The headlines about the real estate industry are everywhere.
Compass acquired Anywhere Real Estate to create the largest real estate company by agent count. Zillow and Compass are locked in a Goliath-versus-Goliath legal battle over private listings. A wave of RESPA-related lawsuits alleges undisclosed referral kickbacks between real estate agents and mortgage companies.
And then there’s the long shadow of the National Association of Realtors®’ (NAR) commission settlement, now under appeal, and the organization’s spate of leadership scandals that have rocked the nation’s large trade group for real estate professionals.
For anyone paying attention, it’s a lot of noise. And that noise is making real estate look more like a contact sport these days than the conduit that helps millions of Americans make the most consequential financial transaction of their lives.
The key question for brokerage leaders, agents and communications professionals isn’t whether the public is paying attention. It’s whether all of this recent turmoil is quietly eroding reputational trust in the minds of consumers.
Consumers take notice, but still trust real estate agents
According to NAR’s 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 88% of buyers used a real estate agent or broker to purchase their home while 91% of sellers said the same. For-sale-by-owners hit a historic low of 5% of home sales. In NAR’s latest Home Buyers and Sellers Generational Trends Report, 35% of sellers said that reputation, followed by 21% who cited trustworthiness and honesty, were the top deciding factors in choosing an agent to list their home.
“Real estate agents remain indispensable in today’s complex housing market,” said Jessica Lautz, NAR’s deputy chief economist and vice president of research. “Beyond guiding buyers and sellers through what is often the largest financial decision of their lives, agents provide critical expertise, negotiation skills and emotional support during an increasingly challenging process.”
Industry insiders say that while consumers are aware of the headlines, they seem to divorce those from their local real estate agent’s credibility. That’s a good sign, said Gretchen Rosenberg, president and CEO of Kentwood Real Estate, Colorado’s exclusive affiliate of HomeServices of America.
“Hyperlocal accountability kind of matters more than national headlines to most people,” Rosenberg explained, adding that she’s seen “drama cycles” throughout her 30-year real estate career. Her message to her team is simple: focus on what matters and avoid the drama.
John DeSouza, president of Cressy & Everett Real Estate—a regional brokerage serving north central Indiana and southwest Michigan—echoed that caution. Consumer attitudes toward agents have shifted somewhat, he conceded, but measuring how much isn’t easy.
“I don’t have a good metric for where consumers are at,” DeSouza said. “If somebody told me consumers didn’t move an inch, I’m going to say that’s not true. But have they totally moved to a whole new set of values and ideas? I don’t think so either.”
Meanwhile, communications professionals like Eric Schiffer, chairman of Reputation Management Consultants in Beverly Hills, California, see it differently. Schiffer noted that real estate agents are drawing the same skepticism from consumers as car salesmen in terms of trust.
“Consumers are bombarded with a lot of messages,” Schiffer said. “Many may have this perception that they were overpaying for the guidance and assistance in closing a home.”
He added that for buyers and sellers who genuinely want to maximize value, a skilled, compelling agent with a strong local reputation will still win. The problem is that the industry has made it harder for those agents to make their case and prove their value.
Private listings fight fuels industry fears of fragmentation
Of all the headlines, the fight over private listing networks may carry the most implications for consumer trust and industry cooperation alike.
Compass’s “three-phase” marketing strategy that routes listings through its internal agent network before going on the MLS has drawn fierce opposition. Critics argue that listing agents who double-end deals within their brokerage benefit most, while costing sellers time and money to have their homes seen by the maximum number of buyers.
Zillow fired back by barring listings from its portal if they were marketed off the MLS first. In early February, a federal judge declined to block that policy. For many independent and mid-size brokerages, the ruling feels like a win for open market access.
Ashley Brennan, senior vice president of Communications with luxury real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens in New York City, said the ongoing skirmish undercuts what consumers expect from a real estate transaction.
