The Real Estate Brokerage War Nobody Understands (Until Now)

Zillow's kind of like the cartel, if you think about it. There's this goofy dude up in Colorado that talks about it all the time, that the real estate cartel. But let me tell you about Zillow, and this is actually going to make you think. And for the general consumer, this will totally help you understand what is happening in layman's terms, because it's just like on the news. So what happens is, is the cartel has the drug, which is the listings and the data and the client, and they built a lot of trust inside both realms with the real estate agents and the consumers. Until they figured out how to make it more profitable. And then with the profitability comes the holding the drug pushers, right, which are the team leaders in the industry because they get a cut of what Zillow gives and they have to do the work and they have to manage the team. Well, then you have the drug pushers down here that are the agents that work for the bottom of the barrel so that all these people are making money. All right, let's get to the headlines of real estate today. Let's show you how Real outplayed Compass in the $888 million acquisition with RE/MAX. But it's not about the acquisition and what's going on there. It's actually the underlying thing that everybody has missed that they're not talking about. We're gonna get into that. Some Zillow headlines, you know, Zillow and Compass still wrestling for control of your listings, your data, your clients. I am— two very different plays on collaboration here with Real. So Let's dive into the real RE/MAX thing first. Collaboration and respect. This is what I love about Tamir and the brokerage that I've been a part of since August of 2021. Here's the deal. Tamir came out and did a national call with us and just explained to us what is happening right now. And one of the things he asked for is that we respect our colleagues at RE/MAX right now while they're going through this announcement and this transition. And that nobody freak out and that we respect what's happening. And actually what it is, is that rather than disrespecting in an ego play, which is really where Compass came from and buying Anywhere, it's the bigger, better conglomerate. We're going to talk about that in a second. But here's what Real did. Real came in and honored a 53-year-old brand in the real estate, one of the most known and recognizable worldwide franchises. And RE/MAX is a franchise model, not necessarily a brokerage model. So there's some complicated things that go along with that as well. But here's what it is. Real came alongside to work with RE/MAX to bolster its brand by giving it the option to operate inside Real's technology and platform, which is a benefit for both sides. It also brings us up to, I think it's the number 2 brokerage as far as agent count worldwide. In about a 4-month period of time, which is pretty badass when you look at it. But it didn't have to do with what everybody else has been doing— Zillow, Compass— which is where do we divide and conquer. And then you've got these big monsters up here fighting about things, right? Real came in and said, hey, how do we collaborate? How do we lift each other up? And how do we put ourselves as the seat of the table with all these other people? And they went at it a different way. It's the same way that I agree with, which is I work with people. I don't work for people. I don't have the ego in what I'm doing, and neither does Real. And what I love about the humbleness of Real is that we stayed out of all the bullshit brokerage headlines and the fights for data and Zillow and aligning with Premier Listing and all the other crap going on out there. Just like me, just flying below the radar, working with collaboration to figure out the number one thing that I love about both these brands doing this. Is through and through about the agent and the brands coming up together in order to have a different sort of real estate than what everybody else is doing. And I love the collaboration piece and the respect piece and the thing about, hey, how do we go further together? How do we collaborate and how do we honor the brand that has been around for so long, even though I've made fun of it at times, right? The hot air balloon. But the reality is the respect for what has been done. So let's move on from here, you know, to all of you guys at RE/MAX and the shift that's about to happen. Here's my advice. Two books that I have for you that are really fun. One, this is a Who Moved My Cheese moment. And if you haven't read that book, it's freaking awesome. There's actually a 12-minute YouTube video that's down here below that's awesome. And it's about change and it's about seeing change and it's about accepting change. And it's about chasing the change and evolution, something that I'm very good at in my career of almost 30 years in real estate, where I have evolved with every market and I have changed as I've seen the market change so that I don't get stuck in the same rut doing the same thing, which is the definition of insanity, which I think a lot of real estate agents do in this business, is just the same thing over and over again, beating themselves to death doing it. By the way, you look at Liquid Death, they went against the plastic water bottle industry and totally crushed it and gave us cool water that tastes good, that's actually decent. And then you look at what Tamir's doing at Reel with his team and what we're doing together, because the agents are a part of it, is that we're building something different. We're building a different culture inside the space. And it's just amazing to be part of somebody that's forward-thinking rather than old-school thinking, right? Forward-thinking. Liquid