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Ryan Serhant looks to expand into Texas

Million Dollar Listing star is reaching out to agents in the Lone Star State

Ryan Serhant (Photos by SERHANT/Mike Ruiz, Getty)
Ryan Serhant (Photos by SERHANT/Mike Ruiz, Getty)

New York City real estate broker and reality TV star Ryan Serhant is exploring the possibility of expanding into Texas, The Real Deal has learned.

His eponymous brokerage is reaching out to set up introductory calls with brokers from major real estate firms in Austin, Houston and Dallas to get the lay of the land.

While Serhant confirmed to TRD that he was interested in establishing a presence in the Lone Star State, he declined to go into detail about his interest in Texas’ biggest markets.

But in pitch emails to agents in Texas, Serhant says he’s interested in expanding to their city with staff and founding agents who are “aligned with how we are redefining the real estate industry.”

Serhant’s “model is very different and it’s the answer to what I think is a broken brokerage model. It’s super exciting,” he writes.

Rumors had been circulating in Houston real estate circles for weeks that Serhant was interested in expanding in Houston or buying long-time Bayou City luxury real estate brokerage Greenwood King, sources told TRD.

Greenwood King founder and owner Linda King told TRD the firm was not for sale and that she was unfamiliar with Serhant and his interest in the company, which she founded with Julie Greenwood in 1984.

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Serhant, who told TRD he is not interested in buying Greenwood King, does actually have a connection to Texas. He was born in Houston.

One source described an introductory call from Kesley Lee, Serhant’s national community manager as “pretty generic.”

“She asked if I had heard of Serhant, which everybody in the business has,” the source said.
“And she brought up their referral program and training program. I don’t think they’re actually going to set up a physical office here but I am going to talk with their COO.”

Other sources said they discussed with Serhant’s staff the differences between the Austin, Dallas and Houston markets and the splits agents in those markets could expect when completing a transaction.

Splits are typically more favorable for agents in Houston and Dallas, with an average of 75 percent going to the brokerage and 25 percent going to the agent compared to Austin where the brokerage gets 90 percent and the agent gets 10 percent, the sources told TRD.

If Serhant’s expansion into South Florida is any indication of how he may approach setting up shop in the Lone Star State, he is initially not likely to go it alone and will take on a local partner for a big splashy entrance.

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