A lot of real estate brokerages talk about disrupting the industry, but few have executed on that promise like The Real Brokerage. The fast-growing, remote-first real estate company aimed to be a disruptor and upend the traditional way of running a brokerage.
And they’re aiming to do it all with unprecedented speed.
Now operating in all 50 states and in four Canadian provinces, Real (as it’s called for short) is on the fast track of growth while doubling down on investments in AI technology, claiming to deliver value back to its agents through revenue-sharing and using social media to recruit professionals who also want to shake things up in their local markets.
So far, their approach seems to be working. Real closed $13.5 billion in transaction volume for Q1 2025, a year-over-year increase of 80%. Real’s revenue is growing, too, hitting $354 million in the first quarter of 2025, up 76% from $200.7 million in the same period a year ago.
The firm is recruiting top-producing teams and independent brokers alike, more than doubling its current agent count to nearly 27,000 from more than 13,000 agents at the end of 2023. So far, that approach has seen positive results, as Real strengthens its foothold within an industry seeking silver linings after a rough-and-tumble few years.
Building momentum through culture
When Real’s founder and CEO Tamir Poleg began dreaming up the brokerage over a decade ago, he envisioned a new kind of real estate model. The traditional brick-and-mortar brokerage with high commission splits that tended to favor brokers? That wasn’t in his business plan.
But creating a culture-obsessed company that invested in its people and in technology that helps simplify the home-buying process? That was the sweet spot. It all started with hiring the right people who weren’t afraid to think outside the box.
“We managed to create that flywheel that gains momentum,” Poleg says. “If you bring the right human foundations to a company, that human foundation ends up attracting like-minded people.”
This cultural emphasis puts focus squarely on collaboration rather than competition among agents. Poleg, who lives in Israel, uses the analogy of how people line up in Israel—usually queued up in a group instead of in a straight line like Americans do. That’s because it’s a group of people trying to get to the top of the line instead of standing in line like everyone else, he says.
“When you’re surrounded by people that act in a certain way, when you know what’s expected of you, you end up doing the same thing that everybody else does,” Poleg explains, linking the analogy to how Real recruits and nurtures its top asset: its people.
But it hasn’t always been easy.
Real, like its competitors, has faced commission uncertainties with the National Association of REALTORS®’ (NAR) landmark antitrust lawsuit settlement. Add to the mix a dramatic pullback in home sales as potential homebuyers grapple with affordability woes from higher mortgage rates and rising home prices, and it’s been a tough few years for real estate professionals.
Despite these challenges, Real is flourishing, coming off four straight quarters of positive adjusted EBITDA, ending Q1 2025 at $8.3 million, up sharply from $3.6 million over the year prior, according to the company’s latest earnings report.
Poleg’s vision for the brokerage transcends current events. He’s looking to fundamentally transform real estate as we know it.
“I would like Real to be known as the company that changed the way people buy and sell homes using technology,” Poleg tells RISMedia. “I think that this is the biggest thing that we can achieve as a company.”
Tech-first philosophy drives growth
At the core of Real’s steady success is its investments in proprietary technology. Unlike many traditional competitors that license third-party platforms, Real has built virtually all of its tech stack from the ground up in-house.
“One thing that Real did right was we were obsessed with automation from day one,” says Pritesh Damani, Real’s chief technology officer. “That obsession came from the fact that our operating margins are super tight. If we wanted to be a real business, we had to figure out a way to have technology do most of the work.”
From its omnipresent AI assistant, Leo, to its proprietary transaction management software, reZEN, Real has spared no expense to build an innovative tech stack that enables its agents to spend more time in front of clients and less time with outdated, manual workflows.
This strategy has paid dividends in the brokerage’s operational efficiency. In Q1 2025, Real’s adjusted operating cost per transaction fell by 12% year-over-year, even as the company scaled rapidly and faced headwinds elsewhere, according to its earnings report.
Poleg says he’s willing to bet big and go all-in on AI.
“I’m super passionate and excited about everything that is AI-related,” he says, adding, “I think that AI is going to transform the way agents serve their clients.”
Leo AI assistant
Imagine the team you’d need to process and answer 2,000 agent inquiries every day. At Real, those tasks are handled by Leo, the brokerage’s proprietary AI assistant that serves as the crown jewel of its tech stack.
“Leo understands what the agent is going to ask before the agent asks it,” Damani explained as he walked RISMedia through an exclusive demo of the technology. Thanks to Leo, Real has seen a 50% reduction in support tickets that would normally require extensive staffing to manage for a company of its size.