Death freaking rocks it. Like, we're kind of addicted to this stuff around here. I have a funny for you today. Think of this of the hot crazy scale. You know, the dude that did the hot crazy scale for chicks. Really awesome. Zillow and Compass. Yes, I got some things on Zillow, right? Zillow is kind of like the cartel. If you think about it, there's this goofy dude up in Colorado that talks about it all the time, the real estate cartel. But let me tell you about Zillow, and this is actually going to make you think. And for the general consumer, this will totally help you understand what is happening in layman's terms because it's just like on the news. So What happens is, is the cartel has the drug, which is the listings and the data and the client. And they built a lot of trust inside both realms with the real estate agents and the consumers until they figured out how to make it more profitable. And then with the profitability comes the holding the drug pushers, right? Which was the team leaders in the industry because they get a cut of what Zillow gives and they have to do the work and they have to manage the team. Well, then you have the drug pushers down here that are the agents that work for the bottom of the barrel so that all these people are making money. It was really fascinating to see the value exchange there and the control of data and where it goes. And it's a fascinating economy, but I don't think people look at it from that standpoint, is it really is this. And by the way, if— which this is part of the consumer headlines about the RICO and all the different lawsuits going on. Is the RESPA violations of when the middleman, the team leaders, and their agents are not performing. They're not selling loans, they're not pushing to title, they're not doing these things. Then they can get the axe. They don't get any more leads. Their faucet is turned off. So they have to play by the metrics in order to create the business. And then if the metrics changes, they just have to fall in line. So it's really interesting as to why anybody would sign up for Zillow to 100% control their lead flow and their clients and what to do. And then on the other hand, by the way, that's the play. Zillow built a lot of trust in the consumer with the Zestimate and giving the access to it, which was awesome. They gave a lot of access to real estate agents to meet consumers where they were, and that's how it started in the beginning. So they built trust on both sides. And over time, people have an agenda, and they had an agenda to get where they're at. And so today they control a lot of data. They're a big company, all the things. I could get axed walking out of this room tomorrow. Who knows, right? But here's the deal. That's the control over data, the consumer, and what they can do in the conglomerate and more money, right? It's not about the consumer and it's not about the agent. It's about their bottom line. Crazy thing is, I think Zillow still loses money every year. I'm not sure how that works. Then you have Compass on the other side. My fear for agents at Compass, you know, when you look at the play where Compass bought Anywhere, it's a control play. Compass is building trust amongst the agents that we're fighting Zillow and we're this, this powerhouse. But in the end, they are controlling all of those agents. And here's what most people don't see, and I've heard this from agents, is that their fear of leaving Compass is that their email is tied to their CRM, which is Compass-driven, and they can't take their business with them. So they're held hostage with all the technology and all the things that are baked in with all their clients. And if you don't think the brokerages with AI and having to use a company email address with AI technology right now isn't monitoring everything that goes on for compliance, Yeah, you're wrong. Guaranteeing it's happening, right? So when you look at that and you're a real estate agent, you really don't own your business inside Compass. You're locked in. And in Zillow, you don't own your business over here because you have to play by your rules. So at some point in time, you have to stop following the sheep and going, if I want to own a business and a real estate business, where is the best place that I can operate in? In this capacity. So those are my opinions for what they're worth in what I see, and it's the reason that I believe that a brokerage is an operating system and a place for opportunity to happen, collaboration to happen, growth to happen, wealth to be built. It's the main reason that I joined Real was just because it was an investor experience, period. The more production I had, the more— the harder I worked, the more rewards I built, and the stock that I earned in the company for the things that I was doing on a regular basis. So I appreciate Real, I appreciate Tamir's vision, and I'm grateful for where I'm at. If you guys are questioning, you know, brokerage, cool, hit the link down below, schedule an appointment, uh, let's chat about it. Not— Real's not for everybody. You got to figure out what your business looks like and where it's going to figure out what brokerage. Compass might be your thing, whatever, doesn't matter. And even if you're at Compass, guess what? I'll work with you to do a deal any day, uh, because that's how I roll. Because, you know, I'm kind of a product of RE/MAX, which means we collaborate and we still do things no matter what brokerage is going on, right? Here's the play that's different that I find very interesting in the comparison of what RE/MAX did with RE/MAX and what Compass did with Anywhere. And if you don't know what Anywhere is, it's a collective of, I would say, the old-school brokerages, right? The Coldwell Bankers, the Century 