The newest addition to the ERA® global network, Reliant Realty ERA Powered, is based in the growing Nashville/Middle Tennessee market.
According to owner Casey Brown, who has helped expand the firm from just a handful of agents to a market-leading firm with five offices and 700 agents, the move struck the right chord throughout his organization.
Established in 2007, Reliant Realty has offices in Nashville, Clarksville, Franklin, Gallatin and Murfreesboro, serving the state’s largest city and surrounding areas. In 2014, the firm closed more than 4,220 transactions totaling more than $814 million in sales volume.
Within the local real estate industry, the firm is well-known for a focus on organic growth fueled by increasing agent productivity. In recognition of its strong growth arc over the last five years, the company has twice earned a place on the Inc. 5000, a list of U.S. companies across all business segments achieving significant and sustained year-over-year growth.
Reliant Realty started out as a no-frills firm out of the gate, but as the company expanded, they needed to add back-office support for accounting, legal and recruiting, as well as third-party technology platforms and programs in order to keep pace with the ever-evolving needs of today’s tech-savvy consumers.
“We soon realized we needed a turnkey solution that created synergies and efficiencies across our regional operations,” says Brown. “After exploring all options for the last year or more, it was clear that the ERA Powered concept—fueled by the Zap technology platform and a robust relocation component—was light years ahead of everyone else.”
As part of the decision-making process, Brown spoke to other ERA Powered companies and liked what he heard. ERA’s significant focus on growth through mergers and acquisitions with all of its companies is one of the things that attracted Brown and his leadership team to join the system.
“Reliant Realty is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the region’s tremendous growth potential as not only a music and tourist center, but a stronghold of expanding healthcare companies,” says Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate.
In addition to paying for agents’ transitional costs, including new business cards and yard signs, Brown is still committed to paying all current agents full commission after the franchise fee. “We see this as a nod of appreciation and respect for those who joined under the old model. Our new model will have aggressive splits, with our lowest splits being higher than those of most of our competitors,” says Brown.
“Our affiliation with ERA Real Estate provides our agents with the opportunity to incrementally grow their business, thanks to expanded referral opportunities, expanded listing distribution and productivity training that come with being part of the ERA system. Thus, our focus will be on educating and training, and will allow newly added agents to advance to the highest compensation package based on their proficiency. ERA’s training classes are laser-focused on increasing agent productivity—in some cases upwards of 300 percent.
“Our affiliation with ERA is positioning us for the next generation of homebuyers, home sellers and real estate professionals.
“We’re very excited about this change and know it’s the right decision for us now and into the future,” says Brown.
For more information, please visit www.era.com.