“If I go to Compass, or if I go to Brown Harris Stevens, or if I go to Zillow, or if I go to Redfin—am I seeing everything?” Brennan asked. She said the implications for sellers is they may not be fully aware of what a private listing entails. “There are studies that say if you don’t put it on the open market, you’re leaving money on the table.”
Rosenberg worries about potential market fragmentation. As a former NAR global division leader, she saw how European buyers are forced to visit different brokerages to see available listings; there’s no centralized marketplace like Zillow or other search platforms.
She said her company’s CEO likens the potential outcome to the streaming wars—a universe where you need Apple TV+ for one show, Hulu for another and Netflix for a third. “The consumer is getting tired of that,” Rosenberg said. “And that is our fear. What’s going to happen in real estate if they have to go to multiple places to find out all of the information?”
Marilyn Wilson, founding partner of real estate consulting firm WAV Group, said if fragmentation takes hold across the industry, “consumers lose big.” She worries that if large players like Compass were to break from cooperative MLS sharing, the entire market will feel the aftershocks.
“If you have 150,000 agents and you take your marbles and go home, what does that mean for MLS data access? That is really scary for everyone,” Wilson said.
Kickbacks, RESPA and the erosion of confidence
The NAR lawsuit settlement over commissions may be the most prominent issue impacting the industry, but it’s hardly the only one testing consumer confidence. A growing number of RESPA-related lawsuits allege that real estate agents and mortgage companies are trading undisclosed kickbacks for referrals.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) prohibition on kickbacks and unearned fees under RESPA is a serious matter. Zillow and Rocket have faced allegations, as well as individual mortgage lenders, who are named in various lawsuits across the country.
DeSouza said he’s been watching this particular issue closely. His brokerage is rolling out an in-house referral disclosure practice ahead of any state requirement, which he expects Indiana to soon mandate.
“If the relationship is one that’s based on trust, discussing this issue about compensation is not a big deal,” he said. However, if you have a loose relationship with a mortgage loan officer and push for a cut of the deal before you send a client to them, that’s where things get murky and confusion arises, DeSouza explained.
DeSouza added that transparency is the antidote to what’s ailing the industry right now. The NAR commission settlement carried one clear statement.
“The essence of it, in my opinion, was about transparency,” DeSouza said. “And, therefore, about trust, because you can’t get to trust without transparency.”
Reputational challenges more apparent inside the industry
The reputational risk from all this turmoil is playing out more broadly within the housing industry than it is with everyday buyers and sellers. National litigation isn’t as important to a buyer or seller who sits across the closing table from their agent—someone they found through a referral or they’ve worked with before.
But among real estate professionals? Well, that’s a different story.
Agents at firms embroiled in lawsuits are watching. Some are quietly looking for new affiliation. And brokerage leaders who’ve managed to stay above the fray are seeing a tangible recruiting boost.
“Agents kind of want to leave that noise behind and just focus on what they do best,” Brennan said. For brokerages that have kept their reputations intact, “there is a huge opportunity” to use their credibility as a recruiting and retention tool, she added.
Wilson notes that the internal industrywide friction doesn’t seem to impact whether or not a consumer works with an agent they like and trust. They’re simply not dialed into the drama as much, she added.
Rosenberg uses Kentwood’s ability to stay out of the drama as a recruiting badge of honor. But she’s also careful not to overstate it; there’s a difference between healthy competition and tactics that diminish trust.
“It’s not just brokerages—it’s writ large right now,” she said. “When that goes on, consumers lose, specifically.”
Lead with clarity, not reaction
Public relations experts say the single biggest mistake they see is reactive, emotional public posturing when issues arise. Leaders who fire off statements or social posts from a place of defensiveness rather than strategic thinking put their brands at greater reputational risk.
The first instinct many companies have may be to come out swinging with pointed statements, adding narrative and over-explaining. This isn’t the right approach, though, said Emily Reynolds, founder and president of R Public Relations in New York City.
