Join a larger real estate firm or launch my own brokerage?

Question

For Real Estate Pros that have been in the game for 10+ years...what is your advice for joining a household corporate brokerage vs starting your own brokerage?

I'm self-sufficient and have a great flat-fee set up with my current company that I personally cannot speak highly enough about..

With that said - I've established my own premier brand, and cannot get my head around $20K+ in revenue splits per year..with an anticipated 20+ years of work ahead of me...that is a a lot of working capital that could be re-invested into my own brand and business.

For context I've established a $15M++/yr business without any corporate leads or marketing. My guess is my chances of doubling my production are best by scaling my current specialty and strategy..

Furthermore - if I make enough waves, there is a ROI on my investment with a potential buy out...thoughts?

Michael K Gallagher · Answer

Not at this point yet in my career but always went in with the intention of getting my broker's license and doing my own shop, not sure if that's literally just me or me and some partners but have always favored the boutique brand and service route personally I just think in the world of AI the bigger the brand the less attractive it will be to the clients I'm trying to work with.

To your point though many "old timers" that have brokerages really just have a job, and no splits, they don't have a business that is exitable, so to your last point, if you can create enough of a system around yourself even if its just trainings and culture stuff, that's salable at the end for sure, and in my opinion the way to go.

Join a larger real estate firm or launch my own brokerage?

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