Those who pursue their real estate license but lack support and ultimately don’t stay in the industry for long, is something Tiffany Williamson—who is deeply passionate about providing the tools, resources and opportunities agents need to build successful and sustainable careers in real estate—set out to change in building and leading one of North Carolina’s fastest-growing independent brokerages.
Committed to fostering a culture of growth, inclusivity and belief in every individual, the founder and president of Navigate Realty is on a mission to empower agents to excel at every stage of their journey.
More than just a company, Navigate Realty is a family where people are empowered to succeed—with 300 agents across eight offices in North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
“If you zoom out, over 85% of real estate agents don’t make it past their first year in real estate,” says Williamson, who recalls hearing that statistic during a real estate class early on in her journey, when the instructor looked out at the room of more than 70 people to remind them that most of them wouldn’t make a career out of real estate.
“I remember at the time feeling a sense of wanting to be part of this solution, but I wasn’t quite sure how,” explains Williamson.
Fast forward to graduating the class, joining a brokerage and experiencing the excitement and momentum that came with launching her real estate career, it didn’t take long for Williamson to realize that most people leave the industry because they don’t make a paycheck until six or 12 months later.
“Most people cannot sustain that—and reality sets in and they have to get a part-time job or another job,” adds Williamson, who knew there had to be a better way. “And so we started Navigate Realty.”
Having previously served as COO of a Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) affiliate, Williamson notes that staying independent provides a competitive advantage even in a market dominated by big players and headline-grabbing mergers.
“We don’t have to pay any brokerage fees, and we have complete flexibility with how we want to run the business, which has been the biggest advantage,” she says. “I remember how much we paid to just be a part of the (BHGRE) franchise while also having to supplement so many other platforms, technology platforms, because they didn’t fit into what we were doing or where we were going.”
Williamson adds that Navigate Realty is having its best year yet, something she attributes in large part to Zillow’s support since first joining Zillow Preferred back in 2021. Not only is the firm on track to do $1.5 billion in sales volume in 2026, but they also just launched their eighth city.
“We’re tracking about 400 agents,” says Williamson. “We’re a very profitable company, and we get to keep all of that and reinvest it in our agents.”
While the company’s growth goes back to the core mission of wanting to help as many agents as possible build a successful career, Williamson points to Zillow as a key piece of the puzzle in the firm’s aggressive expansion.
A partnership built for growth
Heavily integrated with Zillow, Williamson has nothing but praise for how the partnership has helped the brokerage grow throughout the years. In fact, when meeting with sellers, Navigate Realty agents highlight Zillow programs as part of their presentation.
“We always talk about Zillow Showcase and Zillow Preview with our sellers,” says Williamson, pointing to an example of a Showcase listing presented to sellers that highlights two homes in the same neighborhood. One is listed by Navigate Realty utilizing the Showcase platform; the other is not.
“Our listing sold in less than 20 days, while the other listing—similarly priced—was on the market for 102 days. You can see that the views of the property on Showcase were over 3,200, while the views of the other property were right under 600. That visibility matters, especially in a market like we’re in right now,” she explains.
“Utilizing these high-level tools that Zillow provides is a huge advantage for our sellers,” adds Williamson, who goes on to explain that the Zillow Preview platform has provided agents the opportunity to talk to sellers about putting their house on the market early in order to gauge interest while creating more excitement.
“This allows buyers to be more prepared when they see a property in that preview status so that they’re able to see it immediately and not miss out on an opportunity, which also benefits the seller.”
On the CRM side, Williamson attests that Navigate Realty is crushing it with Follow Up Boss, the CRM powering Zillow’s integrated home-buying experience.
“Not only do we use it on the agent side, but we also use it on the leadership side for our coaching appointments so everything is streamlined and in one place,” says Williamson, who notes that the firm’s transaction managers utilize Follow Up Boss as well.
“As soon as an agent gets someone under contract, the transaction manager can take it from there and make sure all the paperwork is systematic within that system, which has helped us become more efficient overall,” she says. “We also use it as a follow-up lead system, ensuring that our agents are utilizing it to the highest level in that regard.”
Where people come first—and listings stay public
Laser-focused on its mission to give new agents the tools they need to thrive in a real estate career doesn’t take away from the brokerage investing in or working to retain those agents once they’ve graduated from rookie to experienced.
“We have one of the highest retention rates in every single MLS, and we track that because that’s such an important stat,” says Williamson, who believes in the firm’s agents and in providing the same level of service to clients.
“We’ve got agents who drive U-Hauls for our clients if they need it, and we even had an agent clean out a hoarder’s home. We go above and beyond for our clients, which shows within our reviews if you look at us online, as well as the retention rate within the firm.”
One of the ways Navigate Realty serves those sellers is through the broad exposure that comes with the Zillow partnership.
“Sellers want the most net return possible, and you get that by the most visibility,” says Williamson, discussing both Navigate Realty’s own philosophy and the hot-button topic of private listing networks.
“I don’t believe in private listings, allowing the exception of certain high-profile individuals who want to maintain their privacy,” says Williamson, who wholeheartedly believes in complete transparency.
“If you really understand the process, you want the most exposure you can get—and I don’t think it’s fair for the sellers, and I don’t think it’s fair for the buyers to not have access to that, especially as it relates to Zillow with having over 220 million average viewers every single month. You want every single buyer who’s in the market for your specific area to put eyes on your property. And unfortunately, with private listings, that’s just not the case.”
Navigate Realty’s high retention rate begins with the firm’s culture-first mentality, says Williamson, who understands that culture can mean a lot of different things to different people. “But at Navigate Realty, it’s about meeting and valuing people where they are, and screening for leaders who hold to that,” she says.
“We understand that not everybody has the same goal, and we don’t need every agent to be the No. 1 agent. We want to meet them where they are. We want to know what their goals are, and we want to help them accomplish their goals,” she adds, which goes hand in hand with the way in which the firm’s leadership team has been built out.
“When we bring our leadership team on board, we look for individuals who care about people and want to help them succeed regardless of what their goals are,” concludes Williamson. “It has to start from the top and go all the way (down) to our transaction managers. Everybody cares, and we keep that at the center of everything.”
For more information, visit https://www.zillow.com.
