As brokerage firms consolidate and new models reshape the industry, team leaders face an increasing challenge to scale without relinquishing control.
For many of HomeSmart’s most successful team leaders, the answer is finding the right balance between autonomy and support.
“The 100% model gives us control over expenses and compensation. We want to make money for our agents.”
For Bill Bisset and Kim Bisset, founders of The Bisset Team, finding a brokerage model that supports growth without compromising independence was a top priority. It worked, and in seven years, the team grew from two agents to 22 agents and became HomeSmart’s top-ranked team in Ohio.
Bill Bissett says having operational control is about more than profit and is essential to long-term goals.
“Our business model, our pricing structure, gives us the freedom to grow and build our brand. My whole family is part of the team. Leaving a legacy…that’s very important,” he explains.
“Why not create a model where agents can become the main players in their own business?”
Second-generation Arizona REALTOR® Phil Sexton brings over 20 years of experience to founding Team NEXT and chose HomeSmart for his agent-first approach. As a longtime team leader and mentor, he knows that building a personal identity is essential to success, even when you’re just part of a team.
“I don’t want my last name to be the star. I want my brand to be about REALTOR®, a brand that believes in its database,” he says. “A lot of clients don’t know who the team is. They know who their agent is.”
For Sexton, brand autonomy is non-negotiable. “Everything we do is about helping agents build their business.”
“We can see the actions of individual agents, so we can hold them accountable.”
As your team grows, centralized technology reduces administrative burden and creates operational consistency.
Recently named a 2026 Inman Future Leader in real estate, Ujjal “Breeze” Singh and his brother Raj built Team Singh, which currently has 20 agents, from the ground up in the Sacramento, California market.
Singh points out that HomeSmart’s RealSmart Agent platform is designed with transparency in mind, giving teams access to the same detailed real-time insights behind brokerage-level operations, allowing them to analyze every aspect of their business.
“You can see everything in one place, approve commissions, and see who on your team is producing,” he says. This will help you assess which agents need additional coaching.
Or, “If there is anything that deserves praise, we can give it to you.”
This technology also streamlines marketing. Kate Swensen of HomeSmart’s #1 team in Colorado, the CORE Home Team, explains how HomeSmart’s Marketing Design Center saves agents time and effort.
“Your headshot and team logo are already uploaded, and it takes five minutes to create a flyer,” she says.
“It saves me time…I can do things the way I want without having to think about it too much.”
“I love working with other teams around the country.”
From broker guidance on trading and compliance to a national peer network, accessible expertise helps teams meet market challenges.
Retired Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Davin Emmons founded Davin Emmons & Associates to improve his work-life balance, but he found something more in HomeSmart: community.
“It’s a family atmosphere from top to bottom,” explains Emmons, a HomeSmart Top 50 agent. “That’s how I run my organization.”
A global network of team leaders has proven invaluable in adopting strategic business tactics. “We bounce ideas off each other. What’s happening in Arizona may not have made its way to California yet, so the opportunity to collaborate nationally is very important. And that may give me a tactical advantage,” he shares.
As modern teams evolve, success increasingly depends on finding a model that balances independence and support.
For many HomeSmart leaders, that’s exactly what they’ve discovered.
“It feels like home,” Emmons said.
Learn more about how HomeSmart supports independent teams in the changing real estate landscape.
Founded in 2000 with an innovative 100% commission, full-service model, HomeSmart is the nation’s leading real estate company, powered by a unique end-to-end technology platform. HomeSmart exists to unlock the transformative power of real estate for everyone, providing integrated solutions for agents, franchise partners and, ultimately, consumers.
HomeSmart’s footprint covers more than 25,000 agents across more than 250 offices in 48 states.
