Over the last 50 years, real estate agents have gone from giving their brokers 50% of their commissions to keeping 80–95%, all while home prices have skyrocketed far beyond inflation and technology has made the job dramatically easier. When you adjust for inflation, today’s agents are making nearly 400% more per transaction than agents did in 1970, often while doing less manual work than ever before.

So here’s the uncomfortable question I’m asking out loud:
If the job is easier, the splits are better, and agents are earning exponentially more per deal… why haven’t fees gone down at all?

I also dive into how Zillow’s referral model works, why agents willingly pay up to 40% of their commission to a middleman, and how clicking “Speak to an Agent” often steers consumers toward higher fees, not better value. We talk about the recent lawsuits, the massive overpopulation of agents, why more than 70% didn’t close a single deal last year, and how that reality affects both consumers and professionals who actually want to build sustainable businesses.

This episode isn’t about attacking agents. It’s about questioning a system that rewards high fees, middlemen, and scarcity, while affordability collapses and first-time buyers are pushed further out of reach.

If you’re a real estate agent who believes the current model makes sense, I’m inviting you to come debate me. And if you’re a consumer, this episode will change how you think about commissions, listings, and who really benefits from the way real estate works today.

We’re kicking off 2026 the same way we ended 2025 by saying the quiet part out loud.