@properties’ co-CEO Thad Wong and Alexander Real Estate partner Eric Walstrom. (Getty, @properties, Alexander Real Estate)
Nearly five months after @properties rolled out its plan for franchises throughout the U.S., the Chicago-based residential brokerage has begun in Detroit.
It has inked a deal with the 45-agent Alexander Real Estate, which is changing its name to @properties, Alexander, Crain’s reported.
The six-year-old Alexander, which has offices in Detroit and the Michigan suburb of Royal Oak, tallied $140 million in sales volume last year, according to partner Eric Walstrom. He said the firm expects to open eight new offices by 2026, according to the report.
The news follows @properties’ late September franchise announcement. Co-CEO Thad Wong said then that its goal was “to become the fastest-growing brand in the country.”
He added that @properties — which placed 10th on Real Trends’ 2019 list of top brokerages by sales — “won’t bite off more than we can chew, but we have a big mouth.”
The firm, which consistently ranks at the top in Chicago sales volume, was founded in 2000 by Wong and Michael Golden. It touts its in-house tech tools — dubbed pl@tform — as a key to growing to 3,000 agents across 34 offices over the past decade. Besides the Chicago area, @properties has agents in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana.
The company said it expects to reach six to 10 more franchise agreements by year-end.
Last May @properties acquired a significant stake in Virginia-based firm Nest Realty. That gave it a foothold in five states in the South. At the time, Nest said it would continue to maintain its brand identity in its markets, which include Charlottesville, Louisville and the Triangle region of North Carolina.
Other residential brokerages have been investing in franchises, including the Corcoran Group. The firm, which has been franchising in luxury and second-home markets in the U.S., announced this month it was expanding into the British Virgin Islands, its first international franchise. [Crain’s] — Alexi Friedman