To all the agents in the house,
Perusing through the RealTrends top 500 U.S. residential real estate outfits by sales volume, I came across a brokerage I'm only dimly aware of: Samson Properties of Chantilly, Virginia. The Fairfax County company placed 19th on the list, compiling $9.6 billion in 2021 sales volume, a 71% leap from one year earlier.
Despite being situated in one of the wealthiest parts of the country, Samson Properties' listed home prices are closer to the U.S. median home price norm of $375,000. Samson's touted business model is also becoming close to the norm: a "100% commission plan."
Samson calls the 100% plan "unmatched" for real estate agents, on the company's website, adding that there are "no monthly fees and very few restrictions" for agents and there is great broker and marketing support.
That sounds, well, literally unmatched, even though many brokerages near the top of the list also offer near 100% splits, including United Real Estate, Fathom Realty, West USA Realty and the originator of such a business model, RE/MAX.
RE/MAX, though, has always been upfront that agents must pay upfront fees, thus the brokerage's long standing appeal to veteran (or unduly confident) agents who know they can make a deal. Samson — and to some extent these other brokerages — are promising both a minimal percentage cut or flat fee per transaction, and provision of services.
I am not sure what's going on here. These sound like training wheel versions of what Compass is doing, promising both killer commissions and awesome services – a "you can have your cake and eat it too" business plan that makes unclear sense to the brokerage. But maybe these brokerages have realized efficiencies that more established firms at the top of the list like Realogy, Howard Hanna, or @properties have not.
If you are an agent at Samson, or one of these other aforementioned brokerages, or have a better grip on their business model than I do, please let me know! Email me anonymously at mblake@housingwire.com.
Sincerely,
Matthew Blake
Senior Real Estate Reporter
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