Navigating the impending commission changes can feel confusing, frustrating, and downright impossible. However, it's not impossible. Today on the RealTrending podcast, we spoke with Mark McLaughlin, the Chief Strategist of Compass. He originally joined Compass back in 2018 when the brokerage purchased his firm, Pacific Union for $80 million. He left the Company back in 2021 to pursue other ventures and then returned in June of 2023 as Chief Strategist. In this episode, Tracey and Mark dive...

On today’s episode, we sat down with Rylie Schroeder, an inspiring real estate professional and 2024 honoree of National Association of Realtors 30 Under 30. Rylie is the team lead of Schroeder & Co Real Estate of Compass, which practices out of Houston and Austin. Rylie joins Tracey to discuss the importance of building and nurturing relationships and how she uses a successful 36-touch system for client connections. She also talks about lessons learned from a failed partnership and how...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, we are joined by Christine Hansen, the broker-owner of Century 21 Hansen Realty, which has been serving the South Florida area for over 38 years. She is also the 2025 first vice president of the National Association of Realtors. Today’s episode discussion focuses on what we can gain from not only our successes but also from our failures. Christine talks about the hardships and bankruptcy that she went through during the Great Recession, and what those...

This week, we welcome Travis Robertson to the show! Travis is a real estate coach and the CEO of The Don’t Settle Group, a sales and executive training and coaching company.  Travis believes in the importance of treating real estate as a fully realized business, not just a practice or side hustle. He and Tracey talk about the need for agents to understand and communicate their value to clients and maintain a long term relationship with them outside of the business transaction. They also talk...

On today’s sponsored episode, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jason Mitchell, the founder and CEO of JMG Real Estate, one of the top mega teams on the 2024 RealTrends Verified Rankings. JMG is a B2B brokerage that works diligently with big brands to drive worthwhile business into their company and give their agents high-quality referrals.  Tracey and Jason talk about JMG’s strategy when building a network of referral partners and the careful consideration that they take when assessing...

Today, we welcome Howard Lorey to the show! Howard is the Executive Vice President and Brokerage Manager of Nourmand & Associates with 24 years of real estate experience. He and his team at the LA-based Nourmand & Associates closed over 380 transactions this past year with a total sales volume of over $693 million to date.   Tracey and Howard discuss how he transitioned from being a professional musician to working under his father in real estate, and the interesting similarities he's...

This week, we are bringing you a fantastic chat with Michelle Berman-Mikel, the owner and founder of Berman Media PD and the developer behind a program called Beyond the Method, which teaches real estate professionals how to use Instagram in a way that helps them grow their business. She and Tracey do a deep dive into how to use and leverage Instagram and other social media to turn superficial follower engagement into a full-blown lead-generation tool. Michelle has what she calls the “Four...

In today’s episode, we have a fantastic chat with Jim D’Amico, the CEO and president of Century 21 North East. Jim is a 2020 RealTrends Gamechanger, touting an impressive transaction growth rate of 179% between 2014 and 2018. Jim shares the one small change that he made early in his career that led to massive growth in his professional and personal life. Jim also discusses his specific approach to acquisitions, the inherent value of continuing education for agents, and much more. Here’s a...

In today’s episode, we speak with the co-founder & CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), Gary Acosta. Gary is a real estate and mortgage entrepreneur, public policy advocate, investor, and advisor, who has served on boards for several Fortune 500 companies including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and JP Morgan Chase. Tracey and Gary’s conversation focuses on Gary’s career passion: the health of Hispanic and Latino homebuyers in today’s market. They...

Today we welcome Sharran Srivatsaa, the president of Real, to the RealTrending podcast! Sharran joined Real in 2022 and has personally overseen the onboarding of over 13,000 agents while Real has moved up to #6 from #11 by transaction sides in the 2024 RealTrends Verified brokerage rankings. He brings over two decades of business and entrepreneurial experience to today’s conversation from several companies across the real estate, finance and technology sectors. In today’s conversation with...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, we talk to the newly appointed CEO of eXp Realty, Leo Pareja. He has over two decades of real estate and entrepreneurial experience, and it was just announced last month that Leo was to move from his role as Chief Strategy Officer into the role of CEO, which was previously held by Glenn Sanford. Sanford moves to Chairman of eXp Holdings. In today’s conversation, Leo shares eXp’s plan for future growth, how they are educating agents on the terms of the NAR...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, we welcome Jason Mitchell, the founder and president of the Jason Mitchell Group. In 2023, JMG had over 8500 transaction sides and almost $4.2 billion in transaction volume according to RealTrends verified data. Jason offers insight into the impact of the NAR settlement on the industry as well as the lack of transparency in the settlement agreement. JMG’s model focuses not only on buyer leads from lender referrals, but also a lot of veteran buyers, which he...

