SERHANT. founder and CEO Ryan Serhant told Inman that his brokerage picks new markets based on where people plan to build their lives over the next decade. Next up: Utah.
On Tuesday, Serhant announced the launch of SERHANT. Utah in Salt Lake City and Park City, exclusively to Inman. The brokerage opens with more than 40 agents from firms including Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Engel & Völkers, Keller Williams, Real, Sotheby’s International Realty and Windermere Real Estate. Together, those agents closed $700 million in sales over the past 12 months, according to the company. Utah is the firm’s sixth new market of 2026 and brings its total footprint to 21 states.
Ryan Serhant | SERHANT. Studios
“As we move across the country, we look where people will be building their lives over the next 10 years,” Serhant told Inman. “I think Utah is one of the fastest-growing states in the country. It needs hundreds of thousands of additional homes over the next decade to support the growth, and we want to help serve that growth.”
Serhant said Utah ranks fifth nationally for population growth. He said Park City and its surrounding market recorded just over $5 billion in residential sales in the 12 months that ended June 30.
Clients the firm serves in San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas and Palm Beach also own homes in Park City, Serhant added.
Building the Utah roster
Bridgette Osguthorpe
Bridgette Osguthorpe leads SERHANT. Utah as managing director and principal broker. She spent more than 16 years at Summit Sotheby’s International Realty, most recently as president and managing broker, according to the company. Julie Snyder joins as a founding agent from Summit Sotheby’s and brings her Park City team, Inhabit Park City, along with more than $350 million in career sales.
Serhant said the firm meets many of its future agents through SellIt, its education platform, which he said has almost 60,000 members in 138 countries. Agents in every market have told the company they are ready to join once it enters their area, he said.
“We don’t buy anybody,” he said. “They come for the opportunity. They stay for the results.”
The launch roster includes:
- From Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices: Leigh Ann Gray, Jonathan Burky and Tara Vaught
- From Engel & Völkers: Olivia Bostwick, Nate Sase and Madison Hammond
- From Keller Williams: Cody Wilder Ray
- From Real: Jenna Gianneschi, Jen Hutto, Tyler Shenk, Kyle Tucker, Jessica Williams and Crosby Nnah
- From Sotheby’s International Realty: Kelle Cobble, Brennon Dahl, Melissa Goff, Alicia Holdaway, Adrian Maco, Jacquelin Perry, Julie Snyder, Randi Thompson and Amy Volcic
- From Windermere Real Estate: Tara Airhart, Bryce Behmer, Cameron Boone, Jake Taylor and Sean Baumann
Marketing Utah listings
SERHANT. Studios already has a production presence in Park City, Serhant said. The firm generates about 1 billion impressions a month and publishes about 60,000 posts a year across almost 100 accounts, with close to 150 people in production, he said. Leads from that content go to the firm’s agents in markets where it is licensed, now including Utah.
“We reach people in the palm of their hand before they ever drive by a sign on the street or see a newspaper ad or get that phone call or email,” Serhant said.
Dot arrives with the launch
Utah agents join SERHANT. weeks after the firm finished rolling out the second version of its AI platform. Deployment began in the West on Oct. 5 and finished during the week of Halloween, Serhant said.
S.MPLE serves as the operating system, and Dot is the AI agent that works on top of it. A desktop version went out to half the country last week, and the rest of the country gets it this week, he said. An iMessage integration is coming that will let Dot join group chats and help schedule showings.
Agents using Dot have grown transaction volume almost 44 percent year over year, Serhant said.
“You can automate tasks, but you can’t automate trust,” he said.
Dot works alongside a licensed agent in every client interaction, which the firm calls keeping a “licensee in the loop,” Serhant said. Consumers don’t need an agent to buy or sell a home in the U.S., he said, but working with one gives them a professional who has a fiduciary duty and accountability for the outcome.
“The same way you used to use maybe like an executive assistant or an admin to be looped in with a client, now you’ll just have Dot,” he said.
Where Utah listings get seen
SERHANT. Utah opens during the fight between Compass and multiple listing services over how listings are shared.
In the launch announcement, Serhant said the firm’s platform and media reach would put “every listing in front of the right buyer, wherever that buyer is.”
The central question in the dispute is who owns listing data, Serhant told Inman: The seller, the brokerage, the MLS or third-party aggregators? He said he supports efforts to build a national listing network owned by brokerages. It would include on-market, off-market and coming-soon listings and would be limited to licensed agents.
He said the fights over commission fees distract from affordability. More than 250 U.S. cities now have starter homes priced above $1 million, up from 80 when he founded the firm in 2020, according to Serhant.
“A first-time home isn’t a starter home now,” he said. “It’s now a midlife decision.”
Utah and the expansion plan
Serhant said Utah is part of the firm’s long-term plan and described it as a luxury marketplace where the firm needs a presence to serve its clients.
“We need to be where the customers are, and we like to meet them where they’re at instead of asking them to come and meet us or find us,” he said.
He pointed to the $5 billion redevelopment of Salt Lake City International Airport and the expansion of Deer Valley’s ski terrain as draws for buyers who travel often. Salt Lake City will also host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and Serhant said the firm wants to establish itself in the market before then.
SERHANT. grows more than 100 percent a year organically, Serhant said, and the firm is working to keep service quality high as it adds markets. He said he made his view on growth clear when he launched the firm in 2020.
“Growth is not a business plan,” he said. “Being big is not being better.”
He said the firm focuses on working with the right people in the right markets and lets timing follow.
“The time is now, and the time is right for Utah,” he said.