21s, all of these franchise models that also lead to a lot of real estate leases, a lot of, um, holding a lot of expenses with a lot of agents. But here's the deal, a lot of agents doesn't mean a lot of productivity. So I'm gonna go off the cuff and think that the average agent in the Anywhere brand probably produces less on a per-agent average than one does in RE/MAX. That's just my guess when you put the two brands together as far as a cross. And again, just stating my, uh, my lame high school, uh, degree in my economics here. Because I think what Real did was a play of, like we talked about, collaboration. But they also looked at a franchise model that is one of the most productive and worldwide models known. So they got a lot of collaboration and the instant ability to go worldwide with this brand and with the collaboration piece rather than the ego play of rebranding everything and pulling it down. So I'm really grateful for that, and it's kind of cool. Um, Zillow versus Compass— they dropped its antitrust lawsuit against Zillow March 18th after Zillow softened its listing access standards. Yeah, this whole listing thing is freaking— I'm just reading some of the data from here. It's all crap. Um, the reality is, uh, Tamir talked about it yesterday, which was The private listing thing, we haven't put our seat at the table because when he asked us how our consumers are actually talking about it, they don't care. They don't know anything about it. They don't understand it. And it's more about getting the house sold and the best way to sell the house. And when you look at the private stuff, it's really about trying to keep things in-house so that you can not double end it, but, you know, two agents in the same brokerage can do it. And I still don't understand it. Like, you know, especially after the buyer broker agreement changed, it's on the buyer to pay the agent. So if everything is for sale and it's the buyer's responsibility to pay the agent and we can negotiate the commission into the deal, why does it matter where it's posted and who has access to it? The price is the price. The commission is the commission agreed upon by both sides. So who freaking cares? What are we fighting over? I'll tell you what we're fighting over. We're fighting over data. Because of all the things that come with the listings, right? It's the leads, it's the where you can put it, it's who you can attract. It's saying we have something nobody else does, so we have a better mousetrap. You know what, wholesalers and freaking investors have been doing this shit for years, and it's more in any business, like if you really got down to brass tacks for people, it's about the relationships they have in the industry is how they can actually move properties. The property videos and all the things that the agents do are simply exposure for themselves and some for the property, but it's really showing what's happening in the business. And the reality is the greatest agents that I know are the ones that have the most connections with the most resources. It's the ability to see the market, connect with the right people, guide them through it. Those are the people that are successful. All right, let's move it on. Segment 2: Stats That Matter. Oh, these are some of the stats that I wanted to go through. RE/MAX agents, uh, average 11.7 transaction sides per in 2025. More than double the 5.4 average agents competing in large brokerages for 18 straight years. A 2:1 productivity advantage. That's pretty powerful when you're taking on a super productive, more than average by double, like I would say way above average sales volume per RE/MAX agent, about $5.3 million versus competitors $3.2 million. That's a 68% more volume per agent. And 81 of the top 100 brokerages ranked by size per agent in 2025 are RE/MAX offices. 81 of the top 100s. All right, go balloon. Compare the math. Compass Anywhere has 340,000 agents. Real RE/MAX has 180,000 agents, half the count, but the most productive agent base in the industry. That's like a two middle finger moment. Like, I'm just saying, like, let's just talk about stats, facts. Uh, by the way, that's what real estate is, it's facts. The feelings don't matter. Your gut doesn't matter. Like, it's facts. It's financial facts at the end of the day. Everybody's an investment. This is an investment play that is freaking badass. So I had this thought this morning, and I think about the humbleness of the CEO of Costco, and I take the Costco CEO and I take Tamir, and I look at those side by side and like, Costco is about its employees and its members. The whole company is driven on keeping costs low and making things in a really kick-ass economy when it comes down to it, right? I think their hot dog, Christian, like $1.50 for 30 years or something, right? They've never changed it. When you look at it, you look at the employees that have been there forever, you look at the customers that will stand in line for hours at Costco for gas and all the things, and they are like, they're tribal, right? Most Costco people will not step foot in a Sam's Club. I'll do both, right? I have no loyalty, but I can appreciate Costco's model and its customer service. And compared to Sam's Club, Tamir very much reminds me of the Costco CEO. And together with RE/MAX, they're doing what's best for their members, which are the agents, which at the end of the day, it impacts the consumer because the two brokerages together have stayed out of the brokerage wars and have always tried to come alongside the industry to make it better by collaborating with it. You know, all the way back to the NAR changes with the lawsuit. I remember the day that Sharron broke Zoom with, I don't know, 20,000 agents on it. In fact, that call is so memorable that