If I were to start a real estate brokerage today, what would it look like? In this long-form conversation, I sit down with Austin broker-owner Eric Bramlett to answer that question. We cover:

1. What’s broken in brokerage today -- from “masses of asses” recruiting and misaligned incentives to the flood of part-time agents and industry noise.

2. What’s actually working -- the common threads between the brokerages and agents thriving, including eXp’s recruiting flywheel, Compass’s communications machine, various new business models, and the overlooked importance of emotional value and culture.

3. How we’d build it from scratch -- a focused brokerage designed for the top 20%: lean, selective, efficient, culture-rich, and boringly effective.

The themes that emerge again and again: focus, clarity, culture, recruitment, and communication. If you want to understand where brokerage is heading -- and what it really takes to compete where you can win -- this is for you!