Briggs Elwell is the CEO and Co-Founder of RLTYco. Briggs began his career at The Related Companies in New York City. Following Related, Briggs went on to become a Managing Partner of OPTIMAR International, successfully establishing and growing the Northeast business for the South Florida based commercial investment and residential brokerage. With a proven track record in real estate, finance and fostering strategic alliances, Briggs co-founded RLTYco in 2021.
What was the specific pain point for brokers and agents that inspired you to start RLTYco?
This pain point dates all the way back to when I worked at Related about a decade ago. One of the greatest difficulties in the brokerage business is that your income stream is highly variable. It’s not uncommon for agents to see the vast bulk of their annual income come from one month
of sales or possibly even one transaction alone. We saw time and time again that there was a demand for agents to get paid faster instead of waiting months on end for a deal to close. In most industries, whether you’re a consultant or a typical W-2 employee, you get paid in arrears. This means that your paycheck is structured and tied to the fulfillment of your contractual working obligations. Real estate agents have put in the necessary time and labor to earn their
fee upon the signing of the contract yet they sometimes have to wait a year until the deal closes in order to see the fruits of their labor enter their bank account.
Why would an agent choose RLTYco as opposed to their brokerage that might be offering a similar agreement?
Despite common belief, in most scenarios it is actually not viable for a brokerage to offer advances to their agents. More importantly, they cannot under any circumstance offer an advance for a fee. What we’ve seen historically is for brokerages only on the highest end of sales performance metrics to offer an advance to their agents. And only on the commercial side of the aisle, not residential. Brokerages run at a very lean margin due to their high overhead, therefore managing the risk of commission advances doesn’t fit too well into their business model. In addition to commission advances, we offer services that help independent contractors navigate their entire approach to their business, and we are the only company with this holistic approach.
How does RLTYco differentiate itself from the competition?
We want to empower our clients to take full accountability of their financial and business health and we see growth as mutually beneficial in all ways. On the tech side, we have a proprietary platform that allows us to complete due diligence and offer commission advances within 24 hours. Our platform enables us to offer a wide net of financial products to the real estate community. When we first entered this business, we were aware that other companies offered advances, but ultimately, we wanted to solve more problems for our customers. We pride ourselves on being a business by agents for agents, as many of RLTYco’s employees had or still actively have their salesperson license. We didn’t want to stop with one service, our long-term goal is to fill all the needs for 1099 general contractors in the real estate industry. We have RLTY Capital, which is our finance arm, RLTY Tax which helps 1099 workers with their taxes, RLTY Legal for any type of legal service you might need in real estate, and RLTY Healthcare which offers 1099 workers affordable and quality healthcare options in partnership with UnitedHealthcare.
What qualifications does an agent have to meet when applying for a commission advancement?
We do due diligence on both the agent and the transaction, with more weight on the agent. This is essential as we aim to have long standing relationships with clients as they continue to build their businesses. Aside from the agent themselves, one of the most important factors when looking at a transaction is the time to close. If a transaction is going to take a year to close as opposed to two months, we are faced with a different type of risk that needs to be underwritten accordingly. Another factor is the transaction type. For example, whether or not it is a co-op, new development, condo, etc. We also have LTV limits in terms of the percentage of a commission we will purchase.
Who are key partners or collaborators in this business?
Bringing on Ryan Serhant as an ambassador and collaborator is something we were extremely excited to do. Ryan played a huge role in getting the business off the ground and if you’ve
followed his career, he’s been one of the most successful residential brokers in the entire nation. As we grow, we have quite a few other ambassadors that we’re looking to bring on as well. We also have a partnership with Legal Zoom which offers a first-of-its-kind product suite for real estate agents. Another partnership we’re very excited about is with UnitedHealthcare, which was a huge step for us and for the real estate community. It’s hard to go to sleep at night without having healthcare which is why we’re very proud to have this partnership with United and many other healthcare providers.
What are RLTYco’s plans for the future?
We are currently working on an educational and licensing product so agents can use us for state licensing and continuing education. We are also going to be expanding on our newer services, which are healthcare, tax and legal. At the end of the day, we want to solve problems for the market that we serve: real estate agents. Some of those needs are ever present and some change with time, but we are here to serve our customers as those needs change and evolve.
What advice would you give to young professionals starting out in real estate? While you’re still in school or just starting out as an agent, you have to make sure you’re preparing for the path that you’ve chosen, whether it’s brokerage, development, legal or one of the many other paths in this industry. Internships and work experience are the most important because you’ll have spent real time working in the field. Think about the differences in each of the professions and figure out which of these paths not only interests you but that you’re also well suited for. Having strong relationships and never burning bridges is the key to a successful career that supports pivots and long-term professional growth.
