{"id":62850,"date":"2026-04-28T03:05:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T01:05:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T03:05:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T01:05:13","slug":"the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/","title":{"rendered":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Brandon Wells, president and CEO of The Group Real Estate<\/strong>, doesn\u2019t buy into the fear that artificial intelligence will replace real estate agents (AI).<\/p>\n

But he also doesn\u2019t buy into most of the AI tools<\/a> being sold to brokerages today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of AI slop out there,\u201d Wells said on the latest episode<\/a> of the RealTrending Podcast with host Tracey Velt. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of vendors that are just, you know, putting large language model tools into their existing software, and I don\u2019t really know that that\u2019s accomplishing anything.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Group, a northern Colorado<\/a> brokerage founded in 1976 and the birthplace of the Ninja Selling system, has grown primarily through organic methods under Wells\u2019 leadership since he stepped into the CEO role in 2018. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Rather than chasing mergers and acquisitions, Wells said the firm\u2019s success has come from investing in brokers through training, education and a culture of abundance \u2014 bolstered by an employee-owned model that encourages knowledge sharing rather than hoarding trade secrets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a typical independent contractor setting, there\u2019s a lot of scarcity,\u201d Wells said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people that want to hide their trade secrets, and there\u2019s less abundance. I think one of the benefits of having an ownership model where everybody has a vested interest in not only their own personal success but the brokerage success \u2014 it\u2019s created this abundance of sharing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Private listings: Net negative if unchecked<\/h2>\n

On the industry\u2019s heated debate over private listings, Wells was measured but firm.<\/p>\n

He said he struggles to see how keeping listings entirely off the open market benefits sellers, arguing that maximum exposure typically yields the best results.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do not think you can convince me [that] a world that having listings be solely private is of benefit to sellers,\u201d Wells said. \u201cI believe in any product, maximum exposure to the vast, largest audience that we can reach is going to always warrant the best results. Now, there are very many circumstances where I understand private listings could be of benefit to a certain party, but I struggle to understand that it\u2019s a benefit to all.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think it\u2019s more riddled in risk, because I think that is more about what is in the best interest of the brokerage than what\u2019s in the best interest of the customer.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said The Group uses office exclusives as a temporary tool \u2014 to prepare a property for market, gather feedback from 250 agents and fine-tune pricing before a full launch.<\/p>\n

But he warned that without guardrails, private listings tilt toward brokerage benefit over consumer benefit.<\/p>\n

How independents win amid consolidation<\/h2>\n

As large franchises and public brokerages continue to merge and acquire, Wells sees an opening for regional independents.<\/p>\n

He said private independents grew market share by 2% in the past year, and he attributed that momentum to flexibility and the democratization of technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cIndependents are in a really strong position, because if there\u2019s one thing that I\u2019ve learned in my 20-plus years in this industry, it\u2019s that \u2014 especially independent contractors as salespeople \u2014 they don\u2019t like to be lumped into the same kind of offering,\u201d Wells said. \u201cThey like their independence. They like their own creativity, and they really like to differentiate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that automation and AI have made sophisticated resources accessible to smaller players.<\/p>\n

With internal tools like Claude Code for \u201cvibe coding,\u201d The Group has started building its own platforms to manage agent goals and productivity rather than signing expensive vendor contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat was once really hard to obtain or to achieve or to be able to provide as resources, I think, has become a lot more accessible for the small guy, which gives a big competitive advantage back into the court of the independents,\u201d Wells said.<\/p>\n

On recruiting, retention and consumer honesty<\/h2>\n

When asked what works in recruiting and retention, Wells did not cite incentives or splashy technology.<\/p>\n