On this week’s episode of RealTrending, we welcome two industry figureheads: Thad Wong and Mike Golden, the co-CEOs of Christie's International Real Estate and founders of @properties. Thad and Mike have been in business together for 27 years and are an extraordinary duo. During the conversation, the two talk about their business arrangements and how they’ve managed to get along after almost three decades. They also talk about some insights gleaned from Christie’s recent luxury real estate...

In today’s episode of RealTrending, we welcome Jason Waugh, the President and CEO of Coldwell Banker Affiliates, who, despite just recently starting in this position some eight months ago, brings to the table many years of brokerage experience at another brand. Waugh talks a lot about the importance of empathy and understanding, specifically when it comes to the challenges of making tough decisions that may negatively impact people but are necessary for the long-term success of the...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, we welcome Michael Repka, the CEO and managing broker of DeLeon Realty, a Palo Alto-based brokerage with a unique business model of salaried agents.  In this conversation, Mike and Tracey talk about DeLeon’s brokerage model and its place in the market post-NAR commission lawsuit settlement, as well as scalability and sustainability of the salaried agent model. They also talk about what the future holds for buyer’s agents and what agents need...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, Tracey Velt sat down with Alex Vidal, the president of ERA Real Estate. Today’s conversation is all about mindset, leadership, and challenging yourself with both personal and career goals. They discuss the power of positive thinking, and he shares his coaching strategies for helping agents develop a positive mindset and master their goals. He also discusses his vision for the future of ERA Real Estate and the real estate industry at...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, we are joined by Craig Goodliffe, KW Maps coach and the founder and CEO of Cyberbacker, a company that provides administrative support and virtual assistant services to real estate firms. Craig and Tracey talk about the misconceptions and misinformation plaguing consumer perceptions of commissions, the comission lawsuit and subsequent settlements, as well as strategies for agents to engage in transparent commission conversations with...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, we are joined by Jill Butler, founder of Red Key Realty Leaders, who discusses her business model, services offered, growth strategy, and the importance of culture and recruiting. She emphasizes the importance of transparency and agent’s value add to clients, mastering talent development, and her excitement for the future of the real estate industry Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn: Transparency and communication are key in the real...

We are dropping a breaking news episode in your feed today as Steve Murray of RTC Consulting joins us to discuss an important update in the class action commission lawsuits brought by home sellers across the nation. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has settled for $418 million and will make several policy changes, pending court approval. This proposed settlement has several implications for the real estate industry, including the removal of compensation offers from the MLS. Murray...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, Josh Team, President of SERHANT., joins us to share his journey and how his perspective has changed since he had a heart attack after leaving Keller Williams that left him near death. Three years after his heart attack, where he spent time being a dad and husband through recovery, he’s back in the industry. He discusses the changing landscape of the real estate industry, the opportunities it presents, and how new market horizons fit into growth strategies...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, we are joined by Scott Wright, a partner with RTC Consulting, the premier consulting firm for brokerage mergers and acquisitions, and business valuations for teams and brokerages. They've been collecting brokerage and team benchmarking data for the past 12 years.  Tracey and Scott cover the upcoming Dealmakers Conference and talk about the importance of benchmarking data on brokerage operations, including trends that they’re seeing in...

On this week’s episode of the RealTrending podcast, we are joined by Mark Johnson, the co-founder of Co-Recruit Systems and a business partner in Third Pool Recruiting Systems. He is an industry veteran and also was the former brand president and CEO of JPAR Real Estate company-owned stores, and under his leadership, they grew nearly five times. In today’s episode, he discusses the stark difference between simply recruiting and attracting talent, emphasizing the importance of company culture...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, Dave Liniger, co-founder and chairman of the board of RE/MAX, joins us to discuss his longstanding real estate career, his new book 'The Perfect Ten' and shares insights on leadership and success in the real estate industry.  Liniger shares his most impactful leadership lessons and how his failures have informed his success. He shares personal stories and talks about the use of the 'Perfect 10' score in measuring brokerage satisfaction. Liniger stresses the...

On today’s episode of RealTrending, Jerry Holden, founder of THA Brands, shares his journey of transitioning from a traditional brokerage model to a 100% commission transaction fee-based model. He discusses the challenges he faced in gaining recognition and credibility in the industry and how he overcame them. Jerry also highlights the importance of coaching and training in boosting agent productivity and shares his unique approach of paying agents to train. Jerry emphasizes the significance...