Tyler Whitman pitches The Agency franchise in the Hamptons

UPDATED Feb. 15, 10:25 a.m.: Less than one year after The Agency made its New York City debut, Tyler Whitman is looking to set up shop under the brokerage even farther east. 

The broker, a founding member of Triplemint who joined the Los Angeles-based brokerage when it acquired his former firm, is circulating a pitch deck to solicit investors to open a Hamptons franchise of The Agency. 

The pitch, according to a copy obtained by The Real Deal, asks for $1 million in exchange for a 10 percent stake. Partners will receive 50 percent of the profits until their investment is paid back, which Whitman estimates will take 14 months. 

“I might do it with my own money,” said Whitman, who wouldn’t be personally handling transactions in a potential franchise. “But it would certainly be advantageous to align with the right partners that could really help fuel growth.”

The deck places the franchise fee at $45,000 with a 5 percent royalty fee for founding members, reduced from 7 percent. The Agency, citing a disclosure document filed with the FTC, clarified to TRD its royalty rate is 6 percent.

The pitch estimates $250,000 of legal, office and licensing expenses and sets a goal of a minimum working capital balance of $500,000 at the end of each quarter.

Whitman said his goal is to open an office this summer. 

The deck estimates a year one with an income floor of $10 million, an estimated goal of $20 million, equivalent to 6 percent market share, and a “stretch goal” of $30 million, or 8.5 percent market share. 

If Whitman’s pitch finds success, he’ll be in good company among The Agency’s franchise model, which has been the platform for 17 new offices since 2021. After the two-year expansion push, the brokerage made cuts among its corporate ranks earlier this month, laying off 15 people, or 4 percent of its staff.

The Agency said at the time of its Triplemint acquisition last year that it had raised $35 million in growth capital for a valuation of $350 million. 

Sources told TRD at the time of the layoffs The Agency is fundraising again. Whitman denied that his franchise bid is part of a wider effort to raise money. 

The Hamptons market has been constrained by low inventory since the pandemic sent wealthy New Yorkers east from the city, but Whitman said his biggest challenge is finding affordable office space.

“When the market is slower is when a lot of agents are thinking about what a potential move could look like for them,” he said. “I think [the market] will be down for the next year, maybe two, but that’s going to give me the opportunity to potentially get the talent I need.”

This story has been updated to include The Agency’s royalty rate.