The great American real estate brokerage

It’s a curious thing.

In most professional services, experience commands a premium. When faced with legal challenges, health concerns, or financial decisions, we actively seek providers with proven track records.

Multiple consumer studies consistently illustrate how years of experience ranks among the top selection criteria for professional service providers across industries.

Yet in real estate, where transactions often represent the largest financial decision in a person’s life, a curious inversion occurs around the real estate brokerage where longevity is typically portrayed as a liability rather than an asset.

This perception deserves closer examination.

Distortion
Our industry has developed a tendency to categorize businesses in binary terms: “traditional” versus “innovative,” “established” versus “disruptive.” It’s an oversimplification that distorts reality.

Consider the innovation bias when established brokerages implement new technologies with zero fanfare while identical innovations from newer companies are heralded as revolutionary breakthroughs. The mere fact that traditional brokerages fund everything through retained earnings rather than external capital is never celebrated, while venture-backed companies burning through millions without profitability are lauded as visionaries. Apparently, losing money at scale is more impressive than generating consistent profits year after year.

The irony deepens when you examine the inevitable business trajectories of the “disruptors,” which begin with their initial deviations from established models “meant to modernize real estate” and end up mirroring what established models — traditional brokerages — had already perfected. Funny how today’s disruption inevitably becomes tomorrow’s imitation, yet tradition remains uncredited.

Here’s what the distortion narrative misses: The most remarkable innovation in real estate isn’t what gets reported. It’s not what we’ve been led to believe. The most remarkable innovation in real estate is the resilience of the Great American Real Estate Brokerage, its tenacity, ingenuity, and ability to adapt across decades of market volatility, all while maintaining profitability on razor-thin margins.

This enduring success story deserves celebration, not dismissal.

Perception vs. reality

Looking at this objectively, sure, there are some things established brokerages do that reinforce negative stereotypes.

Identity neglect. Many brokerages overlook the impact of strong, contemporary visual branding. Many brand identities were created decades ago and are in need of updates. I understand the impulse to dismiss logos as superficial, but brand identity’s number one focus is to shape market perception. Dated visuals trigger immediate assumptions about relevance and modernity — judgments that overshadow actual service quality.

Undifferentiated presence. Template websites make established brokerage appear identical. Since most emphasize search functionality — a tool buyers no longer need from brokerages — it suggests the brokerage is unaware of its own primary business needs: agent recruitment, listing acquisition, and seller property promotion, not buyer leads. This projects an impression of misunderstanding their own business needs, the market needs, and their own unique value proposition.

Storytelling vacuum. Most costly of all, established brokerages are recognized but not valued. The marketplace knows what they do, but has no compelling reason to care. Their deeper story of commitment and value remains untold. This isn’t merely a branding issue but a positioning crisis. When businesses fail to author their own narratives, others will write unfavorable ones for them.

The enduring value proposition

Real estate transactions are major financial cornerstones in our lives. When making decisions of this magnitude, consumers naturally seek experience, stability, and proven expertise. They want agents who embody these qualities.

There is zero reason to believe they wouldn’t expect or desire the same historical credibility from the brokerage itself.

The established brokerage must reclaim its narrative. It’s not a relic. It’s not stodgy. “Old” and “traditional” are not interchangeable. Age, tenure, and seasoned stakeholders are highly valued assets that speak to the critical benefits these brokerages provide to the marketplace. Longevity isn’t something to apologize for or run from — it’s your most powerful differentiator in a market desperate for stability and proven expertise.

Imagine a stream of inbound inquiries from buyers and sellers wanting to hire one of your agents. A select few established brokerages experience this. All of you should.

The market now, more than ever, is hungry for that which you’ve spent decades perfecting. The only question is whether you’ll finally start telling that story with the confidence it deserves.