The Jorgenson Group, a Round Rock, Texas–based real estate team led by founder Kasey Jorgenson, has officially launched Jorgenson Real Estate as an independent brokerage — ending a 16-year run operating within Keller Williams.
The move became public this week and marks a new chapter for a team that closed just over $66 million in sales volume across 144 transactions in 2024.
“This was not a relationship-driven decision — it was an economics and operations decision,” Jorgenson said. “We’ve essentially been operating like a brokerage for years. Becoming independent allows us to move faster, customize our value proposition and support agents the way they actually want to work today.”
Last year’s team ranking results were good enough for a No. 4 volume ranking in the Austin, Texas, market, according to RealTrends Verified.
From military service to real estate leadership
Jorgenson’s path to real estate began during a pivotal moment in his life and the economy.
In 2009, while serving in the military and deployed during the Great Recession, he decided to transition into civilian life and explore a new career.
“I was in Southern California, and so I separated from the military and walked into our local Keller Williams office,” he said. “There was a husband and wife team, and I basically said, ‘Hey, I want to learn the industry,’” he said. “I offered to work for free as an intern and said I was planning on moving to Texas in about nine months — and so for just under a year, I interned for them and did everything I could possibly do.”
After moving to Texas, Jorgenson became licensed within the state in 2010 and began building what would become the Jorgenson Group within Keller Williams.
Over the next decade and a half, the team grew steadily — developing its own systems and processes while remaining affiliated with the national franchise.
Why go independent now?
The decision to leave Keller Williams was not abrupt, Jorgenson said — adding that the past year was spent evaluating the industry and studying where real estate is headed amid rapid technological change.
“[The past year involved] trying to remove any of the bias that we had, and to look at the industry as a whole, [as well as] look at what’s happening with Compass and their acquisition, and with the battle between them and Zillow,” he said.
Jorgenson said the pace of innovation — particularly around artificial intelligence (AI) and technology integration — was a major factor in starting his new brokerage.
Large brokerages, he said, often struggle to implement change quickly enough to stay ahead.
“There’s all these new AI tools that are coming out,” said Jorgenson. “With the speed that everything seems to be happening, we looked at it and didn’t feel like big companies could make fast implementation on things to keep up with what’s happening. I don’t think most large companies can do it.”
Benefits and hurdles of the transition
While independence offers flexibility, the shift from a team to a brokerage came with both advantages and challenges.
Financially, Jorgenson said the numbers worked in the firm’s favor — from insurance costs to eliminating franchise-related fees. Culturally, the move energized agents who wanted to be part of something new.
“I would say some of the easier parts have been the financials are a lot more favorable when you break down the cost of an (errors and omissions) policy and things like that,” he said. “There’s been a lot of money-saving decisions that end up benefiting us in a good way.”
The harder part, he said, was building compliance and operational systems that had previously been handled by a larger brokerage. The transition required about 45 days of intensive work and process-building.
“We didn’t know what we didn’t know, and so we learned as we were going through it,” Jorgenson said. “We had to stay organized and chip away at the to-do list for that. There’s been more to-do lists and processes and all the small tweaks that we have to make — working long hours to make those adjustments.”
Advice for peers, market outlook
For other team leaders considering a similar move, Jorgenson emphasized the importance of understanding dependencies and seeking perspectives beyond one brokerage’s ecosystem.
“I would look at what systems are dependent on whatever brokerage that they’re with first, and figure out if there’s a way to recreate them,” he said. “I would encourage people to go to broker agnostic events. I love Jeff Glover and Glover University. Find broker agnostic places that that are interviewing and talking to a lot of different people and getting the wide perspective.”
Looking ahead, Jorgenson remains cautiously optimistic about the central Texas market, which includes Round Rock and areas north of Austin.
Inventory levels suggest balance, but buyer behavior tells a more cautious story.
“I think that 2026 is going to be slow and steady, with an optimistic outlook and an uptick at the end of the year, Q3 and Q4, hopefully,” he said. “If rates continue to inch down, it’ll help things move in that direction.”
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