Buying a home is the only major purchase in modern life that still feels like an uphill climb that is designed to make you lose money. We can buy a car online, invest a few taps or file tax in the application, but in the shops for sale, you are still cleared of layers of Middlemen, Jargon and laws that you don’t know exist – until you lose money. That is not an accident. Hardness is not a flaw in the system; It’s a program. And for decades, the industry dismissed this as “just the way it works.”
This culture of confusion plays out every day. Buyers and sellers were given an outdated, isolated and opaque process, and told to blindly trust it. Property data is locked behind multiple listing systems (MLS). Costs are buried in ways that savvy consumers don’t fully understand. And instead of simplifying the experience, the industry has spent decades adding layers on top of the old ones, like putting a fragile store on a tricky foundation.
Opacity as a business model
The lack of a place to die in the world is not a danger. It is organized. Historically, MLS data, the lifeblood of the real estate market, has been tightly controlled by sellers and agencies. To enter the basic information, you have to go through the agents, who get the rights to get the local organizations, which feed the national organizations. Consumers have never had real, unbiased access.
This building has been built in an amazing way. Where only the information is selected for control, and it controls the pace, rates and goals of all work. The younger the average person understands the process, the more they trust the pitch – and the harder it is to question what they are charged for.
This model may have been seen decades ago, when data was literally stored in filing cabinets, but in 2025 it cannot be compared. We live in a world where consumers can track their packages in real time, invest in their phones and get instant clarity on any service they use. But when it comes to buying a home, one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives, people are still operating in the dark.
Some industries have changed
Look at almost any other major sector and you will see how technology has changed information asymmetry. Retaild Designed for E-Commerce, allowing anyone to compare prices, read reviews and make informed decisions. Finance was democratized through Fintech: Companies like Stripe, crime and burial made, trading and payments easy and visible to everyone. Travel has gone by Opaque Travel Agents on platforms where consumers can book flights, hotels and certain experiences with ease.
These shifts are not just because technology has evolved; They happened because industries realized that consumer confidence is good for business. When transparency became the number one table, those who resisted it lost quickly.
Real Estate has always been a distraction. You’ve embraced technology too much, like fancy websites, digital listings and ai buzzwords, but the business model has never been there. Beneath the shiny surface, the same MLS closed systems, commission structures and gatekeeping practices remain in place. Transparency does not compromise the essence; It is simply laid on top like paint over cracked mud.
Weirdness costs real money
This lack of transparency isn’t just annoying, it’s expensive. In many markets, buyers and sellers are still hooked on large commissions baked into transactions, often without a full understanding of why or how those fees are arranged. Hidden costs and unsecured obligations often push first-time buyers to their limits. Sellers often find it too late to pay for services that should be rated or operated.
Even basic asset searches are shaped by these powerful factors. Buyers don’t see the whole home inventory strategy because inventory can be blocked, delayed or sold selectively. Exclusive listings, package deals and other opaque methods are used to maintain control. Buyers think they are getting the full picture, when in fact they are looking at the keys.
PropTech is not bad enough
Platforms like Zillow should have kicked open doors. Instead, they had created an incredibly complex industry that became more and more confusing. Zillow and similar platforms have given buyers a brighter display and more data than ever before, but they haven’t been able to access the democracy, they use it. These platforms sit between buyers and MLS data, prioritizing lead generation for agents over transparency for buyers and sellers.
Instead of simplifying the journey, they added another layer in the middle. For most buyers, the experience of browsing through Zillow isn’t fundamentally different from working with an agent, it just feels more modern. The same opacity of the structure remains below.
The next generation of Proptech has a chance to fix that, but only if it’s more than just aesthetics. True transparency means opening up MLS data, freezing costs and empowering buyers and sellers to navigate exchanges without gatekeepers. It means placing consumers at the center of this experience, not to drive sales, but as participants in a clear and non-flammable process.
The sector has a choice
Real Estate stands at the same Crossroads that travel, retail and finance once faced. It can continue to protect the system built on gatekeeping and termination, or it can modernize and rebuild trust in peace. Resistance to industry culture to change took longer than most, but cultural trends don’t go away forever.
Buyers just don’t exist anymore. They expect real-time updates, reliable pricing and the ability to understand navigation systems. As increased regulatory scrutiny and technology entrepreneurs push for open systems, the industry can either lead the shift or be dragged into it.
If Real Estate Wants to stay relevant, and not end up as tourists who refused to adapt, they need to be transparent not as a risk, but as a basis for the next period of growth.
