In 2024, my team was ranked #9 in Manhattan, #20 in NYC, and #126 in the United States. We were at a big box brokerage firm, sitting comfortably at the top of the food chain.
By all traditional metrics, we had won.
I had spent two decades in the NYC trenches, selling over $2 billion in real estate and publishing a national bestseller, The Pursuit of Home. I had the office, the awards, and the market share.
So, why fix what wasn’t broken?
Because the big-box residential brokerage model is broken.
It no longer offers value. In the current ecosystem, agents succeed in spite of their firms, not because of them. The industry has become a race to the bottom—a numbers game where massive firms squeeze margins, trap agents with restrictive contracts, and treat training as an afterthought. Now to survive, they’ve begun to cut marketing budgets, eliminate funds for assistants. And that’s just the beginning.
These brokerages have forgotten the one truth that matters in this business:
Buyers and sellers don’t hire firms; they hire agents.
It is time to return to a people-centered business. It is time to stop building brands that overshadow the talent, and start building systems that empower it.
That is why we built Magnetic.
The Magnetic Premise: Attract What Matters Most
We founded Magnetic on a simple belief: Great agents with superior skills attract outstanding results for their clients—and for themselves.
In a market where 94% of sellers and 90% of buyers hire a human being, better talent isn’t just a luxury. It is the only competitive advantage.
Most agencies provide a checklist; we provide a transformation. We are an agent-first brokerage, designed by agents and powered by systems that deliver real results. We aren’t interested in the churn and burn model of recruiting thousands of agents. We are interested in the outliers.
The Void in the Market
When you look at the landscape of NYC real estate—Compass, Elliman, Corcoran, BHS—you see impressive logos. But when you look under the hood, you see a lack of true mentorship.
We looked at what the giants offer, and we looked at what the modern agent actually needs. The gap is massive—and it’s only growing.
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Coaching vs. Training: Big firms offer generic training videos. We offer personalized planning and 1:1 coaching.
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Grunt Work vs. Automation: Big firms leave agents to drown in admin. We use AI tools and Inside Sales Agents (ISAs) to handle follow-ups and task tracking so they can focus on delivering extraordinary results.
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The Hanging License vs. The Roadmap: We provide a sales program based on The Magnetic Method™—the exact system I used to sell $2B in property.
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Corporate Profit vs. Shared Profit: We offer profit sharing for top performers. When we win, they win.
For the Client: The Principal-Led Advantage
Why does an agent-first model matter to a buyer or seller? Because happy, supported, high-performing agents deliver a better experience.
At a mega-firm, clients are often handed off to a less-experienced associate once the contract is signed. At Magnetic, we believe in the Principal-Led Advantage.
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No Handoffs: You get battle-tested expertise on every call.
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Unreasonable Hospitality: We manage the friction of selling—from high-end staging to white-glove showing prep. We don’t just tour a property; we curate an experience.
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Agility Over Bureaucracy: The NYC market moves in hours. We don’t wait for a corporate marketing department in another time zone to approve a pivot. We move fast.
We Are Looking for A-Players
Magnetic is not for everyone.
We aren’t interested in agents satisfied with the status quo. We aren’t looking to fill desks. We designed this firm for the smart, hardworking, caring agents who want to build something for the long haul.
We are looking for the outliers who possess a relentless hunger for success, a growth-oriented mindset, and deep integrity.
If you or someone you know is tired of succeeding in spite of the brokerage, come build with a firm that helps you succeed because of it.
Let’s attract what matters most.
Scott Harris is the founder of Magnetic and the author of new nationally bestselling book The Pursuit of Home: A Real Estate Guide to Achieving the American Dream (from Matt Holt Books). Order it here or explore all the free resources from the book here.
If you’re looking to buy or sell your home, we are ready to help you attract what matters, most, too.
