Similar to history, businesses experience periods of growth and decline. Paul Kennedy’s The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers explained how empires lose their leading positions because of internal changes and external forces. Real estate brokerage firms follow a similar pattern. Previously strong brands such as RE/MAX, Century 21, and Keller Williams changed the industry—but were later surpassed by new companies with innovative business models, tech-focused approaches, and agent-centered platforms. For anyone involved in real estate, whether as an agent, investor, or buyer in a growing market like Las Vegas, understanding this cycle of rise and fall provides important understanding of where opportunities exist and why traditional brokerage companies find it challenging to maintain their leadership.
How Real Estate Brokerages Achieve Dominance
The growth of today’s major real estate firms was not accidental—it came from strong strategies that challenged established practices and changed what agents expected. Historically, real estate brokerages became dominant because they could provide special benefits to agents in a divided, very local market.
Century 21: Franchising for Scale
Established in 1971, Century 21 greatly changed real estate brokerage by using a franchise-based business model. Instead of directly owning all offices, they enabled local brokers to utilize their brand, marketing systems, and national support in return for payments.
- Impact: This enabled them to grow across different areas, creating brand recognition and customer confidence.
- Agent Benefit: Local operators gained from national branding, which helped individual agents seem more reliable to customers.
Century 21’s achievement was not solely about growth; it was also about distribution and ease of access. Agents in small towns could connect to a nationwide system without needing large capital investments.
RE/MAX: Empowering the Agent with 100% Commissions
In 1973, RE/MAX changed the standard commission split arrangement. Instead of brokers taking a large portion of commissions, RE/MAX allowed agents to keep 100%—in return for desk fees, operating costs, and marketing contributions.
- Reason for Success: Agents had more motivation to perform because their personal earnings increased.
- Lasting Result: This agent-centered model became a guide for many later firms, including today’s companies with low overhead and high commissions such as eXp and The Real Brokerage.
RE/MAX also focused on agent performance, moving away from simply recruiting everyone and instead favoring highly productive professionals.
Keller Williams: Team-Based Culture and Profit-Sharing
Keller Williams became prominent in the 1980s with a very collaborative culture, introducing a profit-sharing system that gave back a share of company profits to agents who were important in growing the firm.
- The KW Unique Point: The emphasis changed from management controlling everything to partnerships with agents. Agents were not just people making deals but also stakeholders.
- Focused on Training: Keller Williams University trained agents constantly, building a strong group identity and better retention.
The important aspect across all three: they created real estate brokerage companies where agents felt empowered, trained, and valued—changing employees into business owners.
Key Factors Behind the Fall of Major Real Estate Firms
So why did these leading companies lose their top positions? Their decline was not sudden, but instead happened gradually—a slow decrease in importance. Here are three main reasons
Disruptive Business Models Are Inevitable
The real estate industry is especially open to change because it is easy to enter and agents change companies often. This is where new types of brokerage models come in
eXp Realty: Virtual Brokerage at Scale
Started in 2009, eXp Realty got rid of the biggest expense for typical firms—physical office locations. Instead, it put resources in a central online system and structured its operations using virtual platforms such as eXp World.
- Revenue Sharing Instead of Profit Sharing: Agents make money by bringing in new people, creating a multi-level marketing motivation.
- National Group Without Physical Offices: Regular meetings, training, and even management are all conducted through virtual reality platforms.
- Ability to Grow: eXp has increased very rapidly because of this flexible, low-infrastructure method.
Compass: Tech-Focused Luxury and Recruitment
Established in 2012, Compass used a Silicon Valley way of thinking—raising large amounts of investment money to develop specific technology designed to simplify transactions and increase agent efficiency.
- Getting Talent: Compass actively recruited some of the best-performing agents in city areas by providing attractive signing bonuses and special support services.
- Luxury Brand Image: Compass presented itself as a high-end brand, aiming for city-based, wealthy buyers and sellers.
Combined, these models attracted agents who were comfortable with technology and focused on results, and who no longer saw the name of a traditional real estate firm as most important.
Attractive New Thing Issue
“Attractive New Thing” Issue
In real estate, how things appear often matters more than actual results at first. Many real estate brokerage companies see quick growth when they show off impressive new technology, appealing pay plans, or changes in company culture. However, agents eventually stop being impressed by just the initial excitement.
- Quick Increases in Growth: New platforms become very popular quickly when they are seen as providing better tools or payments.
- Sudden Agent Departures: Once these tools do not perform as promised or pay plans become unreliable, many agents leave all at once.
This pattern of rapid growth followed by a fall disrupts consistent long-term growth and causes doubt about customer service, performance, and the firm’s image.
Leadership and Culture Change
Leadership and Culture Change
Brokerages started by founders usually have a clear direction. When leadership changes because of IPOs, mergers, or retirement
- Loss of Original Purpose: The firm’s first strong belief might weaken, and be replaced by company rules and processes.
- Less New Ideas: Without the founder’s drive to create new things, a firm might not keep up with new technologies or what agents need.
- Agents Becoming Less Involved: Culture affects how long agents stay. When culture gets weaker, agents are less loyal.
This pattern shows problems that happen in many businesses: culture can only grow if it is always supported by leaders.
The Brokerage Arms Race: Compensation, Flexibility, and Technology
Today’s agents no longer care who “owns” the brokerage—only what the brokerage enables.
