Real Property Associates
Real Property Associates is a privately held, founder-owned full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage and property management company serving the Greater Seattle area since 1991, using a 78-agent network and a property management subsidiary (Rent Seattle).
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1991
- HeadquartersWa Keeney, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Real Property Associates does
Real Property Associates, Inc. (dba RPA) is a privately held, founder-owned full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage and property management company headquartered at 7500 Roosevelt Way NE in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1991 by Gordon Stephenson and Jay Young, who continue to own and operate the firm, the company has served the Greater Seattle area continuously for over 30 years. Its core offering is traditional real estate brokerage: 78 licensed agents provide buying and selling consultations, property search, listing alerts, and transaction management across multiple Seattle neighborhoods including Ballard, Capitol Hill, Fremont, Wallingford, West Seattle, and Phinney Ridge. The firm also operates commercial brokerage and a dedicated property management division (Rent Seattle) that delivers tenant management, rent collection, and maintenance coordination for rental property owners.
The technology stack is conventional for the brokerage industry: an MLS-integrated website (seattlehouses.com) with property search, virtual tour support, a home valuation form, and a mortgage calculator, built and maintained by the third-party vendor CloseHack. Property listings are syndicated through the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS). The firm has added specialized services around Seattle's Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit (DADU) market, including access to the DADU Guru platform for buyers, sellers, and builders. There is no proprietary technology, no AI/ML capability, and no app.
The business model is a mix of transaction-based brokerage commissions on home sales (typically a percentage fee split between listing and buyer agents) and recurring managed-services fees from the property management subsidiary. Go-to-market is sales-led and community-driven: agents provide in-person consultations, the website supports self-serve property search, and marketing leverages neighborhood and area pages, blog content, and agent referrals. Customers are fragmented across individual residential buyers, sellers, investors, commercial clients, and rental property owners; no enterprise or anchor customers are disclosed. Multi-region phone lines suggest coverage of Seattle/King County, Bellevue/Eastside, Everett/Snohomish, and Edmonds.
Real Property Associates firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Real Property Associates
- Legal name
- Real Property Associates, Inc.
- Website
- https://seattlehouses.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1991
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Real Property Associates is a privately held, founder-owned full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage and property management company serving the Greater Seattle area since 1991, using a 78-agent network and a property management subsidiary (Rent Seattle).
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Real Property Associates industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Real Estate Brokerage
- NAICS
- Offices of Real Estate Agents and Brokers (53121), Residential Property Managers (531311), Nonresidential Property Managers (531312), Real Estate Property Managers (53131)
- SIC
- Real Estate Agents & Managers (For Others) (6531), Real Estate (6500)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Traditional Residential Brokerage (Existing Homes) (BPAJAAAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Residential Real Estate Brokerage (Buy/Sell) (FSAEAJAA), Buyer Representation Services (BPAJAAAJ), Real Estate Buyer Representation (FSAEAJAG)
Keywords
Where Real Property Associates is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Wa Keeney
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Real Property Associates business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Real Estate Brokerage Commissions: Traditional real estate commission-based revenue model where the company earns a percentage fee on property transactions (both buying and selling). Typically the listing broker and buyer's agent split commissions on completed transactions.
- Property Management Services: Property management services for rental properties, generating recurring management fees from property owners.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
Real Property Associates product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Real Property Associates is a full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage plus property management company serving the Greater Seattle area since 1991. The company provides buying and selling consultations, MLS-integrated property search, listing syndication, DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit) consulting, and rental property management through a team of approximately 78 licensed agents and an affiliated platform (rentseattle.com).
