Billed as “the future of real estate”, UrbanX (UX) is revolutionising the traditional model by empowering Australia’s top agents to work for themselves and create their own unique brands.
UX is a white-label digital platform that partners with high-performing agents to take care of everything behind the scenes such as marketing, administration, accounts and training, allowing them to focus on what they do best – selling houses.
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Dan Argent said after working in the traditional model for a decade himself, he realised there needed to be a better way.
“Most agents don’t get a salary, they work on a commission-only basis, but when a commission comes in, the franchise takes 8 to 10 per cent and the agency takes a further 40 to 50 per cent, leaving agents getting only 25 percent after tax and superannuation is deducted”, Mr Argent said.
“By cutting out the middlemen, the agents we work with have their own independent businesses but without the usual hassles of running the business, including having to manage their own trust accounts.
“The best part is they keep up to 90 per cent of everything they earn.”
In only its third year of operations, UX is on track to sell $3 billion in property, and is quickly expanding throughout Queensland, NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, NT, and will soon launch in the ACT.
The recently finalised multi-million-dollar investment round, led by 29North (29N) Co-founders Ross Hayward, Ben Korst, and Brendan Larsen, will propel UrbanX’s rapid growth as it aims to work with 20 per cent of the top 20 per cent of agents in Australia and NZ by 2030.
It will also fund the next stage of UrbanX’s IT platform, designed to help agents work more efficiently.
29N were joined by Archie Douglas, co-founder of PRD Nationwide, who exited the traditional franchise model in 2006, and is now backing “the future of real estate”.
Mr Douglas will chair UX’s board, and prominent M&A lawyer Oliver Talbot, and self-confessed “IT nerd” Gordon Tan, who both also participated, will join UX as non-executive director and chief technology officer respectively.
