Will traditional offices survive?

Jeff Turner and Peter Brewer debate the future of shopfronts.

Author

Elite Agent Editor
February 07, 2026

THOUGHT LEADERS
REAL ESTATE REIMAGINED

This week: Jeff Turner and Peter Brewer take opposite sides on whether the traditional real estate office will be extinct in five years. These two have known each other for nearly twenty years. Samantha McLean moderates – though "moderate" is a generous term for what unfolds.

Your lease renewal lands on your desk.

The number makes you pause. You look at the empty desks – agents out door-knocking, at appointments, working from home. The reception area hasn't seen a walk-in in weeks.

Meanwhile, EXP has built an 80,000-plus agent empire without a single shopfront. But Sotheby's International opened 37 new offices last year.

Which side is right?

Jeff argues:

"AI is going to own the web. Realtors need to own the real-world spaces. Realtors need to own trust. And that's not how trust gets built."

He describes walking past empty offices in Buenos Aires and Santa Clarita – listings in windows, papers piled on desks, no signs of life. His contention: if the office exists just to distribute information, it should die.

Peter counters:

"There are around 30,000 real estate offices in Australia, not 30,000 versions of the same shopfront. 30,000 completely different businesses."

He challenges the entire premise, arguing that the "traditional office" definition was generated by AI and is a caricature, not reality. Some offices have kindergartens inside. Some are a ute with a sticker on the side.

At the 56-minute mark, both debaters reveal what they actually believe. They land somewhere neither expected.

Listen now:
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