Naples real estate brokerage, already in 18 states, expands to UK

Call It Closed International Realty, a cloud-based, 100% commission brokerage with a revenue sharing component, is expanding to London.

The Naples-based company currently operates in 18 states, including California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, New York and Texas. The new London location, according to a statement, “will provide prospective British buyers access to a robust network of several hundred Call It Closed agents and brokers across the country.”

“The U.S. and U.K. real estate markets operate quite differently, but one thing is clear: unlike the large brokerages, our entrepreneurial model gives agents a greater opportunity to succeed,” CEO Chad Osborne says in the statement. Chad Osborne founded the company with his wife, Aprile. “And when agents are freed from paying hefty franchise fees and higher commissions, those savings invariably benefit the buyers and sellers whom they represent.”

Among the key differences between U.S. and British real estate markets: 

• British real estate professionals (known as estate agents) rely on salaries (and modest bonuses) rather than commissions for the bulk of their income.
• With no licensing standards for those agents, there is little barrier for entry into the U.K. profession — but compared to the U.S., those opportunities are more limited.
• Unlike in the U.S., there are no Multiple Listing Services (MLS) databases that allow competing agents to share listings. Instead, each British agency maintains its own individual databases.
• In England, agents typically only represent the seller, not the buyer. Their employers control the customer relationship, with no individual marketing or branding as is common in the U.S.

Call It Closed’s U.K. office will be overseen by another husband-and-wife team, Steve Tasker and Kelly Owbridge-Tasker, a commercial property manager and health care executive with more than 30 years of experience, the release states. 

“The new partnership with Call It Closed International Realty is truly a game-changer,” Kelly Owbridge-Tasker says in the release. “British buyers will have access to a nationwide network of U.S. brokers freed from the constraints of an outdated business model that primarily benefitted large brokerages. And the agents who represent those buyers will have their own opportunity to benefit from the more entrepreneurial model that is the U.S. real estate market.”

Call It Closed’s London launch follows a recent company expansion to the Pacific Northwest, where the brokerage opened affiliates in Oregon and Washington earlier this month.

Founded in 2019, Call It Closed International Realty utilizes a multi-tiered revenue sharing platform. The Osbornes have nearly 40 years of combined real estate experience, with hundreds of sold properties personally. They also founded several RE/MAX franchises.