The Real Brokerage is growing its presence in Southern California by leveraging one of its flexible membership models to onboard an independent team.
Los Angeles-based real estate agent Freeman Wang brings a 50-person team with him, the brokerage announced in a statement on Tuesday. Last year, the team was responsible for 430 sales valued at about $425 million.
Wang, who began his real estate career in 2014, said the move comes as he's looking to scale his business.
"Real's model is designed for growth," he said in a statement. "This was the best choice for my agents, giving them more tools, more opportunities and more support."
The team is joining as part of the brokerage's "private label" initiative. The program allows independent teams to retain their branding while still benefiting from being a part of Real. In other words, teams are allowed to keep their names, signage, and clientele, but Real gains control over the financial and liability aspects.
For Wang, that meant the opportunity to join forces with both Real and Harvest Realty — a 550-person team of real estate agents that joined Real under the private label program at the beginning of the year. Harvest focuses on Chinese clients in the Los Angeles and Orange County regions.
“Joining Harvest strengthens our connection to the Chinese community while giving us the full power of Real’s platform," Wang added. "It’s the right move for long-term success.”
The addition of Wang's team comes after Real announced in September that it had surpassed 30,000 agents, up from about a year earlier when it reported roughly 20,000 members. The brokerage was also ranked the number one mover in the RealTrends Verified Brokerage Rankings, an industry database that tracks brokerage growth.