On this episode of Why REAL with Ryan Sautman, Ryan sits down with Steve Scarnati, a Realtor serving Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, and Fairfield County, Connecticut, to talk about his 10-year journey in real estate and what led him to make the move to REAL. Steve shares how he started in the business, learned the ropes on a team, grew into a successful solo producer doing around 30 transactions and $15 million in annual volume, and later stepped into leadership at a major national brokerage before realizing he missed being in the trenches helping clients directly.

Steve explains that his decision to join REAL was not about leaving a bad situation, but about finding a brokerage model that better matched his long-term goals. He discusses the appeal of agent ownership through stock awards, the opportunity to think beyond just commission income, and the value of building wealth over time. He also highlights the draw of REAL’s technology, AI tools, and forward-thinking platform, along with the chance to learn from top-producing, content-driven agents who are building modern real estate brands.

The conversation also dives into some of the biggest surprises Steve found after joining REAL, including the strength of the community, the amount of support available in a cloud-based brokerage, and how well the systems are designed to help agents succeed. Steve offers an honest perspective for agents who may be curious about making a change, encouraging them to stay open-minded, experience the model for themselves, and choose the brokerage that best supports where they want to go over the next 10 years.