As the Phoenix market evolves, fast, there are unique opportunities for independent brokerages: boutique opportunities, more specifically. Several boutique brokerages are thriving across Phoenix, Scottsdale and the Valley.
Three local owners opened up to Phoenix Agent about the path they’re forging in this increasingly competitive real estate landscape.
Andrew Beardsley, co-owner, Silverleaf Realty
“When people hear the term, ‘boutique,’ a smaller operation comes to mind,” said Andrew Beardsley, a co-owner of Silverleaf Realty. “[But] our company was born out of a community-centric style of selling.”
Originally the sales team for developer DMB, focusing on homes connected to the Silverleaf Country Club, agents purchased the company in 2017. Since then, it’s grown to include 25 agents across three offices: the original, within the DC Ranch master-planned community, one in Old Town Scottsdale and one in the Flagstaff golf course community, Forest Highlands.
Beardsley started his residential career at Silverleaf in 2010. “This is all that I know,” he said of the community agency. “We’re taking clients through the lifeline, pitching them on lifestyle, finding a lot, home design, finding a builder and then, eventually, resale.” Tracing back to the company’s new-development, golf-course roots, Silverleaf specializes in “higher-end” real estate. It also maintains a “developer mindset.”
“All of our agents are employees, not independent contractors,” Beardsley said. “We are not asking our agents to pay for anything themselves … We have an extensive marketing department, in-house graphic designers. Emphasizing the company’s high support-staff-to-agent-ratio (roughly 1-2), he said, “Our intention is for our agents to focus on selling.” Beardsley compared this to the typical brokerage where employees may pay a desk, transaction and/or coordinator fee.
Then again, Beardsley himself never experienced that. “I’ve never been with a larger brokerage.” I was in commercial real estate for about five years but… this is all that I know.” Similarly, Beardsley said, all the original agents that he started with in 2010 are still at Silverleaf. Some have been with Silverleaf for 25 years. “This is a testament to the environment that we’ve created.”
Looking ahead, Silverleaf wants to maintain that tight-knit structure. Rather than actively recruiting, Beardsley is looking for agents who have been in the business but perhaps feel lost in the general brokerage dynamic.
“We offer the opportunity where owners of the company are also agents, so they completely understand what you’re going through when the market is tough. If you have a project or initiative you think would work, you’re talking directly to the owner about it — and usually the answer is yes,” Beardsley said.
“I’ve never had urger or desire to go to general brokerage because we operate like a team,” Beardsley concluded. “Rising tides lift all boats. The success of the agents breeds the success of other agents.”
Tucker Blalock, managing broker and co-founder, The Brokery
Tucker Blalock doesn’t like the word boutique. A co-founder of The Brokery, he thinks of the company as, simply, independent. “I like the word independent. We have a smaller group feel, we’re collaborative and supportive of one another.” For agents, that means a direct line to ownership. “There’s an open-door policy,” Blalock said.
That kind of independence is becoming increasingly rare in Phoenix. “In our market, COMPASS just came in, [absorbing] Launch and North & Co., so we’ve become one of few independents in local luxury market. It’s a big boon for our business without competitors,” Blalock said. And The Brokery is proud of that. “We’re driving a wedge as much as we can between us and corporate America.”
The Brokery itself was born of another firm, Biltmore Lifestyles Real Estate; Blalock and his business partner Oleg Bortman purchased that company in 2016, changing the name. Today, the Brokery includes 90 agents working across five offices — two in Arcadia, one in Biltmore, one in North Central and one in Scottsdale. Within those neighborhoods, too, Blalock is proud to say the company owns all its office spaces, rather than lease. By planting roots in its areas of business, The Brokery retains a bigger stake in local development.
That’s the firm’s tagline: “Relentlessly local.” Additionally, The Brokery is aligned with 20 other local companies, ranging from restaurants to dry cleaners, for targeted co-marketing campaigns. Last month, the company published 15 logos in Arcadia News together to push each other’s companies forward. “It’s a show of ‘Support local.’ By staying independent, we’re nimbler than competitors,” Blalock said.
Blalock thinks of The Brokery agents as “local neighborhood experts” and the company as “a marketing firm that happens to deal in real estate. “We have an in-house graphic design team to create unique marketing campaigns based on client needs,” Blalock explained. The overall goal is to serve sub-markets at a deep level rather than work all over the Valley. “I like to be five miles wide but 100 miles deep.”
That’s why, in terms of growth, Blalock says the team is emphasizing quality over quantity. “We’re looking to expand into other areas of the Valley, and possibly other states, but we need to find the talent first. Then build around them.”
Monica Monson, CEO and designated broker/owner, The Noble Agency
Monica Monson, meanwhile, always dreamed of owning her own independent luxury real estate brokerage. She’d been licensed for almost two decades when she finally decided it was time in 2020.
“When COVID hit, I thought … the time is now. I just wanted to go for it.” At that point, Monson was working at Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty. She’d been with the same ownership group for 13 years. And while she enjoyed her experience there and respects the brand, she wanted a more personalized environment with a higher collaboration rate.
“Oftentimes real state is very segmented, people don’t work together, so that was my inspiration … Rather than let fear take over, I took an opportunity,” Monson said. So, in the midst of the pandemic, The Noble Agency was born. Today, the boutique brokerage operates statewide and maintains one office in the heart of North Scottsdale.
The team includes 25 professionals, 23 of them licensed, and has spent the last 4.5 years building their brand. “A bespoke luxury real estate brokerage and marketing agency,” as Monson calls it. Before real estate, Monson worked in public relations and tech and, leading The Noble Agency, she calls on that experience in order to tailor client services.
“Our core is about best practices and master-class level relationship development. We also have a wellness program … it’s about the full experience … providing [agents] with the best of the best so they can provide extreme value to client,” Monson said. To do that, The Noble Agency paired up with two international networks: Who’s Who is Luxury Real Estate: a 40-year-old organization that includes franchise and independent real estate brands, and REALM Global, an invitation-only community of real estate professionals.
The Noble Agency is a regent member of Who’s Who is Luxury Real Estate and a founding partner/member of REALM Global. These relationships allow the small Arizona company to keep an international presence and expanded services to clients who own multiple homes or who are looking to relocate to another market. “We can service our clients and be their single point of contact no matter where they’re shopping,” Monson explained.
It’s an efficient way for a more intimately sized company to grow its footprint. As for direct growth, the Noble Agency seeks out advisors “thoughtfully,” looking for those who have a desire to build meaningful business relationships with a focus on client and collaboration. Recently, the firm added Kevin Gonzales, the former COO of Russ Lyon Sotheby’s International Realty, as its vice president of operations and growth for The Noble Agency.
Looking ahead, Monson said, “We are not trying to be the largest brokerage but are fiercely focused on being the highest quality brokerage experience available in Arizona and beyond.”