that's exactly what happens.
Want more evidence of systematic control? MLSs maintain "Confidential Information" sections that only licensed members can access—information that could be crucial for buyers making informed decisions.
Meanwhile, property owners are left trying to find comprehensive information by clicking through dead-end sources with little helpful data about their property's value and comparable sales. Instead, they're steered to agents who have MLS access—forcing them to pay for access to the data they already paid to build.
It's a perfect gatekeeping strategy: Control the information, create artificial scarcity, extract maximum fees.
The Network Solution
PropertyPage.io represents a fundamental departure from this exploitative model—the only platform designed to give property owners complete control over their data with zero monetization of your information.
No selling to lead aggregators. No creating competing agents. Completely free with direct buyer connections.
The more property owners control their data and buyers demand transparency, the stronger consumers become against MLS monopolies. When platforms serve users instead of extracting as much profit as possible from them, everyone wins.
The limitation? PropertyPage doesn't have every listing because we refuse to participate in the data exploitation cycle that inflates your costs. But for sellers who want control over their information and transparent buyer connections, data ownership beats monopoly access.
What You Can Do
If you're selling: Create a PropertyPage for your property—it's a super simple, quick guided process. You can even invite an agent to help manage your listing if you decide to work with one. If you’re going to work with an agent, ask if they understand how using PropertyPage.io gives sellers leverage to negotiate offers that include inflated traditional buyer agent commissions.
If you're buying: Understand that when you click "Schedule a Tour" on Zillow or similar sites, you're feeding a system designed to create unnecessary middleman involvement and inflated commissions. If you want true buyer advisory without inflated commission structures, use the link below to schedule a free consultation.
While having your property on the MLS remains important for full market visibility, now is the time to take control and be part of the better way. The industry profits from your ignorance about data flow and fee structures. The solution starts with understanding how your own information is weaponized against your financial interests.
Stop funding a system secretly designed to work against you. Learn how to flip the script in your favor. Email me at [email protected] or Schedule a free call by clicking here.
Next week
The $4,200 introduction fee that proves traditional agent commissions are inflated—and how smart consumers are negotiating thousands back while still getting professional guidance.
Also worth noting
Designers You Need To Know (Daily Architecture)
Homebuilder unsold completed inventory sits at a 16-year high: Housing markets to find deals in (ResiClub)
Own Your Own Castle and Play Life-Size Chess On The Roof, As Royalty Does (Yahoo)
About me
I'm Mathew Speer, creator of PropertyPage.io, the first consumer centered, fully transparent real estate listing platform. After 20 years investing and 14 years as an agent, I authored The Consumer's Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate and write this newsletter to expose industry dysfunction and arm consumers with insider knowledge.