When you see anti-consumer stuff like requiring a mostly value capturing middle man, your mind should immediately go to supply/demand imbalance. If the suppliers are structurally advantaged by having limited supply in light of demand(e.g. by zoning or high building costs driven [frequently driven by regulations and minimums]), then you're going to see the supply side try to extract as much value from transactions as possible. They can get away with this because they have no competition. You can build all the alternative, consumer friendly marketplaces you want but supply will not use them because why would they? The only solution is to build more housing. You might say that New York is one of the densest places in the world already, but this is a clear signal that they haven't built enough.