Above, Hakan Karahan
Hakan Karahan
President/Broker of Record
HomeSmart First Advantage Realty
Voorhees, New Jersey
https://www.homesmartnewjersey.com
Region served: South and Central New Jersey, Philadelphia
Years in real estate: 29
Number of offices: 11
Number of agents: 700
Favorite part of your job: Solving problems
How is your brokerage using technology to better serve clients?
We stand out as a technologically advanced brokerage, with our local offices having more technology and providing more free technology to agents than others in our market, giving us a distinct competitive edge and better serving our clients—the agents. We’re also actively embracing artificial intelligence (AI) as well, for consumer outreach and cold-calling, and have recently integrated AI assistance into our automated Marketing Design Center for agents, enabling our agents to serve their clients faster and better.
How does your company make its agents’ jobs easier?
Our agents are provided with a wide range of tools like free e-signature and RPR integration directly in their agent dashboard. In addition, we’ve also made a significant investment in training. In fact, we recently built a brand-new luxurious training room that can accommodate up to 100 agents at a time, where we regularly host nationally recognized trainers. Training is something our agents can’t live without, so we ensure they have all the information they need from day one, and we continue to support and coach them as they gain real-world experience.
We also pay a lot of attention to retention, placing a strong emphasis on serving, supporting and training existing agents, and by keeping them informed with current market updates so that they’re aware of what’s going on in the marketplace and they know how to stay on top of their business.
Equally important is the culture we cultivate within our offices, as agents want to feel connected to those around them and learn from those who are finding success. To that end, we also host Zumba and yoga classes so that agents can come together and get to know one another.
As we continue through 2025 and move into 2026, what are you most looking forward to?
Continuing to see our steady increase in productivity and transactions per agent, and creating awareness that we are the brokerage with sales professionals who are productive. Looking ahead to 2026, our goal is to increase our market share by at least 10%. By doing so, we aim to drive higher sales volume and attract and serve even more high-performing agents.
At the same time, we’re meeting with brand-new agents right out of real estate school, inviting them to our offices to participate in fast-track programs designed to show them what the real estate business is all about. While real estate schools focus on the laws and regulations needed to pass the licensing exam, we take it many steps further and help drive new-agent success.
What attracted you to the HomeSmart brand?
I was with a different franchise from 2004 to 2011, and while the experience was fine, I found the support and technology lacking. During that time, I had been keeping an eye on HomeSmart, and was consistently impressed with their growth and proven track record of success. Once my franchise agreement with the previous company ended, I reached out to HomeSmart and said, “I’m ready to sign up.” My focus has always been on technology, and I loved what they had to offer. Beyond that, the level of support they provide is tremendous. That’s ultimately what drew me in—and I’ve never looked back on the decision.
For more information, please visit https://homesmart.com.
