Brokerage Beat: News from United, Windermere, Engel & Völkers 

Editor's note: The brokerage business is a busy one, with frequent moves, mergers and milestones. Here we highlight some of the latest activity among brokerages across the U.S. and globally.

United Real Estate merges with REAL Dallas Properties 

United Real Estate has merged its Dallas area operations with REAL Dallas Properties & Management. United Dallas adds 70 agents to its North Texas operations in the merger, bringing United's total in the region to more than 800.

Nieke Valadez, REAL Dallas co-owner, named United's transaction-fee model as a prime incentive for the deal. "With upcoming changes in our industry, we are preparing our agents with the flexibility in how they do business," she said in a news release. "Our transition from a brokerage commission-split model to a transaction-fee model means they can negotiate more competitive client fees and win more business in any type of market."

In that same release, REAL Dallas broker and co-owner Luna Zenati added that their team has access to expanded resources and benefits. "In this merger, they are getting a raise. Not to mention, they can access exciting services they never had before, such as PPO health plans, wealth management and retirement planning… We are upgrading and becoming better versions of ourselves."

United operates in 32 states with 159 offices and more than 21,000 agents. The company produced more than 70,000 transactions and $27.8 billion in sales volume in 2023.

Jeff Tucker joins Windermere as principal economist

Windermere Real Estate has welcomed Jeff Tucker as the company's new principal economist. Tucker knows real estate well, having been senior economist at Zillow. He has 10 years of professional experience, including more than five years at Zillow, plus stints at Amazon, AirDNA, and in economic consulting.

Tucker's work at Zillow included research on housing market trends, writing economic outlook reports, and presenting data to policy makers such as the White House Council of Economic Advisers. One of Tucker's primary responsibilities will be to analyze economic data and its effect on national and regional housing markets, Windermere CEO Geoff Wood said in a news release. Emphasis will be placed on the Western U.S., where Seattle-based Windermere operates.

"It's easy to get overwhelmed by the vast amount of information that is published about the housing market, so my job will be to analyze and interpret that information in a way that makes it easy for our agents and their clients to understand how it impacts them," Tucker said in the release.  

Tucker has a B.A. in Economics from Amherst College and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Washington.

Engel & Völkers' agents gain access to Canva visual design tools 

Global real estate firm Engel & Völkers is giving its teams in the Americas a new set of design and visual communication tools. 

E&V has engaged Canva, an Australia-based communications platform, to launch E&V Create. This design suite will enable professional staff to quickly create high-quality content using thousands of Engel & Völkers templates. E&V Create includes templates for social media graphics, digital ads and videos, among many other materials.

"Engel & Völkers is dedicated to providing our advisors with the resources they need, especially in a highly competitive market," Jill DeSilva, senior vice president of product, Engel & Völkers Americas, said in a news release. "Recognizing that many real estate professionals already use Canva, we've chosen to align with this trusted platform to provide a next-level marketing solution. This is more than just a tool; it's a way to empower our network to meet the needs of a discerning clientele with speed and style."

"We've worked with Engel & Völkers to tailor resources to meet some of the highest marketing standards in the industry and the unique demands of luxury real estate marketing," said Rob Giglio, Canva chief customer officer, in the news release.