Being an industry ‘outsider’ gave Real an edge, CEO says 

ORLANDO — The housing market may be in a prolonged slump, but you wouldn't know it by looking at The Real Brokerage's recent revenue reports, agent tallies and bold moves within the industry.

And one of Real's boldest moves yet? Its planned acquisition of REMAX, announced April 27. 

Just a few days before that M&A news hit, Real CEO Tamir Poleg spoke with real estate executives at the T3 Leadership Summit, proclaiming that Real is impervious to tricky market conditions, which he believes are often cited as "an excuse" when it comes to measuring growth.

"If you're strong and if you believe in your value, then you can grow in any market condition — and we demonstrated that," he said on April 24 — perhaps an understatement in light of the REMAX deal.

'The courage to dream'

Prior to the REMAX acquisition announcement, Real had surpassed 33,000 total agents — all of whom have adopted the company's tech platform, Poleg said. As its newly appointed chief growth officer recently told Real Estate News, the company sees "a long runway" for continued growth.

So how did Real transform from industry newcomer in 2014 to one of the biggest players in the game, ranking as the fifth-largest brokerage by sales volume last year?

"The fact that we were somewhat outsiders enabled us to take a fresh look at the industry and truly understand what's not working well — and have the courage to dream about what things could look like," Poleg said.

An agent-first philosophy

"We were always that underdog of a company that was growing somewhat slower and was very focused on value," Poleg said.

Real's secret to success? Saying "very focused on the long term."

"Agents come first," Poleg said. "If ever there is any kind of conflict between what's best for the agent and what's best for the company, we're going to choose the agent."

Still, he acknowledged that Real's investors want to see growth and profitability. "We're trying to find those things that will have a positive impact on profitability but will not hurt the agents in any way," he explained.

How the industry can 'do a better job'

Shortly before Poleg took the stage, Compass International Holdings Chairman and CEO Robert Reffkin delivered an energetic presentation outlining his views on MLSs, industry competition, M&As and more.

Poleg acknowledged the appearance, noting that he considers Reffkin "a friend" — before touching on efforts by Reffkin and others to "disrupt" the industry's "status quo," which Poleg said seems to be "working fairly well."

When those disruptions occur, "you don't know what the end game is going to look like," he said. "You might end up in a situation that you did not expect and did not want."

Real estate executives "could do a better job as leaders in cooperating, in respecting each other," Poleg added. "We need to unite; we need to work together; we need to be more respectful of each other."

At the end of the day, "we represent agents," Poleg said. "So I sit here and I'm representing the Real agents — and I need to do a good job at that."

Not 'binding ourselves' to pre-marketing partnerships

Unlike Keller Williams, eXp Realty, HomeServices and many other brokerages, Real hasn't made a pre-market listings deal with any major portals. Poleg said that's largely because a recent survey of Real agents found that most aren't interested in private listings.

Besides, the real estate landscape is changing, "and binding ourselves now to any kind of exclusivity or partnership, I believe, would be a mistake," Poleg said. "It doesn't mean that we're not thinking about how to set ourselves up for a day in which real estate will be transacted differently, or agents will need to follow different processes."

But real estate has "a much bigger problem when it comes to consumers": Competition among brokerages for agents and market share "drove us to almost ignore the consumer from a value standpoint."

The homebuying process is often overwhelming and confusing for consumers, and "we need to provide more certainty and more control to the buyers," Poleg said. "And I'm sure that it'll happen — because otherwise, this industry is doomed."

Brokerages need to fix the 'broken' homebuying experience

"I think that the experience of buying a home in the U.S. right now is broken," Poleg said, echoing comments made earlier at the Summit by Rocket Companies CEO Varun Krishna. "It's flawed. It can be 100 times better — and nobody's going to change it unless brokerages are changing it," Poleg said.

Real is trying to build a tech solution in-house using "a lot of AI," he explained. "I feel this is a bigger opportunity that exists right now in industry. How can we deliver a great experience for people? How can buying a home not be the third- or fourth-most dramatic process that people go through during their lives?"

This is a problem that companies like Real and Compass alike need to prioritize, Poleg added. "And I feel like it's far more important than exclusive listings."

A healthy perspective

Poleg, who lives in Israel, acknowledged that it wasn't easy flying to the event amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, which has disrupted energy prices around the world and caused mortgage rates to climb in the U.S.

Poleg said he and his children have needed to seek shelter multiple times per day during the war — an experience that puts his work in perspective.

"When you're looking at the business world and you have some difficulties — maybe a team is leaving the company, or your competitor is saying something about you — living in that kind of environment builds resilience, and it gives you perspective," he said.

Editor's note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.