A new entrant in the residential real estate space is betting that the post-NAR-settlement landscape will fundamentally change how Americans buy and sell homes, and that many consumers will choose to do so themselves.
Ownli, a consumer-focused real estate platform, is officially rolling out as a full-service offering after a soft launch earlier this year, positioning itself as an alternative to the traditional agent-led transaction model.
Ownli announced on Tuesday its nationwide launch, expanding its consumer-focused real estate platform across 43 states as it looks to give buyers and sellers more control over pricing, property data and the transaction process.
The company said that as of March 1, 2026, the platform includes more than 500,000 active listings nationwide, representing roughly $313 billion in aggregate market value. The median home price across those listings is $730,000, according to Ownli.
The platform allows homeowners to list properties directly, access verified data in real time and navigate transactions with greater transparency around pricing. By surfacing costs and key information earlier in the process, Ownli is positioning itself as an alternative to what many consumers see as a complex and often opaque transaction experience.
For CEO Blake O’Shaughnessy, the company’s launch has been years in the making.
“We’ve been working on this Ownli idea since 2024,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We knew the NAR settlement was coming, so we were really working on it part-time. When the settlement was reached, that’s when we ramped up work on Ownli.”
The company quietly introduced its sell-side functionality in January, but its latest announcement signals a broader push to establish itself as a national, end-to-end platform for both buyers and sellers.
CEO calls traditional model ‘broken by design’
Ownli’s timing is no accident. The platform is entering a housing market still recalibrating after the National Association of Realtors’ landmark settlement, which has intensified scrutiny of commission structures and the role of agents in transactions.
At a time when buyers are stretching their budgets and sellers are scrutinizing every dollar of equity, Ownli says its users save an average of $42,832 in commission costs. The company argues that those savings allow consumers to retain more of their equity while still achieving full market exposure for their properties.
Unlike traditional brokerage models built around percentage-based commissions, Ownli allows sellers to list properties directly and maintain control over pricing strategy. Buyers, meanwhile, can access verified nationwide listings and real-time market data without relying on intermediaries.
The company is positioning that approach as a shift away from commission-driven transactions and toward a more transparent, streamlined process.
Listings span major U.S. markets, with the largest concentrations in Texas and Florida, two of the country’s most active housing regions. Ownli said its platform includes more than 106,000 properties in Texas, representing roughly $59.5 billion in value, and more than 100,000 listings in Florida valued at about $75 billion.
O’Shaughnessy, a longtime agent himself, said his experience in the industry led him to question that traditional commission model. “I’ve been in the real estate business as a top-selling agent for a decade,” he said. “I just saw how little the commissions correlated to value for consumers. The commission system is broken by design.”
He went further, criticizing the industry’s structure. “The NAR acts as a cartel — the biggest lobbying firm in the country,” he said, adding that consumers are often “paying fees for processes that are largely digitized now.”
A model built on reducing reliance on agents
Ownli’s core premise is simple: give consumers the tools to manage their own transactions.
The platform aggregates listing data, pricing insights and transaction workflows into a single interface, allowing users to move through the buying or selling process without relying on a traditional agent.
“Traditionally, real estate has been so fragmented, and we’re automating that,” O’Shaughnessy said. “Our software gives you everything you need to buy or sell a home, and it is for the DIY consumer.”
The company believes that much of what agents historically provided — coordination, paperwork, communication — can now be handled through software.
“Consumers are paying fees for processes that are largely digitized,” he said. “With every other industry using digitized forms, the agents have gone away. Real estate, though, has stayed consistent.”
Ownli positions agents as optional participants
Despite its positioning, Ownli isn’t framing itself as directly anti-agent. At least not entirely. Instead, O’Shaughnessy suggests that the role of agents may evolve alongside platforms like Ownli, rather than disappear outright.
“Agents don’t fit into our model with Ownli,” he said. “But eventually, we feel agents could use Ownli. Consumers are now underwriting so many inefficient agents.”
In that future, he said, agents may shift toward more specialized or support-based roles. “Agents could use Ownli as a transaction coordinator,” he added.
At the heart of Ownli’s strategy is a belief that consumer expectations are changing, and that real estate is one of the last major industries to fully reflect that shift.
“We want to give the consumer that level of trust that they can execute buying or selling a house on their own,” O’Shaughnessy said.
He points to other industries where intermediaries have been reduced or eliminated through technology. “You don’t need multiple agents to buy a car,” he said. “That’s a little different than buying a house, but it’s a similar thing.”
As commission structures face increasing pressure, O’Shaughnessy believes platforms like Ownli will become more necessary. “Once the commission structure finally dies, there will need to be platforms like Ownli,” he said.
For now, the company is focused on challenging a long-held assumption in residential real estate. “The main thing is this,” O’Shaughnessy said. “We’re not competing with agents. We’re competing with the assumption that you need an agent.”
And he added that a growing number of consumers may be ready to test that assumption for themselves. “Consumers want to buy and sell a home themselves,” he said, “and just be sure that they don’t mess it up.”