From getting a quick commission status update to creating documents and answering common questions about brokerage workflows and procedures, Leo supposedly does it all. As the AI becomes more sophisticated and better versed on the brokerage’s inner workings, it’ll only get better, Damani says.
Real’s technological ambitions extend beyond agent tools to the consumer experience. The company is developing a consumer-facing version of Leo that would serve as a virtual assistant for homebuyers and sellers.
Damani showed how the system can handle common buyer questions about VA loans, mortgage applications and property showings via text. The AI can understand informal text language, schedule property viewings by connecting with agent calendars and tailor property recommendations based on subtle preferences buyers might not even consciously recognize.
“The idea with Leo concierge is that it will warm up the conversation to a point where it knows that it’s actually a real customer,” explains Damani. “And then the agent can take over anytime they want.”
The company hopes to launch this consumer-facing AI assistant sometime this year, though it’s still in development, Damani adds.
reZEN transaction management
Real’s proprietary transaction management system is called reZEN. The platform streamlines the transaction process, from listing to closing, with automated compliance checks, document management and commission calculations.
Chris Speicher, who joined Real in 2023 and leads a 20-person team in the Washington, D.C. metro area says reZEN and the rest of the tech stack is unlike any of the offerings he’s had at traditional firms like RE/MAX and Long and Foster. He notes that his transaction team “is in heaven because the backend is just leaps and bounds and light years ahead of everybody.”
According to Damani, the system maintains comprehensive audit trails, records all communications and automates much of the back-office work that traditionally required significant manual work.
Real Wallet: Embedded finance for agents
One of the notable differentiators at Real is the company’s stated intention to improve the financial lives of its agents. It accomplishes this via embedded finance through its Real Wallet platform. The system includes debit cards, lines of credit and planned credit card offerings, all designed to create a financial ecosystem for agents to build their real estate businesses.
“Imagine a United credit card,” explains Damani. “People use the card, and they get free upgrades, extra leg room, or lounge access. Same thing with Real: once you start using our debit or credit cards, we start giving you points. Those points have statuses, and then there are benefits and fee waivers attached to it.”
The strategy aims to create mutual perks. Agents gain financial tools and rewards, while Real generates additional revenue streams and deepens agent relationships.
“It becomes something similar to working at Google, where you have a 401(k), where you have analysis planning and guidance on how to manage your wealth or how to do your tax planning,” says Damani.
Operational efficiency through automation
From an operational standpoint, Real’s technology-driven approach has powered the company’s ability to scale in a lean, profitable way.
“We focused on creating a brokerage that can scale without physical locations and without adding too much headcount,” explains Poleg. “We built all of the software that will replace humans for transaction management and file review.”
Jenna Rozenblat, Real’s chief operating officer who oversees support and onboarding, notes that automation has allowed the brokerage to maintain service levels even as it scales.
“When you look at the growth we’ve seen, when we think about the group that’s actually managing those transactions, there’s been very little to no growth in that team,” she says. “That, to me, is a very big benefit that we have.”
According to Damani, the transaction team has remained at around nine to 10 people despite agent count growing from roughly 1,000 to nearly 27,000. “I think it will continue to be that way for the foreseeable future,” Damani predicts.
Revenue-sharing model gives back
Real’s compensation structure is two-fold: an 85/15 commission split for agents and a revenue-sharing program for those who recruit others to the brokerage. The latter represents another significant departure from traditional models.
“Up to 2020, we were attracting agents through online ads,” recalls Poleg. “At some point, I said, ‘We’re paying so much to Google and Facebook. What if we took those marketing dollars and gave it to our agents, if our agents are successful in attracting their friends?’”
The program has proven successful, with Real paying “tens of millions of dollars in revenue share” back to agents, says Poleg. However, he notes that only about 11% of agents actively participate in recruiting, suggesting potential for further growth.
Revenue-sharing explained
In a recent review of the brokerage, Real team leader Malcolm Lawson of Maryland writes online: “The revenue share amounts determined by a simple 5%, 4%, 3%, 2%, 1% model. Revenue share is taken out of the $12,000 cap each agent pays to a Real broker a year. They pay this with an 85/15 split, which means 15% of each commission is paid to Real until they pay their full $12,000 cap, and then the agent keeps 100% of their commission.”
Further breaking it down, Lawson notes that of the 15% that goes to the brokerage, 5% goes to the Tier 1 sponsor, 4% to the Tier 2 sponsor, and so on.
“This ultimately means that your entire cap to Real could potentially be given back to the sponsoring agents above for them to help grow the company,” Lawson points out.
“Obviously, this would not be a sustainable model if the entire cap out of every agent went back to other agents and nothing went to the company. This is why you only receive your Tier 1 benefits by default but need to unlock your Tier 2-5 benefits.”
