Many in the real estate industry see 2025 as a year to return to the basics of the business, but Side goes one step further.
This year, as the real estate industry battles a host of challenges, from the commission lawsuits to the ongoing housing market slowdown, Hilary Saunders said Side and his leadership have returned to a grassroots approach.
“It was about getting back to why you love real estate and chose to spend so much time on it,” says Saunders, co-founder and principal broker of Side. “For most of us, it’s because of the customers and those you help make their dreams come true. You get to be part of that journey and that’s the exciting part of it all.
“For me, I’m getting to be in a really cool space where I can not only make homeownership a reality, but also make people’s dreams of owning their own business a reality – and that’s beyond thrilling and exciting to me.”
As a white-label brokerage-as-a-service company, Side has largely remained in the shadows and put its individual entrepreneurs in the spotlight. But in 2024, Side began to reveal more of his own voice.
“Our thinking around our fundamental day-to-day business hasn’t really changed, but as a company that partners with top producing real estate agents and brokers, we have been focused over the past year and into the future on leveraging our community and our network of brokers to explain the really raises the bar, not only for Side, but also for the industry,” said Saunders.
“And this focus just happened to coincide with everything that was going on in the National Association of Real Estate Agents and the lawsuits. So I think some of it was intentional, but it was also just us focusing on our community and trying to make them even stronger.
As Side looks to 2025, the company aims to continue empowering its agents and the industry as a whole through its education initiatives.
“One thing we are very proud of launching this year – and we hope to expand much further – is our coaching program,” said Saunders. “A large group of our existing partners in our community have highly customized coaching programs that they have been working on for years and we want to make these available to the greater real estate community, not just within Side. There are some really great professionals and ideas out there, and it’s something we definitely want to share.”
But while Side is starting to evolve as a brand, Saunders says this in no way means the company will take away the independence of its entrepreneurs.
“I think so often people get blown away by changes or these big things in the industry, and they get a little paralyzed, but our job as leadership is to really advise them, refocus them and give them the tools that they can use to be successful in any environment,” said Saunders.
With technology changing rapidly, Saunders says Side’s focus on the tools provided to agents will become even more prevalent in 2025.
“We really try to improve our partners’ experience. Part of that is improving our marketplace, and part of that is working with suppliers to provide better services to our partners and their customers,” said Saunders.
According to Saunders, Side is sharpening its education and technology offerings as the company wants to ensure its entrepreneurs are in the best possible position to tackle whatever the coming year throws at them.
“One thing we’ve always educated our community about is that in a slow or tough year, you really need to double down on your fundamentals and look historically at how you’ve gained market share or created better customer experiences. Because when the gas is poured back on the fire, you want to be in a place where you don’t have to create new processes,” she said.
“Over the past year, while the market has been cooler, we have managed to remain stable and some of our business partners have even grown, which amazes me. But if the market changes in a positive way, they will be in the best possible position to serve buyers and sellers and build their businesses.”
Because the company has so much focus on improving its existing agents and brokers, Saunders said Side doesn’t have the same massive focus on 2025 growth as other brokers. But this does not mean that growth is impossible.
“Over the next year, we really want to continue to develop our Partner Up program, where we’re really just working with our existing community to find like-minded people who also want to grow their own business, and then we invite them into our community,” Saunders said. “Rather than the recruitment strategy of a traditional brokerage, this one is very community-focused.”
While Saunders is optimistic about what lies ahead for her company, she also knows that there are plenty of challenges ahead for the industry in 2025. But rather than just focusing inward, Side looks forward to being part of broader efforts.
“I think we are really ready to join the conversations, whether they are about clear cooperation or agreements with buyer’s agents, and I think many of these issues can be resolved at the local level because the functionality of the hyperlocal market does not national cause,” Saunders said.
“Once you start trying to get Washington and Florida to act and operate the same way, it creates way too much headache and noise, and ultimately you just make more of a mess and don’t solve any problems.”
But as always, Saunders says Side will rely on the knowledge and expertise of its local brokers to advocate for the best policies and practices for a given metro area.
“We are very fortunate that we have great managing brokers in all our markets, who keep an eye on everything, and then we are able to make very quick and timely decisions and create guidance for our agents on the ground and Customize if necessary for everything that is happening,” said Saunders. “So I think that’s our superpower – just being very agile and adapting quickly and providing thought leadership to our community.”
