Growing In A Down Market
Countering an industry-downsizing trend, Connect Realty, a full service brokerage headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, has expanded to about 1,200 agents since its first transaction in January 2008. Inman News recently profiled the company’s success.
Currently operating in 14 states, the brokerage encourages agents to recruit their peers without regard to geographic location through a revenue-sharing plan. It also operates using a combination of virtual offices, high commission splits and a low-cost technology package.
The company is growing about 50 agents per month and expects to accelerate as the year progresses, David Boatner, CEO and President of Connect Realty told Inman News.
“We operate on these tenets: optimize the flow of information and optimize the cost of getting it to the agent; take advantage of the tech industry; optimize compensation to the agent; and use the agent as a primary recruiting source,” Boatner said to Inman News.
The company does not require a brick-and-mortar presence and, therefore, does not charge franchise fees or desk fees. As Connect Realty has grown, agents have gotten together and voluntarily formed business centers where they can work, meet clients, or set up agent-run training presentations.
This flexibility is part of the reason the company is so attractive to agents, according to Steve Hiller, a Sacramento-area Connect Realty agent, as he told Inman News.
“That’s the secret right there: Give the agent just a little wind under their wings. And don’t bang them with fees.” Hillier said to Inman News.
—Kimberly Turner
