Keller Williams acquired Laurie Finkelstein Reader Real Estate, a Plantation-based brokerage with 104 agents, The Real Deal has learned.

Laurie Finkelstein Reader and her namesake brokerage and team are moving in-house to Keller Williams, according to a press release. In the past two years, the brokerage closed $1.3 billion in sales of more than 3,100 homes, according to a spokesperson. The brokerage, which has 20 staff members in addition to its agents, who all work on one team, will maintain its current office as a Keller Williams “strategic market center,” Finkelstein Reader confirmed. 

Finkelstein Reader’s firm has been independent since 2019. Prior to that, she was with Keller Williams for eight years. She said she started looking for a larger brokerage to partner with about a year ago, and was approached by several other firms. Her decision came down to culture fit, she said.

“I believe making money is easy, being in the right community is the challenge,” Finkelstein Reader said.

While the South Florida market has cooled from a pandemic-fueled high, she said that did not lead to her decision. Finkelstein Reader’s team has grown at a breakneck pace since late 2019, when she started actively recruiting agents at a rate of 15 to 20 per quarter. She said she anticipates maintaining the growth of her team, and hopes to reach 175 agents by the end of the year.

The Plantation-based team covers the region as far south as Miami-Dade County’s Kendall and as far north as Port St. Lucie, Finkelstein Reader confirmed.

Keller Williams isn’t the only major brokerage trying to expand in South Florida. The Keyes Company acquired Mizner Grande Realty, a 60-agent brokerage in Boca Raton earlier this month. 

Douglas Elliman recently opened two offices in Weston, with 10 new agents pulled from competitors like Coldwell Banker Realty and Keyes. The Agency is also working to get its foot back in the door in Palm Beach County with the opening of its Palm Beach Gardens office in January.