From cloud to network: the many roads to RealTrends rankings success

Plenty of familiar names show up year after year in the top tier of the RealTrends Verified Rankings. But beyond that shared visibility, the similarities start to fade pretty quickly. These firms aren’t running the same playbook — not even close.

From cloud-based brokerages to global franchise networks, and from niche specialization strategies to sprawling referral ecosystems, today’s top performers reflect a wide spectrum of business models. That diversity is a defining feature of how success is being built in modern real estate.

To better understand what’s driving that success, HousingWire spoke with leadership at LeadingRE and eXp Realty. Their perspectives shed light on how fundamentally different approaches — from independently owned networks to fully virtual brokerages — are shaping agent productivity, broker growth and long-term competitiveness.

LeadingRE leads with a network approach

After the independent brokerages within its network closed 462,910.4 transaction sides totaling $275.844 billion in sales volume in 2025, LeadingRE saw itself jump from the No. 5 brand in 2025 to the No. 2 brand [after independents] in the 2026 RealTrends Verified Rankings. 

With a network made up of many top-performing firms, including Hanna Holdings, which ranked No. 6 by both sides and volume, William Raveis Real Estate, John L. Scott Real Estate, Brown Harris Stevens, The Keyes Company/Illustrated Properties, Baird & Warner and FirstTeam Real Estate, Kate Reisinger, the chief operating officer of LeadingRE, said her firm provides their brokers with a variety of services and support to allow them to best support their agents and consumers.

At the core of LeadingRE, Reisinger said, is the belief that these disparate independent firms and brokers are experts and leaders in their local markets, but that they are stronger if they work together. 

“The network was created to allow independent brokers to refer clients across their markets with complete confidence that those clients would be taken care of by a firm that reflects the same level of service, professionalism, trust and standards,” Reisinger said. “That referral network is still the lifeblood of LeadingRE, but over time, the network has built a much broader ecosystem.”

Today, Reisinger said LeadingRE provides members with everything from marketing and branding resources, to global events that bring together professionals from across LeadingRE’s network, enabling them to learn from each other and share best practices.

“They are elevating each other and creating opportunities for mutual success — that’s really who LeadingRE is,” she said. “We support these leaders in operating at their highest level, while connecting them with other deeply rooted local market leaders. This exchange allows them to learn from one another and extend their reach globally, all while maintaining their strong local presence. It creates something incredibly powerful because that hyperlocal expertise is now extended across 70 countries.” 

It is this support that has attracted some of the top performing firms to the LeadingRE network and that has continued to empower them to achieve top results in the RealTrends Verified Rankings.

eXp reaches for the sky with a cloud-based model

There is no denying that eXp Realty is one of the most prominent and successful cloud-based real estate firms. The Glenn Sanford-founded firm has held the No. 1 spot for transaction side count in the RealTrends Verified Rankings since 2022. In 2025, agents and brokers at eXp closed a whopping 343,091 transaction sides, nearly 100,000 more transaction sides than the second place firm, Anywhere Advisors. 

“When I look at our performance, I think it is a true testament to how our agents come together and support each other in the community we have built,” Holly Mabery, the chief brokerage officer at eXp Realty, said. “We’ve designed everything across our platform so agents can connect because we are truly borderless. Our clients don’t see restrictions on where they can move, so why would we restrict our agents in where they can operate. I think that is the secret sauce in how we operate and provide opportunity for our agents.” 

eXp Realty’s lack of borders comes from the firm’s cloud-based nature, with all brokerage operations happening within the firm’s metaverse.

“I think being cloud-based, connecting without borders is part of our DNA,” Carrie Lysenko, the firm’s chief technology officer, said. “We have never been another way.”

Lysenko believes that borderlessness fosters a belief in the firm’s agents that they shouldn’t set limits on their business or on what they can achieve.

“Whether you believe a brick-and-mortar approach is actual or theoretical, we feel that living in a world where we don’t set limits with physical walls, or geography or team type or agent type, we attract agents who really just want to continue growing and building their businesses,” Lysenko said.

When it comes to helping those agents to build their businesses, Lysenko and Mabery said the firm’s cloud-based model allows it to reinvest more of the firm’s income into its agents as it isn’t spending money on brick-and-mortar infrastructure.

“I think a lot of times real estate agents are thought of as lone wolves that are out there pounding the pavement for business. While there are parts of an agent’s business that reflect that, we have found that our agent productivity continues to grow the more we continue to invest in events and experiences for our agents that bring them together,” Lysenko said. 

Mabery added that the company’s structure allows agents to learn from their peers and other mentors across the globe, enabling them to learn from someone they truly connect with. 

“We were built for the future,” Mabery said. “We were built for how people come together and connect today. Clients expect things to be online and for that service to come to them, so why wouldn’t we, as a brokerage, provide the same for our agents. We can provide them with value in the palm of their hand, and they don’t have to drive across town to an in-person meeting for connection and value.” 

For eXp’s agents this level of digital connectivity has certainly paid off, but as the rankings data illustrated it is not the only way for a company to win.

Both eXp and LeadingRE have embraced non-traditional models on their journey to the top, but that doesn’t mean that firms with more traditional brokerage models can’t succeed in today’s environment.

Ultimately, the RealTrends Verified Rankings make one thing clear: there’s no single blueprint for success in today’s real estate landscape. Whether built on global referral networks, fully virtual platforms or more traditional structures, top-performing firms are winning by leaning into what they do best — and by staying aligned with how agents and consumers want to work. The models may differ, but the focus on growth, connectivity and adaptability is shared.