repaircongo83 blog

by Scott Klocksin March 28, 2019

@properties co-founders Michael Golden and Thad Wong

The top brokerage in Chicagoland by market share is about expand its reach.

The arrangement will be the first foray outside of the Midwest for @properties, as well as its first technology licensing venture since announcing an intent last year to sell rights to its software to independent brokerages around the country.

Ansley Development Services, the firm’s new construction sales and marketing arm, will also be part of the partnership, though it will remain owned and operated by Ansley.

Ansley Atlanta will retain its name, though some branding efforts launched by @properties in Chicago will be incorporated into its marketing.

Ansley Atlanta agents will be gradually integrated into using @properties’ proprietary software, which includes marketing, CRM and transaction-management tools.

Ansley Atlanta also will be able to use @properties’ relocation and referral services and its training and coaching resources. In addition, the deal includes joining @properties as a member in Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, a global network of independent brokerages.

According to Ansley, he approached @properties – not the other way around.

“I was going all over the country searching for the absolute best tech to bring back to Atlanta for the use of my agents,” he said. “In my travels I kept hearing about Thad. I cold-called him one day and said I’d like to meet and take you to dinner. We became good friends.”

Wong visited Atlanta a few times after that, Ansley said, and a friendship blossomed.

“What was interesting was that as I got to know Bonneau, it was like a walk down memory lane,” Wong said, referencing their similar backgrounds and philosophies for running a company.

But according to Wong, Ansley was able to climb the ladder faster than he and Golden were. “It took us years longer to get to the point that Bonneau has been able to get to as one of the top firms in his local market,” Wong said.

Ansley Atlanta is among the fastest-growing brokerages in Georgia, and boasted a 64 percent uptick in luxury business in 2018 over the previous year, according to a press release.

As part of the firm’s integration with @properties, Ansley Atlanta agents will be able to get health insurance through the company—something Ansley said he doesn’t think any Atlanta-area brokerages provide. Employees and agents with @properties are already able to get health insurance through the company.

Wong said the integration is expected to happen gradually, with agents focusing on learning one piece of technology at a time, for about a month at a time.

“We have about the first six months mapped out,” he said. “We don’t want to make it so they’re drinking out of a fire hose with too much to learn all at once.”

While he declined to specify an exact timeframe for getting there, Wong said his goal in the new partnership is clear: to grow Ansley Atlanta into the highest-volume brokerage in Georgia.

“We’ll now be able to offer such a well-rounded company that has everything agents and customers are looking for,” Ansley said. “I don’t see how any agent would not be knocking at our door to be part of it.”