Instead, he pointed to genuine care and a healthy culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, honestly, what\u2019s working is true, genuine care of the success of the agents that are within your walls,\u201d Wells said. \u201cUnfortunately, I think our industry has a bad rap of looking at people as objects, whether that means they\u2019re a revenue number or just a body count. For us, what really works in recruiting is that genuine care on wanting to help brokers understand what is working from shared experiences of their peers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wells acknowledged that market conditions have grown tougher, requiring more education around financing and seller concessions. But he rejected the notion that agents should blame the market for poor results.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook one office down and you see somebody having their best year yet \u2014 it\u2019s predicated on the effort that brokers are putting in, not the market conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

AI overreaction and raising the bar<\/h2>\n

Wells identified AI fears as the trend agents are most overreacting to. The trend they are underestimating: rising consumer expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the consumer has really high expectations, and I think we\u2019re still behind the curve on what we\u2019re offering as an industry and truly listening to the consumer journey,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it\u2019s confusing. I think it\u2019s cluttered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked what he would change overnight, Wells returned to a longtime frustration: low licensing standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our industry gets a bad rap because the barrier to entry is too low, and I think \u2014 for the people who are truly running this like a profession \u2014 they get harmed pretty badly in the eyes of the consumer due to the hobbyists,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Listen to the podcast<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

This article was generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation. It was reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brandon Wells, president and CEO of The Group Real Estate, doesn\u2019t buy into the fear that artificial intelligence will replace real estate agents (AI). But he also doesn\u2019t buy into most of the AI tools being sold to brokerages today. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of AI slop out there,\u201d Wells said on the latest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"ru_RU\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brandon Wells, president and CEO of The Group Real Estate, doesn\u2019t buy into the fear that artificial intelligence will replace real estate agents (AI). But he also doesn\u2019t buy into most of the AI tools being sold to brokerages today. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of AI slop out there,\u201d Wells said on the latest […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Houses Marketplace\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b\"},\"headline\":\"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":988,\"articleSection\":[\"Uncategorized\"],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Houses Marketplace\",\"description\":\"International Real Estate\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ru-RU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\\\/ru\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/","og_locale":"ru_RU","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace","og_description":"Brandon Wells, president and CEO of The Group Real Estate, doesn\u2019t buy into the fear that artificial intelligence will replace real estate agents (AI). But he also doesn\u2019t buy into most of the AI tools being sold to brokerages today. \u201cI think there\u2019s a lot of AI slop out there,\u201d Wells said on the latest […]","og_url":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/","og_site_name":"Houses Marketplace","article_published_time":"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"\u041d\u0430\u043f\u0438\u0441\u0430\u043d\u043e \u0430\u0432\u0442\u043e\u0440\u043e\u043c":"admin","\u041f\u0440\u0438\u043c\u0435\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0435 \u0432\u0440\u0435\u043c\u044f \u0434\u043b\u044f \u0447\u0442\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f":"5 \u043c\u0438\u043d\u0443\u0442"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b"},"headline":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge","datePublished":"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/"},"wordCount":988,"articleSection":["Uncategorized"],"inLanguage":"ru-RU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/","url":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/","name":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge - Houses Marketplace","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-04-28T01:05:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ru-RU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/the-group-real-estates-brandon-wells-on-ai-slop-independents-edge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Group Real Estate\u2019s Brandon Wells on AI \u2018slop,\u2019 independents\u2019 edge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/","name":"\u0420\u044b\u043d\u043e\u043a \u0434\u043e\u043c\u043e\u0432","description":"\u041c\u0435\u0436\u0434\u0443\u043d\u0430\u0440\u043e\u0434\u043d\u0430\u044f \u043d\u0435\u0434\u0432\u0438\u0436\u0438\u043c\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ru-RU"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1276f6cf52b5de6bd341c72ea8c75b0b","name":"\u0430\u0434\u043c\u0438\u043d\u0438\u0441\u0442\u0440\u0430\u0442\u043e\u0440","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ru-RU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/140237897fb8310eb02b9e9e60bc4c80ec8ee5e10f4896a3c4d6b98a92bf825e?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"url":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/housesmarketplace.trio-tv.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}