With an ever-growing variety of brokerages, it’s practically a golden era for agents these days. Whether you want to work from a virtual office or prefer a brick-and-mortar storefront, the choice is there. Not satisfied with your commission split or maybe you feel your brokerage doesn’t offer the right kind of training and tech support? Not a problem. Agents are more empowered now than at any time in history to find a brokerage that meets their needs.

But how are brokerages faring with all these changes? By most accounts, pretty good, and that’s not just because of the current market conditions. They’re finding innovative ways to stay competitive with a veritable tidal wave of new capital and tech entering the market. In this issue, we look at the ways brokerages, both big and small, are carving out a space for themselves in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

This month we highlight local brokerages Baird & Warner and @properties, two Chicagoland brokerages that have taken different approaches and continue to adapt and grow. We also speak with Jack Miller of the real estate consulting firm T3 Sixty. Miller, who is also a main contributor to the Swanepoel Trends Report, gives a tour of the current marketplace for new and innovative brokerages.

Find out what our readers have to say about their brokerages in our monthly survey, and check out this month’s Association News column from the president of the Asian American Real Estate Association of America. Whether you’re in a large brokerage or small, it’s never too early to begin planning for next year. This month’s Top Coach column by Jameson Sotheby’s International’s Jim Miller offers some helpful tips for preparing for 2022. As always, we want to hear from you, so send us your thoughts about brokerages or any other real estate topic to Tim.Inklebarger@agentpublishing.com.