New Mercer Island Branch Opens as Fast-Growing Brokerage Crests Past $1 Billion in Sales Volume in 2020
INMAN, the leading authority for the real estate industry news recently tapped members of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty (RSIR) to discuss cutting-edge concepts in brokerage office design and explores what it takes to attract top-producer brokers to the boutique yet highly productive firm from rival brands.
Reporter Marian McPherson first pressed why RSIR would expand retail operations amid the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic turbulence. Dean Jones, President and CEO of RSIR sees an opportunity to double down while other brands are pulling back—he feels RSIR’s retail approach is well-positioned to differentiate his brokers in a sea of sameness.
“One thing that I don’t think is going to change is [the need for in-person interactions],” Jones told Inman. “In some ways [there’s been] a global reset where so many businesses are looking at how they do business, what environments they need to procure client relationships, and basically where their priorities are.”
Jones points RSIR’s portfolio of seven unique retail operations, each as individual as the neighborhood they reside in and all, he says, are powered by a company culture and marketing prowess that is unmatched in the region. This shared vision aligned well with former Compass brokers, Lindsey Bundy and Tammy Gwinn, whom were independently building out their facility in the town center of Mercer Island, known as the Home Collaborative.
“What we really wanted to do was build something in addition to The [Home] Collaborative that supported the members but integrating some top-performing brokers that had the mindset of innovation and client-centric focus,” Bundy said to INMAN. “We started to build, design and brand The Home Collaborative Living, and as we started to get into the systems of processes of what would be needed, we had to take a step back and we started to do some research about the brands out there.”
INMAN reported Dean and Stacy Jones began hearing great things about The Home Collaborative and decided Gwinn and Bundy’s business fit within their brokerage’s long-standing commitment to lifestyle-centered offices.
The Home Collaborative is now a fully-licensed branch office of RSIR and joins the Sotheby’s International Realty global network of 928 other branch offices in more than 70 countries and territories around the world. RSIR’s Chief People Officer, Stacy Jones has always taken a different approach when curating branch offices, which is evident by their enviable retail locations, hospitality-inspired design, and robust services for brokers.
“We’ve always understood that culture is key, and if your brokers don’t want to be in the environment then they’re not going to collaborate,” Stacy said to INMAN. “We’ve always chosen to bring our real estate brands to premier retail locations in fundamentally unique pedestrian locations where we can intermix the broker, the third-party businesses that work with us, as well as the consumer.” “We know that real estate happens where conversations start,” she added.
Now celebrating their 10th anniversary as a franchisee with Sotheby’s International Realty, the Jones’ have created a distinctive brand within a highly competitive market long dominated by local firms.
In December 2016, INMAN previously showcased RSIR’s Kirkland Branch office in an article: “How and Underdog Brokerage Rose to $1 Billion in a Market of Goliaths“.
The most recent INMAN article has auspicious timing as RSIR recently posted $1 billion in sales volume already in 2020. The brokerage achieved this notable milestone in half the time it took just three and a half years ago.
