Renee Mueller on restructuring her brokerage, expanding core services

Renee Mueller, President and Co-founder of Elite Real Estate Systems, and her leadership team made a massive leap over the past three years as they reorganized the company and expanded core services. The goal of the reorganization was to make the company more sticky and provide better investment opportunities for agents.

Now, the company fully owns all of its core services, has a structured ownership model for its C-suite and is working on an ESOP. Mueller highlights the challenges faced during the reorganization process and the importance of hiring the right people. She also discusses the impact of commission lawsuits on the real estate industry and how the company is preparing for changes. Find out her lessons learned during the process.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• Hiring the right people and focusing on the agents’ needs were key challenges during the reorganization process.
• The company is preparing for changes in the real estate industry, including the impact of commission lawsuits.
• The use of AI has helped the company save money and improve operational efficiency.
• The future plans for Elite Real Estate Systems include expanding to more states and partnering with teams and brokerages.

Here’s a small preview of today’s interview. The transcript below has been lightly edited for length and clarity:

Tracey Velt:  I’m going to mention the commission lawsuits since you brought that up. What are some trends that you’re seeing out there in the landscape that really may change the way the real estate industry operates? And how have you structured your company to prepare for that?

Renee Mueller: I don’t have a crystal ball, obviously, but I think we’re heading to more of a market like Australia has. The reason that I brought it up is that starting in 2019, we started talking to our teams very openly about it at that point, and the fact that they needed to become more of an advisor than an agent and just rely on the commission. And the hardest piece was that the end of 2020 and 2021 was craziness. It was massive sales. Who would think at that point, when you’re making the most and houses are flying off the shelf, that there’s a problem.

We really wanted to emphasize that they needed to focus on really becoming that expert and that advisor and not just relying on the commission. We made sure that we had this setup moving forward like we do now. The main thing is to look at the foundation of the company and what else is included. Look at what can you do moving forward and not just rely on the commission.

The RealTrending podcast features the brightest minds in real estate. Every week, brokerage leaders, top agents, team leaders, and industry experts share their success secrets, trends, and lessons learned navigating this ever-changing industry. Hosted by Tracey Velt and produced by Elissa Branch.