when he started it with "Lead with Grace," because the industry was in absolute chaos, It actually just completed my tattoo with that saying, which is lead with grace. And I think that this is one of those times where we lead with grace. And again, this is not a shit-talking endeavor. This is just simply my opinion of what's going on in the industry from the 30 years I've been in it, which is pretty interesting. Collaboration over domination. Have you noticed Robert Redfin? Anyway, that dude, it's an ego play. This is pure freaking ego. At the end of the day. The biggest brokerage, the biggest data, all the things, all the changes. And I don't know who that's for. I don't know what the end result is. They're looking to dominate the brokerage space because I know smaller brokerages, friends of mine, that have been offered by Compass to buy them out. So it's an acquisition game to be the biggest, which I'm not sure what that accomplishes at the end of the day other than the data play, right? There's more to make off the data. The agents The agents are the least amount of these companies' worries. It's the title, the lending, the joint ventures, the inspections, the home warranties, all the ancillary things that these companies have in the vertical is really where the money is made. So the more agents, even in less transaction count, the more income they drive the company based on the ancillary, uh, things or companies that they have. Reel went in with the collaboration model of how do we make it better rather than dominating, which is come alongside and build up rather than tear down. Reel isn't trying to absorb RE/MAX. They reached across the aisle, right? They just wanted— they didn't want to see the brand die. It was respect. You know, Tamir has been on this freaking ride for, I think, since 2012 to figure this out, shifted somewhere around '18, '19. And, you know, here we are, um, with one of the best, if not the best, brokerage model in a cloud base possible that allows us to truly run our business as operators. If you compare that to Compass, Anywhere layoffs, brand consolidation, agents wondering what they're signed up for— nobody really knows, but there's going to be a lot of technology changes in those brokerages that people may or may not be ready for. when it comes down to, because all of a sudden their system rules the world and you're either in it or you're out of it, right? And that may cause some people to leave that brand because of those things. But again, Who Moved My Cheese? is a great book because I don't think anywhere you go is going to change. The operating systems are changing. There's more technology pushed into it. There's more AI in it, and of course there's more help in it. So it's one of those times that it's either adapt or go away, right? Become irrelevant. Okay, here's my closing thoughts on this segment, is that we're in the people business and the house is just the byproduct of what we do with people. Because what I've realized in my business is that real estate has just opened up doors to so many different opportunities to collaborate with people outside of the business, and it creates a whole nother level of opportunity in life to grow with people, to build businesses with people, to work with people and grow with them. You know, I've got clients that are amazing that I've grown with over the years. Recently, we were at this great charity event, just reminiscing it. It started with a Craigslist ad. He was a rookie cop and he raised up to build a great business, a couple of different business, very successful. And he's still one of my good friends almost 20 years into what started off as a Craigslist ad lead. Turns into this great relationship that, you know, they're watching our kids. We were at their wedding. We're watching their kids grow up. And it turns into different business ventures and things that we can do together. And business flourishes. So they don't just call me to be the realtor anymore. We call and we connect for friends. And it's a quality of relationship in the business. And that's what, you know, my dad always taught me is we're in the people business. Real estate's just the byproduct. And we have enough impact on people then there's an income that follows through the real estate based on what you do and how you do it in this business. And if you're looking for different with all this change, speaking of Who Moved My Cheese, you know, every Wednesday at 9:00 AM, I invite you into my world at Built Not Bought. I have a community call that I do with real estate agents, investors, and we're really just giving you the ideas of what I'm doing in the day-to-day and how you can have great ideas working with the new technologies to figure out new ways to do real estate and ways to bolster your business and your personal life. Drop your opinion below. I'd love to hear what you think about this segment and the opinion of Zillow and Compass and the real RE/MAX. Look, I'm honored to be here and talk about this. And again, no matter where you're at in the world, there's a thing that you really need to understand is that I don't care the brokerage model. I really don't. What I do care about is the human being and is their definition of success being met. And if, you know, Compass, eXp, whatever these brokerages are, where you want to be, freaking cool, then join my call. That's awesome. We'll show you how to be successful no matter where you're at. And hey, if you're looking for some identity research for yourself, check out my identity prompt. It's still free for the next week. Check that out. And get to work. Find out who you really are, how you operate, and who your client is and where your business is going next. I'm Steve D Valentine, and I will talk to you later.