Agents as Entrepreneurs, Not Employees
Agents increasingly act like independent business owners. They expect their brokerage to offer
- High commission splits (or 100%)
- Tech tools for lead generation and marketing
- CRM platforms and automated prospecting
- Minimal bureaucracy and operational overhead
Branding Is No Longer Priority #1
Whereas agents once relied on large firm branding to gain client trust, online reviews, content marketing, and social proof now play a bigger role. In other words, the logo on the door holds less sway than
- Client testimonials
- Google presence and local SEO
- Personal branding platforms
- Instagram, TikTok, and social media influence
Modern real estate firms must think beyond signage—they must act as support hubs for tech, marketing, and coaching.
How Las Vegas Reflects National Real Estate Trends
Las Vegas provides an important local view through which to see these national shifts.
The Steve Hawks Approach
A top-producing agent for two decades, Steve Hawks left behind legacy branding for flexible, high-output models built around performance and flexibility.
- “Ten years ago, everyone wanted to work for the big name,” according to Hawks. “Now, they want to work where they can actually grow.”
- Hawks puts money into digital advertising strategies, makes local content that spreads quickly online, and uses lead generation tools that perform better than large broker networks.
Local Teams Are Outpacing National Brokerages
In Las Vegas real estate
- Smaller, specialized teams perform better than large chains in keeping agents.
- Personal and team branding create more consistent lead pipelines.
- Flexible real estate brokerage companies are leading in changing market areas like high-rise condos or Henderson luxury homes.
Survivors and Adaptors: What Keeps Brokerages Relevant?
Firms like eXp, Real, and Compass continue to gain market share while others stop growing. What qualities separate survivors from the failed giants?
Leadership Consistency and Direction
- Real Brokerage’s executive team stays involved with cultural and strategic goals.
- Companies prevent culture weakening by constantly supporting agent values through training, virtual teamwork, and feedback processes.
Agent-Focused Innovation
- Revenue-share models support agent teamwork.
- National training systems enable remote learning.
- Training and agent retention tools offer ready-to-use systems for agent growth.
Technology as a Platform, Not a Perk
Tech offerings must go beyond CRM systems. Today’s leading real estate brokerage companies offer
- AI-driven lead scoring
- Virtual open houses and 3D tours
- Automated social media content
- Data-backed pricing algorithms
Career Development and Training
Real estate agents stay where they improve. Top brokerages provide
- Continuous coaching
- On-demand mentorship
- Tools for personal business planning
- Upskilling sessions for tech and media marketing
Agents are drawn to platforms that invest in their long-term income, not ones focused on company prestige.
Can Fallen Brokerage Giants Make a Comeback?
Historically, no firm has gotten back to the top industry spot after losing leadership. Why?
- Innovation Problems: Changes happen too slowly—and often seem artificial.
- Brand Weariness: Once the brand loses importance, agents become uninvolved.
- Loss of Talent: Top agents leave first, causing a chain reaction.
For a real return to prominence, the firm would need to completely change itself
- Introduce completely new tech platforms created for mobile agents.
- Provide branding that can be changed to fit individual needs (think white-label platforms like Side).
- Adopt online, virtual-first systems with lower cost models.
- Grow a culture of speed, not rules.
What Today’s Market Requires From Agents and Brokerages
The successful agent of the next decade will be more like a startup founder than an employee.
For Agents
- Build a media brand: Be the voice of your neighborhood or niche.
- Control your lead generation: Use Facebook, YouTube, and local SEO.
- Track profitability like a CFO: Watch expenses, commissions, ROI.
- Select a platform offering training, speed, and accountability.
For Brokers
- Treat agents like customers, not employees.
- Build support systems, not strict hierarchies.
- Be flexible enough to change pay or tech systems based on agent performance numbers.
Steve Hawks’ Real Estate Strategy in a Disrupted Market
Steve Hawks shows how modern agents don’t succeed by depending on legacy firms.
His proven tactics include
- Local-focused marketing: Geo-targeted YouTube content and Google Display Ads in Summerlin and Henderson zip codes.
- Performance measurement: Tracks conversion, not visibility.
- Selective tech integration: Uses AI lead scoring tools that have a direct ROI, skipping the unnecessary extras.
- Agent and client flexibility: Builds systems that work across multiple platforms—never tied to just one “brokerage standard.”
Hawks’ model shows that independence and being able to adapt perform better than tradition—especially in competitive markets like Las Vegas.
The Future of Real Estate Firms and Brokerage Companies
What completely new real estate brokerage could become dominant next?
- Platforms run completely by artificial intelligence
- Brokerages offering small pieces of ownership in the firm
- Teams that are not centralized and work together through blockchain
- Agents working inside Web3 or the metaverse for showings and negotiations
Whatever the methods, tomorrow’s brokerage companies will operate with tech-first infrastructure, low costs, and business models where incentives are properly aligned.
Reinvention Is the New Constant
The fall of large companies like RE/MAX or Century 21 isn’t a warning—it’s a guide. Market share today is gained through being relevant, not just having a good name. For agents and brokerages alike, the focus must now be on utilizing platforms, aligning incentives, and being adaptable.
As Steve Hawks notes, “Your career shouldn’t depend on your brokerage—it should depend on your performance.” That’s how you succeed in this changing game.