Since 2009, Dallas-based real estate broker Subhi Gharbieh has worked tirelessly alongside his team to build their brokerage into the full-service powerhouse it is today. They do it all: buyer and seller representation, tenant representation and landlord representation as well as property management services on both the residential and commercial side.

The firm’s rebrand from Gharbieh & Associates to Roots Brokerage finally gives it a name to reflect the unique, teamwork-driven culture.

“I feel like everything that I've ever built with my brokerage, even when it was Gharbieh & Associates, or “G+A Real Estate,” was always about the agents,” Gharbieh said. “Realtors are no longer just a resource for people to buy and sell homes or find a place to do business ... We're advocates of our communities. We are networkers. We’re resources for people to know what the latest and greatest local shops and restaurants are in town.”

The new name also spotlights the work they do.

“When you buy or sell property, you're uprooting,” he said. “You're setting down new roots. [Roots Brokerage] has a relation to roots, which then sprout trees.”

The brokerage’s deeper roots

The rebrand harkens back to the state of the industry when Gharbieh was in high school and first took an interest in real estate.

“I met a wonderful lady. Her name was Rose Perry. She was my father's real estate agent at the time,” Gharbieh said. “She was so friendly and so bubbly and so energetic and such a great people-person ... I could see myself doing this because I love meeting people. I love interacting with people, talking to people.”

The two kept in touch, and eventually Gharbieh got his real estate license while working his way through college. He also landed a job at one of the larger firms in town.

“I felt like it was great while it lasted ... That was the time, ‘07 ‘08 ‘09, where technology was just starting to disrupt real estate,” Gharbieh said.

But he noticed a growing divide between brokers and agents.

“[My brokerage] wasn’t shifting as fast as I thought they should to give us more tools and more capabilities to adapt ... I feel like every relationship, especially a relationship between a brokerage and their agents, should always be a win-win. And I just didn't feel like at the time it was a win-win for me.”

When Gharbieh graduated college, he had the experience and educational credits to qualify for a broker’s license. He opened Gharbieh & Associates at the age of 20 and became the youngest real estate broker in the United States.

The decision gave Gharbieh freedom to pursue a business philosophy that empowered agents and properly credited them for the qualities that result in great client outcomes.

“When you are in this position of helping people with one of the biggest transactions they'll ever make in their life, you have to be a leader. You have to be assertive, you have to be giving, and you have to be compassionate,” Gharbieh said. “When we bring on agents to our firm, we're very selective and make sure that these characteristics also exist to some extent where they can continue to be echoed and present all the time.”

As part of this philosophy, the firm adopted a flat-fee broker/agent commission structure significantly more competitive than other firms.’

“Our brokerage model is very attractive to agents,” he said. “We're not your typical brokerage that takes a huge percentage of an agent’s commission.”

Fast forward 15 years: Rose Perry, the real estate agent who first inspired Gharbieh’s career, is now an agent with his firm. “It's a full-circle story,” Gharbieh said.

More about the rebrand

The rebrand’s emphasis on community is an aspect Gharbieh feels the industry lost over time. He points to the technology-driven rise of personal branding as a prime example.

“What [agents in videos] do that a lot of people don't think about is preventing agents within that same firm from sharing that video promoting the property because they're then promoting the agent present in the videos as well as the property,” Gharbieh said.

To solve the problem, Roots Brokerage’s marketing efforts are guided by the firm’s new brand ambassador, Sam the Squirrel.

Featuring Sam helps connect clients with Roots Brokerage properties, and Gharbieh’s team works to understand the unique needs of each individual and family.

“Regardless of the timing, people are always asking us, ‘What should I do? Should I rent? Should I buy?’” Gharbieh said. “We take it on a case by case basis ... similarly to how people approach accountants for tax advice and attorneys for legal advice, there's no one answer that is correct.”

The methodical approach prioritizes clients, and Gharbieh and his team also work to extend their impact to the larger DFW community through involvement in community projects like an upcoming tree planting initiative in Richardson.

“I just want everyone to know that Roots is not just a brokerage. Our agents are not just a resource for real estate,” Gharbieh said. “We're that first line of professionals on the forefront of the latest and greatest things that are happening in town, and we want to be that resource to everyone.”

To learn more, visit the Roots Brokerage website and give Gharbieh and his team a call today at 214-872-0872.

The above story was produced by Community Impact's Multi Platform Journalist Team with information solely provided by the local business as part of its "sponsored content" purchase through our advertising team.