HomeSmart NEXT Adds Dane Briggs: What Real Estate Agents Should Do Now

HomeSmart NEXT Adds Dane Briggs: What Real Estate Agents Should Do Now

HomeSmart NEXT founder Phil Sexton has partnered with Arizona real estate veteran Dane Briggs in a leadership role focused on expanding the team, including agent workflows and AI integrations.

That is the news. The more useful question for agents is whether this changes anything about the way you should run your business today.

For most agents, the answer is no—at least not yet. The announcement describes a direction, not a released product with published pricing, documented integrations, or measurable performance results. But the partnership is worth watching because it combines two capabilities that rarely sit in the same seat: brokerage and operations experience, plus hands-on proptech and technology strategy.

What is HomeSmart NEXT trying to build?

According to the announcement, NEXT is designed around the idea that individual agents should remain the “star” of their own business. That positions it differently from a traditional real estate team, where the team’s brand, lead distribution, and central processes often take priority.

Sexton says the team is intended for agents who want to focus on selling while avoiding the burden of AI implementation and marketing ROI decisions.

Briggs brings more than two decades of industry experience, including work as a designated broker, title and escrow executive, referral brokerage founder, Homie expansion leader, educator, and advisor. He currently holds a strategic role with The Cromford Report and teaches statewide market update classes.

That background matters because real estate AI projects often fail for operational reasons. A chatbot can be impressive in a demo and still be useless if it does not fit brokerage compliance, transaction workflows, follow-up habits, or the agent’s actual budget.

Briggs has joined as a business partner in a leadership role, where HomeSmart says he will support the team’s advancement and the development of agent-focused workflows and AI integrations. The company has not published a more specific title or detailed day-to-day responsibilities.

How does NEXT compare with the alternatives?

The announcement does not identify a specific AI product or a complete software package. For now, agents should think of NEXT as a team and operating model under development—not as a direct replacement for a CRM, marketing platform, or transaction management system.

| Option | What it generally provides | Cost picture | Main trade-off | |---|---|---:|---| | HomeSmart NEXT | Team structure, agent support, and planned workflows and AI integrations | Pricing and agent fees not announced | Potentially simpler operations, but the product and economics are still unclear | | Traditional real estate team | Leads, support staff, scripts, systems, and a team brand | Varies widely by split, fees, and lead arrangements | More established processes, but less individual-agent control may be available | | DIY AI and software stack | Separate CRM, content, automation, transaction, and AI tools | Often dozens to several hundred dollars per month before labor | Maximum control, but the agent owns setup, integration, training, and troubleshooting |

The comparison is important. NEXT may eventually be attractive because it packages implementation and support around the agent. But “AI integrations” can mean anything from automated email drafting to deeper CRM, lead-routing, reporting, and transaction workflows. The announcement does not say which systems will be supported, what data will be shared, or whether agents can use existing tools.

There is also no announced monthly price, brokerage split, technology fee, onboarding charge, or marketing fee.

What could this mean for your business?

If NEXT executes well, the value will probably come from reducing the number of disconnected decisions an agent has to make.

A solo agent may currently be paying separately for:

• A CRM or lead-management platform
• AI writing or meeting-summary software
• Email and text automation
• Listing and social media content tools
• Transaction coordination
• Reporting and marketing attribution

Even modest subscriptions can add up. A practical DIY stack might cost roughly $100 to $500 per month before considering setup time, staff labor, advertising, and integration work. That is a planning range, not a quote for any specific tool. Actual costs vary substantially by vendor and plan.

A team that handles implementation could justify its cost if it helps an agent respond faster, follow up consistently, and identify which marketing activities produce appointments. It would not justify its cost merely by adding AI language to an existing service package.

The business case should therefore be measured against three numbers:

1. How much you currently spend on software and outsourced support.
2. How many hours you spend maintaining those systems.
3. Whether the resulting workflows create appointments, signed clients, or closed transactions.

If a proposed NEXT package cannot explain those inputs and outputs, treat the AI language as a promise rather than a financial benefit.

Who should pay attention?

Agents who should watch this development include:

• Independent agents tired of stitching together multiple software subscriptions.
• Small teams without an operations manager or technology lead.
• Agents who want marketing automation but do not have time to test tools.
• Brokerage leaders evaluating agent-centric alternatives to traditional team structures.
• Arizona agents who already know Briggs’ education and market-workflow approach.

For these agents, the next useful evidence will be concrete: a product demonstration, a supported-tools list, onboarding details, privacy terms, pricing, and examples of workflows used in live transactions.

Agents who already have a profitable CRM, reliable follow-up process, and a capable operations assistant can probably ignore the announcement for now. Switching structures creates its own costs, including migration, retraining, contract review, and possible disruption to lead handling.

Questions to ask before joining

If NEXT begins recruiting agents, ask for written answers to these questions:

• What exactly is included in the technology package?
• Which CRM, transaction, marketing, and communication systems are supported?
• Is AI optional, and can agents opt out of data-sharing or automated communications?
• Who owns the agent’s contacts, leads, content, and workflow data?
• What human support is included?
• Are there setup, monthly, transaction, marketing, or team fees?
• How is marketing ROI calculated?
• Can an agent leave and export their data?
• Which AI features are live today rather than planned?

Those questions are more valuable than asking whether the company is “AI-powered.” Most brokerages and teams can make that claim. The differentiator is whether the system reliably saves time or creates revenue without creating compliance and oversight problems.

The practical verdict

Dane Briggs joining Phil Sexton is a notable leadership move, especially because it brings brokerage, education, operations, and proptech experience into one initiative. It could produce a more useful agent-focused model than another generic AI add-on.

But there is no action item for most agents yet. Do not change brokerages, cancel software, or rebuild your business around an announcement. Instead, benchmark your current monthly technology cost, follow-up speed, lead conversion, and marketing workload. Then compare those numbers with NEXT when its offer becomes specific.

HomeSmart NEXT

Skip this if: you already have profitable systems, strong operational support, and clear visibility into your marketing ROI. Until NEXT publishes its actual economics and integrations, curiosity is reasonable—but switching would be premature.