The traditional real estate brokerage model is facing disruption as boutique firms gain market share through community focus and personalized service, according to K. Coralee King-Denmark, a leading agent with Beachy Beach Real Estate in Panama City Beach.

“It wasn’t so important anymore to be with a big national brand like Coldwell Banker, because they’re hiring me, not beachy beach or Coldwell bankers,” says King-Denmark, who spent 10 years with Coldwell Banker before moving to a boutique brokerage.

King-Denmark points to technological advances as enabling this shift: “These days, we can go and use Canva or cap kite, those big brokerages might be good to learn, but at some point, I think it has more to do with community.”

According to King-Denmark, local market presence and community engagement have become more valuable than national brand recognition. She points to her current broker’s community involvement: “You can look up Karen Smith, my broker, and see she’s all over the news and always donating, she did the firefighters walk on 9/11.”

While some might assume boutique brokerages lack resources, King-Denmark notes that her firm has become the market leader: “Even though this is a boutique brokerage, we have the most amount of agents in our area.”