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Real estate influencer Matt Lionetti, who gained fame as co-host of the Over Ask podcast produced by BAM (formerly Broke Agent Media), has left The Agency for the Real Brokerage, he told Inman.
Lionetti, who is based in Toronto, was at The Agency for about three years, where he became managing director. Prior to that, he was at Keller Williams for nearly eight years, which is where he began his real estate career.
On Wednesday, Lionetti took to social media to announce the news via a cheeky video where his present self meets his future self. After avoiding a near-catastrophic encounter with Artificial Intelligence, Lionetti’s future self finds his way to Real.
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“Matt is a trailblazer in the modern real estate business,” Sharran Srivatsaa, Real’s president, said in a statement emailed to Inman. “He has found an amazing way to combine media, education, celebrity, and warmth all into one brand that is ‘Matt Lionetti.’ I am personally excited to welcome Matt to Real, to support his media and education engine, while also providing a great platform for him to take care of his clients.”
Before chance conversations began with some key players at Real, Lionetti told Inman he was “dead-set” on never leaving The Agency.
“I told people, ‘I’m never going to leave; I love it,'” Lionetti said. “And still, I love all the people. There’s absolutely no animosity or anything like that. This opportunity just came up.”
It all started with some conversations with Real broker Brad McCallum, Lionetti said. Then, before he knew it, he was speaking with the brokerage’s president, Sharran Srivatsaa, and its founder, Tamir Poleg.
“At the end of the day, I have to do what’s right for me and [be] where I think I can do the best for myself, for my clients and everyone involved, and I think this is going to set me up to do that,” Lionetti said.
Matt Lionetti and Anna Oliver | Credit: Matt Barnes and Nikki Ross
Lionetti also acknowledged that on one episode of “Over Ask” he actually once said he would never join Real or more tech-focused, decentralized brokerages like it. But he said that was before he really took the time to consider what joining a brokerage like Real could do for his business and his clients. Now, Lionetti thinks the Real model is the future of the real estate industry.
“I’m really all in at this point,” Lionetti said. “I really believe in what they’re doing.”
Lionetti’s business partner, Anna Oliver, will also be making the switch from The Agency to Real, Lionetti added. The two have their own separate businesses but are frequent collaborators and often work jointly on projects.
Lionetti has told audiences at industry events that he came into his own as a real estate agent once he started to embrace his personality and unique sense of humor. Channeling his sense of self on social media allowed him to go viral and gain success as an agent. Today he has over 64,000 Instagram followers.
