$1.2 Billion in Sales History Moves as Brokerages Reshuffle

A 30-agent Iowa brokerage with $1.2 billion in closed sales since 2020 has joined The Real Brokerage, the largest of this week's deals reshaping where top-producing real estate teams hang their licenses. Brokerages across the country are expanding into new markets, recruiting high-volume teams and investing in technology, in moves that reset agent economics at the individual level.

Where the volume is moving

The Dubuque, Iowa firm, led by Cody Burger and Dennis Buchheit, previously operated as Unlimited and will now run as The Team. It has completed roughly 5,000 transactions since 2020 and projects 500 closings in 2026. The move extends Real's footprint across Iowa, Illinois and southern Wisconsin.

Florida's 1st Choice Realty, founded by Rene and Dana Carpena, joined eXp Realty as 1st Choice Collective, bringing more than 70 agents and support staff in Greater Tampa Bay. The firm reported over 325 transactions and $60 million in sales volume in 2025. Since 2021, it has closed more than 2,000 transactions totaling $470 million in documented sales.

Compass opened a downtown Excelsior, Minnesota office and added Landing Collective, a six-agent team with more than $65 million in sales volume over the past 12 months. The team includes Tara Engebretson, Sue Hewitson, Natalie Williams, Laura Rasmussen, Thomas Randall and Haley Hewitson. Compass also appointed Chris Muellenbach as Minnesota sales manager and Jen Gamez in Wisconsin.

In luxury, Barron N. Hilton and Tessa Hilton, former co-CEOs of Hilton Hilton, left Compass for The Beverly Hills Estates. They bring approximately $200 million in property inventory spanning Los Angeles, Malibu and Santa Barbara, reuniting with Rayni Williams and Branden Williams, with whom they worked at Hilton & Hyland in 2020.

Who is taking the top jobs?

Carolyn Fugere has been named president and CEO of William Pitt – Julia B. Fee Sotheby's International Realty, becoming the first woman to lead the 77-year-old company. She succeeds Paul Breunich, now executive chairman. As co-president and chief sales officer, Fugere oversaw 31 offices and 1,100 sales advisers, and during her five years in that role the firm recorded its highest five-year closed sales volume in its history.

SERHANT. named Mishel Taylor managing director and principal broker of its Pennsylvania operations. Taylor joins from eXp Realty with more than two decades in real estate finance, brokerage management and agent development, and will oversee operations, compliance, recruiting and agent performance across Philadelphia and its Main Line suburbs.

Century 21 Real Estate affiliated with North Star Realty Associates in Fresh Meadows, Queens, which will operate as CENTURY 21 North Star. Broker and owner Jayne Boehler, licensed in Florida since 2004 and New York since 2008, founded the firm in 2012 and aims to expand across New York's five boroughs and Long Island.

What does the AI rollout change for agents?

The week's technology announcements target one metric above all: hours lost switching between systems.

• Chicago's Baird & Warner launched BWCONNECT, integrating listings, CRM, marketing, business intelligence and support into one platform, with pipelines, goal tracking and market reports, connected to its AI assistant REMI.
• LoKation Real Estate partnered with Lundy to launch Jefe, a voice-first AI assistant that works across BoldTrail CRM, MAXA Design and Sphere, letting agents manage tasks by voice or text. LoKation, operating in six states, will also use it to measure whether tool investments translate into actual use.
• Coffee & Contracts relaunched its platform with Beans, an AI assistant for planning social content, capturing leads and managing follow-up. Founder and CEO Haley Ingram said the assistant uses the company's established marketing methodology to turn social engagement into business. More than 6,400 agents use the platform.

For individual agents, the deals signal that brokerages are competing on leadership depth, integrated tooling and team-level support rather than brand alone. Expect recruitment of proven teams and consolidation of agent technology to accelerate as firms chase production, not headcount.