Product overview
Real Property Associates is a full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage and property management company serving the Greater Seattle area since 1991. The company offers a unified platform combining brokerage services (buying and selling consultations, property search, listing alerts, market guidance) with property management capabilities, DADU-specific services, and digital tools including an MLS property search, mortgage calculator, and home valuation tool. The core brokerage platform is supplemented by the affiliated property management platform (rentseattle.com) and specialized DADU consulting services.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Companies that use Real Property Associates
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Real Property Associates technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Real Property Associates partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves1 record
Expansion highlights4 records
Real Property Associates competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Compass: Large national tech-forward luxury-leaning brokerage actively recruiting agents in Seattle. Compass overlaps with RPA on the residential brokerage product but operates at national scale with proprietary technology and a higher-end brand positioning.
- Sotheby's International Realty: Luxury-leaning global brokerage with Seattle affiliate presence. Comparable on residential brokerage offering but competes primarily in higher price tiers with a different brand positioning and agent economics.
- Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices: National residential brokerage franchise with multiple Seattle-area affiliates. Overlaps with RPA on residential brokerage and target segments, but draws on national brand recognition and broader marketing reach rather than local specialization.
- RE/MAX: Global franchise real estate brokerage with significant agent presence in the Seattle market. Comparable in offering (residential brokerage services) but differs in franchise-distributed model and brand-driven lead generation.
Emerging players
- Redfin: Seattle-headquartered tech-enabled residential brokerage and consumer real estate platform. Redfin competes for the same buyers and sellers in RPA's market with a digitally native model, lower commission structure, and direct consumer relationships — a key emerging threat to traditional independents.
- eXp Realty: Cloud-based brokerage with a low-overhead, agent-centric model that has aggressively recruited Seattle-area agents. Comparable on residential brokerage product but disruptive on cost structure, splitting economics more favorably with agents than traditional independents.
Others
- Zillow Group: Consumer-facing real estate platform and Zillow Offers operator. Not a direct brokerage competitor but a major ecosystem force shaping buyer/seller expectations, lead generation, and commission structure for traditional brokerages like RPA.
Direct peers
- Windermere Real Estate: The dominant regional brokerage in the Pacific Northwest, headquartered in Seattle. Windermere is the most direct comparable to RPA, operating a similar full-service residential brokerage and property management model across the same geography with comparable agent network scale.
- John L. Scott Real Estate: Pacific Northwest-based residential real estate brokerage with deep presence in the Seattle metro. Closely comparable to RPA in business model (full-service residential brokerage), regional focus, and scale, with similar agent-driven GTM motion.
- Coldwell Banker Bain: Major Seattle-based residential brokerage operating across the Greater Seattle and Eastside markets. Highly comparable to RPA in geography, service mix (residential brokerage plus management-adjacent services), and target customer segments.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Real Property Associates social profiles
Digital presenceReal Property Associates financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Real Property Associates leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Real Property Associates subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Real Property Associates funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Real Property Associates M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Real Property Associates
What does Real Property Associates do?
Real Property Associates is a full-service residential and commercial real estate brokerage plus property management company serving the Greater Seattle area since 1991. The company provides buying and selling consultations, MLS-integrated property search, listing syndication, DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit) consulting, and rental property management through a team of approximately 78 licensed agents and an affiliated platform (rentseattle.com).
Is Real Property Associates a public or private company?
Real Property Associates is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Real Property Associates founded?
Real Property Associates was founded in 1991. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Real Property Associates based?
Real Property Associates is headquartered in Wa Keeney, United States, in the North America region.
How does Real Property Associates make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Real Estate Brokerage Commissions are the primary driver. The others are property Management Services.
Who are Real Property Associates's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Compass, Sotheby's International Realty, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices and RE/MAX. Emerging players are Redfin and eXp Realty. Zillow Group is listed as an others. Direct peers are Windermere Real Estate, John L. Scott Real Estate and Coldwell Banker Bain.
Does Real Property Associates have an API?
No public API is recorded for Real Property Associates.
What industry is Real Property Associates in?
Real Property Associates's product category is Real Estate Brokerage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAJAAAA, Traditional Residential Brokerage (Existing Homes), with a secondary code of FSAEAJAA, Residential Real Estate Brokerage (Buy/Sell). Its NAICS code is 53121 and its SIC code is 6531.