“A lot of times, people get nervous, and whether they’re involved in something or not, they start mumbling their messaging and clouding it, or putting forth reactive messaging,” Reynolds said, adding that journalists can sniff these statements out, causing them to dig deeper into your company for wrongdoing. “Clear messaging is really just their actual response—or their involvement, if they have any—and making it, if there’s an accountability factor, as clear as possible.”
Reynolds recommends that companies be proactive and take ownership of their own narratives before events force their hand. If information will eventually become public record, she advises publishing it proactively with a dedicated landing page, FAQ content or explainer videos. This approach is better than waiting to be caught off guard if someone else breaks the news.
Schiffer advises clients not entangled in litigation to focus on sharing their agent success stories, community ties and a clear value proposition.
“Certain actions further build trust,” Schiffer explained. Specifically, he suggests things like strengthening community relationships, highlighting your focus on compliance and on systems that bring greater value, telling stories of your top agents, reinforcing the positive and staying on message.
Brennan agreed that the best messaging focuses on consumers first.
“You’re a fiduciary,” she said. “You have to put your clients’ interest above the bottom line. Writing an opinion piece, putting out messaging on social about what’s going on and here’s what we’re doing for your best interest…being super transparent about what you want to do—that is super important.”
However, be careful about timing your messages, Brennan advises. “You have to pick your moment, pick your battles,” she said. “You don’t want to have these conversations all the time, because then you’re not doing your job.”
Crisis comms: Hope for the best, plan for the worst
If the past few years have shown anything, it’s that a brokerage without a crisis communications plan is waiting for a bad week to become a reputation-ending nightmare. The comment sections of social media platforms have become courts of public opinion. And they’re always open.
“Any business, no matter if you’re a mom-and-pop shop to a bigger company, should have a plan in place,” Reynolds said. A comprehensive crisis communications plan addresses internal and external business risks, and even national emergencies. The preparation is the point.
Schiffer’s firm goes further, developing software that simulates crisis scenarios against stakeholder profiles. From there, it builds probable outcomes with different responses. The goal, he added, is to stress-test a crisis plan through probability simulations before an actual crisis occurs, so when one does, leadership isn’t guessing what to do. They’ll already have a well-researched plan of what works.
The stakes are especially high for brokerages with large independent contractor networks like Keller Williams, Anywhere or REMAX. A single agent caught on video saying something offensive can set a corporate social media page into a spiral—even if that agent is not a direct employee.
“If something isn’t handled well, you’re going to be at the mercy of something that is going to take wind on its own—and it’s going to be very costly to troubleshoot that,” Reynolds warns.
Finding opportunity in the noise
As real estate empires rise and fall, industry veterans see a genuine opening for brokerages that have prioritized ethics, cooperation, consumer satisfaction and trust.
DeSouza describes the industry’s challenge as a move from borrowed trust—the kind that was automatic with NAR affiliation or hanging your license with a national brand—to earned trust. That’s only built through documented results and honest storytelling.
For instance, Cressy & Everett tracks client testimonials through a third-party survey tool, and DeSouza calls the results his “happy place.” He encourages agents to post on social media not just about their wins, but about the houses they talked clients out of buying because it wasn’t in their best interest.
“If those are the stories that we tell, it’s great advertising for the agent,” he said.
Wilson’s advice for any brokerage trying to pinpoint where to focus is simple: put your head down, train your agents on the rules and lead by example.
“Be the person you want the other agent on the other side of the deal to be,” Wilson said. “Be kind, be supportive, be nurturing. Don’t be complaining about stuff that you can’t do anything about anyway. Individual agents are the ones that create the collective opinion about how consumers feel about our industry.”
Brennan echoed this sentiment. “If your words match your actions, I think you’ll be okay,” she said.
For now, survey numbers show that consumers still believe in the value real estate agents offer. But the industry’s earned trust? That’s much harder to build—and infinitely harder to regain once lost.
