Real gets into the ‘brokerage as a service’ business 

The Real Brokerage has rolled out a new offering for independent teams who want to take advantage of Real's platform and revenue share model — while maintaining their own brand and business. 

The new Private Label program could be considered a brokerage as a service or "brokerage in a box" model, Real President Sharran Srivatsaa told Real Estate News.

"The brokerage layer is what we ended up doing really well," he said, adding that the program is intended to help smaller, independent brokerages use Real's platform to scale while maintaining autonomy.

"Is it very hard for a team leader or an agent to build a nationwide platform? Yes. Is it hard for a team leader or the independent brokerage in Topeka, Kansas to go public? Yes," Srivatsaa said. "The brokerage as a service platform is something we can build so that it is way easier for the performance units to plug into."

A handful of other companies already offer a similar "brokerage as a service" model, most notably Side and Pinnacle Realty Advisers, but Srivatsaa said Real's program provides additional perks, like access to training and revenue sharing.

Srivatsaa added that "there's no change to what an agent receives" — Private Label teams and agents enjoy the same benefits as in-house agents. 

Before formally announcing the initiative, Real piloted the Private Label program in California and Massachusetts and currently has five teams participating, Srivatsaa said. 

One of the early adopters is the 12-member Globl RED team in Los Angeles.

"We spent the previous three years launching our brand and building brand awareness," Globl RED founder Kofi Nartey said of his experience with the program. "Being able to maintain our existing brand and get all the benefits of a tech-forward brokerage partner was a game changer."

In addition to the Private Label initiative, Real has launched ProTeams to give team leads more control and flexibility to customize their own businesses. The program, which will be fully available to North American teams by the end of the quarter, allows team leaders to adjust and tailor agent caps, splits and fee payments, the company said. 

The new initiatives are a part of Real's broader focus on maintaining growth in 2024 while delivering tools and resources that help individual agents and teams scale, Srivatsaa said. The company will also continue to put extra emphasis on training and professional development, particularly as a multitude of commissions lawsuits, which could upend compensation practices, make their way through the courts. 

"The phrase I hate the most is 'Come hang your license here' — that automatically says, 'Hey, I'll give you a place to hang your license, but you can do whatever you want," Srivatsaa explained. "That's super hard for me. I think it's our responsibility to train agents."