Teams are rising — is your brokerage ready? 

Brokerages that continue to prioritize solo agents over teams may find themselves clinging to a fading model — and losing ground fast.

That was the message from RealScout CEO Andrew Flachner at the T3 Leadership Summit earlier this month. (Note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.) 

Taking a page from "The Innovator's Dilemma," Flachner warned that companies focused solely on today's economics risk missing out on tomorrow's growth — especially as more production consolidates under high-performing teams.

"Innovation is painful. It's not risk-free," Flachner said. "But doing what feels right now might actually be the wrong choice."

Just ask Kodak, which invented digital photography but failed to embrace it because they didn't want to disrupt their film business, he added. "That's the classic Innovator's Dilemma."

Teams are where the production is

Flachner, in partnership with T3 Sixty and Tom Ferry of Ferry International, recently released a 50-page report on real estate teams built from in-depth interviews and survey responses from team leaders across the country. The findings paint a clear picture: Teams aren't a niche — they're reshaping the entire structure of the residential brokerage business.

"Forty-seven percent of [eXp] licensees either lead a team or are on a team," Flachner said. "Real has grown 100% year-over-year. LPT has tripled. Some teams now eclipse brokerages in their market."

And it's not just agent count or volume. Tech companies built to support teams, such as Follow Up Boss, are being snapped up for hundreds of millions. "That company sold to Zillow recently — to the tune of half a billion dollars," he said.

What teams want from brokerages

According to the study, teams want more than leads and logos. What they're asking for, in descending order, are:

• Integrated, flexible technology

• Administrative and operational support

• Marketing and branding resources

• Recruiting help

• Cost offsets for legal, hiring and marketing

"Even the basics of starting a team can be daunting," Flachner said. "It's far more complex and requires far more investment than operating as a solo agent."

To make it easier, Flachner recommends subsidizing startup costs, offering team-focused templates and playbooks, and even sharing staff to reduce overhead. He praised ARC Realty, for example, for inviting team leaders into its leadership development program typically reserved for executives — a cultural move that reinforces trust and loyalty.

BYOT: Bring your own tech

A potentially surprising but critical insight from the report: Don't force your tech stack on teams.

"Teams have operational excellence. They already have tools they're using," Flachner said. "If your system is end-to-end and it's a walled garden that doesn't play nicely with other vendors, they're going to attribute no value to it."

The better strategy? A flexible ecosystem where teams can plug in their preferred systems — not just yours.

Rethinking brokerage models

Flachner also encouraged smaller and mid-sized brokerages to consider bolder options: build your own team in-house or become a team-rich brokerage.

"If you're already developing and supporting teams, the leap to building one in-house is smaller than you think," he said. Doing so could open doors to new agent recruiting strategies and attract partnerships with marketing and tech providers. "Your existing staff is already doing the work — how do you stretch those dollars further?"