Lawson claims he “saved $22,000 a year by leaving Keller Williams and joining Real. That kind of money can have a pretty big impact on a person’s life and business.”
Dispelling criticisms, weathering leadership shakeups
Despite Real’s rapid growth and technological advantages, the company certainly isn’t immune to the same challenges plaguing the rest of the industry. The company reported a net loss of $5.1 million in Q1 2025, a substantial improvement on the $16.1 million net loss the same period a year ago, though executives emphasize they are cash-flow positive on an adjusted EBITDA basis.
“Our main loss is coming from stock compensation,” explains Poleg. “What was also driving the net loss was the fact that we’re still not profitable in Canada, and we have two nascent businesses, our mortgage company and title company.”
This year, Real has also seen some shakeups in its executive bench. On April 26, the company announced the promotion of Ravi Jani to chief financial officer, succeeding Michelle Ressler, who was terminated for reportedly engaging in actions that violated their policies. And in March, Real announced that Sharran Srivatsaa would transition from his role as president to join the company’s board of directors on June 1.
The remote-first model presents another challenge, particularly for newer agents. “Teams, established agents, people who are already running, it’s easy,” acknowledges Speicher. “But for a brand-new agent to not be able to sit across the table from a broker or a manager, and attend a Tuesday meeting and do all that stuff, it can be challenging.”
Rozenblat recognizes this concern, noting that the company is always looking for ways to make the agent experience better for newer agents who need more guidance.
Some critics also compare Real’s revenue-sharing model to multi-level marketing (MLM) companies, which often get a bad rap. While the company again emphasizes that only a small percentage of agents (11%) actively recruit others, the structure involves multiple compensation tiers for “sponsors” based on their recruiting activity.
“Agents aren’t buying homes and then reselling the homes to other people and taking a cut,” explains Dre Madden, chief marketing officer with Real. “This is just agents driving advertising to other agents. So it’s just a different way to spend advertising dollars, in my perspective, because they’re not buying and then reselling and taking a cut, and then somebody’s going to lose at the end of the day. That’s not what we’re doing.”
Word-of-mouth social marketing pays dividends
Real may not have the ad spend of some of its larger competitors that can splurge on splashy TV commercials and sports partnerships. But what it does have is a well-oiled social media machine, driven primarily by videos their own agents create on YouTube, Instagram and elsewhere, Madden says.
Instagram, she notes, has been especially successful in driving community experience and excitement for new recruits, as well as spotlighting the annual Real Rise conference, which heads to Orlando in November, and other brokerage events.
In 2025, Real plans to launch a new podcast to give an even deeper inside look at life at the brokerage and, more importantly, its people, Madden says, adding that there’s no gatekeeping to any of the brokerage’s events.
“If you want to join Mastermind, they’re all open to everyone,” says Madden. “We don’t close things off or silo them off for any one group or one team. Everyone wants everyone to succeed, and we’re sending referrals across the nation all the time to one another. It’s the best model because you’ve got people that love it that want to share with one another.”
When asked if the MLM comparisons bother him, Speicher, who actively recruits for Real, frames it differently.
“I look at it as a privilege,” Speicher says. “The people that I talk to that are thinking about joining Real and that potentially want to name me as a sponsor, I take that responsibility very seriously.”
Creating the ultimate agent experience
For agents transitioning to Real, the onboarding process is designed to be comprehensive yet flexible. Rozenblat explains the approach.
“Our onboarding team is going to interact with you, determine when you want to move, what this looks like, if you have active listings, and how we get you moved over from a license standpoint, and then MLSs and board standpoint.”
Training sessions are offered regularly but not mandated at specific times. “What we don’t want to do is try to force ‘you have to come at this time,’” says Rozenblat. “We do have ongoing sessions on a weekly basis for tech and transactions training, and more generalized onboarding focused on the marketing side.”
Rosalie Warner joined her daughter’s team at Real in December after decades of leadership roles—most recently at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Warner, based in Portland, Oregon, says she found the transition process supportive despite being remote.
Coming from a more traditional brokerage background, Warner says she appreciates the collaborative environment that Real fosters. Teams regularly share insights and refer business across markets.
As the brokerage looks to the future, potentially expanding beyond its current footprint, Rozenblat says the company is laser-focused on perfecting what it has.
“Being a part of Real has been so rewarding,” Rozenblat says. “If I’ve made something better for somebody, whether it’s an agent or internal employee, and made something more efficient and effective so they can be happier with what they’re doing with their craft, I’ve won.
“That’s what gets me up in the morning, and I’m super excited because I think we’re just getting started.”
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to Real’s transaction management platform as RealZen.