United Real Estate Broadens Reach with Second Expansion in North Alabama

United Real Estate has announced its second expansion in Huntsville, Alabama, solidifying its position in the top three residential brokerages in the local market. United’s Leading Edge Real Estate Group, which joined United’s national network in 2022, and Huntsville-based Revolved Realty have merged operations.

The combined companies and their 300 agents will operate as Leading Edge Real Estate Group. Revolved Realty co-founder, Tim Knox joins the team as president to advance the long-term success of the combined operations and will remain the managing broker of two former Revolved Realty offices in Huntsville. The company says no role changes are planned for Leading Edge Real Estate Group’s founders, Danny and Charlene Sullivan. Agents will gain additional new tools, training and resources deployed through United’s Bullseye™ Cloud proprietary productivity platform.

“The merger of these two great local brokerages, combined with the backing of our national partner United Real Estate, offers limitless opportunities for buyers and sellers across north Alabama and southern Tennessee. And for the thousands of REALTORS® who call this area home, our commitment to helping agents build long-term, legacy businesses has never been greater,” stated Tim Knox and Chelsea McKinney, founders of Revolved Realty. “That’s the banner we will carry as we go forth and expand our marketshare here and eventually statewide.”

In today’s market, brokerages have a tremendous opportunity to join forces for long-term competitive advantage and survival.

“Tim and his team bring new energy into the company. Together, we have great synergy and focus and can leverage each person’s expertise to accomplish goals that previously seemed insurmountable. The services and tools we’ll bring to our service footprint will be huge for our market and for the agents. Together, we are now the third-largest in unit sales in our marketplace, and our combined strengths are a catalyst for continued growth,” said Danny and Charlene Sullivan, founders of Leading Edge Real Estate Group, in a statement.

The release notes that over the last decade, the real estate industry has shifted from commission-split brokerage models to transaction-fee models. New-generation models that entered the market have shown growth, while legacy models have reported declines in agent count, sales volume and unit sales. COVID-19 magnified those trends. According to a data-backed study examining brokerage profitability by real estate tech strategist Mike DelPrete, United was one of two national brokerages to be profitable in Q1 2023.

As brokerages move further into the new real estate market, change and innovation will become imperative for survival. In hindsight, we will look back and realize 2023 was the turning point for both legacy and new-generation models, the release added.

“Danny, Tim, Charlene, Chelsea and their respective employees and agents are creating forward momentum. What’s very exciting is that we have a carefully crafted strategic plan to navigate their agents successfully into the future. Today’s real estate landscape is vastly different than just five years ago, and these entrepreneurs are leveraging their unique talents and United Real Estate’s national resources to great advantage for their company and agents,” stated Rick Haase, president of United Real Estate.