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Flexibility drives new Real Brokerage affiliation models

Craig Rowe; Canva

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As part of its ongoing effort to market alternatives to affiliating with legacy real estate brands, publicly traded The Real Brokerage has announced two new forms of partnership, Private Label and ProTeams.

The company announced the new efforts in a Jan. 10 press release, which stated the technology-connected remote office company wants to make it “easier for the nation’s 100,000+ independent brokerages and team leaders to join Real.”

Chairman and CEO of Real Tamir Poleg said in a statement that the company is off to a fast start in 2024, with 500 more agents coming onboard, tipping it past the 14,000-agent mark.

“With the launch of these new programs, we’re set to further accelerate our growth, providing unparalleled opportunities for independent brokerages and teams to expand their businesses with unmatched flexibility and support,” Poleg said.

The Private Label model gives independent brokerages access to Real’s internal software solutions and its cascading efficiencies while sustaining its existing consumer-facing brand.

Most of Real’s software is proprietary, including its artificial intelligence platform Leo, which in part powers a transaction management system that enables a small number of transaction coordinators to handle a large number of deals. The company also has a partnership in place with Lofty.

Real Brokerage CTO Pritesh Damani told Inman Intel in June that he wants to keep the company’s tech stack “short.”

With Leo, agents can inquire about their cap status, when their license expires, the size of their network or generate a pending revenue forecast. Leo was taught to respond concisely, even a bit curtly. But, the idea is to be quick and accurate. “Super key to this is the clarity of the message,” Damani said.

The Private Label structure was tested in 12 markets over a year, Real said, accounting for close to $2 billion in sales volume.

Los Angeles-based luxury broker and frequent Inman Connect speaker Kofi Nartey started under the program in August 2023.

“The Private Label model made the transition easy, as we were able to have a seamless public-facing brand transition while working smoothly behind the scenes to onboard onto the platform,” Nartey said in the release.

Real’s ProTeams affiliation hinges on team leaders’ desire to intricately manage the financial parameters of agents under their lead, offering custom agreements on caps, splits and fees, according to Real. This kind of flexibility allows new teams to maintain what members are accustomed to, avoiding onboarding hassles or agent departures because of brokerage-mandated contracts.

The ProTeams plan is available to select teams and, later in Q1, to teams across Canada and the United States.

Real Brokerage President Sharran Srivatsaa said in a statement that the new affiliation plans were launched with the same mindset as last year’s agent benefits initiatives, to offer flexibility and innovation not common to most long-standing brokerage brands.

“We are kicking off 2024 with a revenue share retirement benefits program for all Real agents and two game-changing programs that give individual brokerage owners and team leaders the ability to join Real with the brand they’ve spent millions of dollars building and the financial models that work best for them,” he said.

Srivatsaa also explains the two new programs in a video statement.

Carolina Sky Real Estate brought its 40-agent dual-state team to Real in December of last year and, in October, the company added 56 agents in northern California.

Poleg and his C-suite, Srivatsaa and Damani, were collectively awarded the 2023 Inman Innovator of the Year Award at Inman Connect Las Vegas.

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