Is Brown Harris Stevens Worth It? An Honest Review

Jessica Johansen's Photo
By Jessica Johansen Updated April 11, 2024

SHARE

Brown Harris Stevens Real Estate Review

Overall rating | Customer experience | Agent quality | Brand visibility and reach | Service value | Locations | Methodology

✍️ Why trust us: We strive to provide objective recommendations and advice. Learn more about how we research.
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens was founded in 1873, which makes it one of the oldest and most prestigious real estate brokerages in the U.S. The company has over 4,000 agents who operate in major cities in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Florida. The agents at Brown Harris Stevens have the second highest average sales price in the U.S, as well as one of the highest sales volumes per agent.

Let's dive into the company’s services and see if they’re a good fit for you.

Bottom line: Do we recommend Brown Harris Stevens?

Brown Harris Stevens is worth considering if you’re buying or selling a luxury home in one of their markets.

The agents at Brown Harris Stevens are some of the best in the industry. On average they have over 20 years of experience each. And they close around four multimillion-dollar transactions per year.

Brown Harris Stevens’ services include MLS listing, professional pricing and CMA, HD photography, and advanced marketing. The brokerage also has analysts and economists on staff who produce quarterly reports and market analyses. This information can help you determine the right time to buy or sell.

The company does have some negative reviews about its agents. Some reviewers described the agents as rude, unresponsive or bad at communicating. That’s why it’s a good idea to evaluate agents to find the right fit for you, and not just look at the brand. Never let a big name like Brown Harris Stevens replace a thorough interview.

🏡 Compare agents, save money! Try Clever’s free agent matching service. Choose from top local agents from the best brokerages, get built-in savings. Learn more.
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens: Our in-depth breakdown

Reputation and customer experience

📊 Our rating: 3.0/5.0

  • Some complaints about agents
  • No major red flags
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens has fewer public reviews and lower ratings than most brokerages of the same size. On Google alone, which has 42 reviews, Brown Harris Stevens has only a 3.7 rating. Most brokerages have at least a 4 on average on Google.

The negative reviews are mostly from past clients who had a poor experience with an agent. These reviewers described the agents as "rude" or "dismissive." Other reviews mentioned problems with viewing homes or connecting with their agent.

Customers often use third-party review sites to voice complaints rather than praise. We recommend taking complaints with a grain of salt. We'll help you look at the whole picture before picking a broker.

Brown Harris Stevens has an A+ rating on the Better Business Bureau (BBB). It has zero formal BBB complaints, but it also has zero BBB reviews.

Agent quality

📊 Our rating: 5.0/5.0

  • Agents with 20+ years of experience
  • Second highest sales volume in the U.S.
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens agents have more than double the industry median of eight years. According to the company’s website, its agents have an average of over 20 years of experience buying and selling homes. To verify this, we checked out the experience of the 38 Brown Harris Stevens agents on Realtor.com. The average was 18.9 years.

In 2021, agents at Brown Harris Stevens had the second highest average sale price in the U.S. — around $1.526 million per home. They also had one of the highest average sales volumes per agent, roughly $8.1 million. Most agents complete around 4.2 transactions per year. That’s far less than the industry average of 12. But the company’s agents are focusing on luxury homes with high sales prices.

The agents at Brown Harris Stevens are top notch, but they might not be the best fit for you, especially if you have an average home. We recommend evaluating agents individually, no matter which brokerage they represent. Interview agents, ask for sales numbers and references, and decide for yourself if they’re a good fit.

Brand reach and visibility

📊 Our rating: 5.0/5.0

  • Powerful online presence
  • 4,000+ agents in 8 markets
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens has excellent brand reach and online visibility. According to our research, the company gets over 47,700 site visits and over 8,400 Google searches every month. Those numbers are impressive for a real estate company with only 3,000 active listings.

Brown Harris Stevens also has a robust network of local real estate agents. The company has over 4,000 agents with a dense coverage of the eight markets where it does business. This coverage can be a major advantage for buyers and sellers because agents can potentially connect you with listings and buyers faster.

Service value

📊 Our rating: 5.0/5.0

  • Essential services
  • Marketing and analytics expertise
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens’ services seem to have great value. It offers a lot of special services all for an average full commission.

The company is a full-service brokerage, so you can expect all the essential services, including:

  • MLS listing and syndication across all major real estate sites
  • Listing on Brown Harris Stevens’ self-branded listing page
  • Industry-leading guidance on how to price your home
  • Marketing plan with social media promotion
  • Professional HD photography
  • Agent-led home showings
  • Help with negotiations and closing

Brown Harris Stevens is also fairly unique in that it has an on-staff chief economist and team of research professionals who analyze current and future market trends. And the company has an analytics team that tracks larger price movements in Brown Harris Stevens’ markets. These expert services can help you price your home competitively and decide when to sell.

Brown Harris Stevens agents will likely charge you full commission no matter what local competitive rates are. To give you an idea of those average real estate commission rates, here are the averages for the states Brown Harris Stevens operates in.

💰 Top agents, big savings:

Clever’s free service matches you with top local realtors from the best brokerages (like Brown Harris Stevens) but negotiates big savings.

Sellers list for just 1.5%. Buyers can get thousands in cash back after closing.

View agents

Additional info about Brown Harris Stevens

General contact info (corporate office)

📍 Address 445 Park Ave
New York, NY 10022-2606
☎️ Phone 212-906-9200
📱 Social media Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Show more

Brown Harris Stevens local offices and contact information

You can view all of its offices on the Brown Harris Stevens website. We've also listed the locations that get the most searches on Google, indicating they're probably popular or in a highly populated area.

Office location Phone number
East Hampton
27 Main Street
East Hampton, NY 11937
(631) 324-6400
Bridgehampton
2408 Main Street, P.O.Box. 683
Bridgehampton, NY 11932
(631) 537-2727
Sag Harbor
96 Main Street, P.O. Box 1606
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
(631) 725-2250
Southampton
31 Main Street
Southampton, NY 11968
(631) 287-4900
Westhampton Beach
70 Main Street
Westhampton Beach, NY 11978
(631) 288-5500
North Fork
13105 Main Road, P.O. Box 6
Mattituck, NY 11952
(631) 477-0551
Cocoanut Row
50 Cocoanut Row, Suite 104
Palm Beach, FL 33480
(561) 659-6400
Worth Avenue
353 Worth Avenue
Palm Beach, FL 33480
(561) 659-6400
Brooklyn Heights
129 Montague Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 875-1289
Park Slope, 100 7th
100 Seventh Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 230-5500
Park Slope, 160 7th
160 Seventh Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 878-1960
South Slope
1214 8th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11215
(718) 878-1888
Cobble Hill
166 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 613-2020
Bay Ridge
8324 4th Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11209
(718) 878-1880
Show more

Next step: start interviewing agents!

To ensure you find the best agent for you, we recommend interviewing at least two to three (ideally from different brokerages). We also recommend that you look past big brands and companies and evaluate agents on an individual basis. For guidance on how to interview and choose agents wisely, you can read our guide on how to choose a realtor.

When you’re ready to start finding agents, Clever can give you a headstart: our free agent-matching service will put you into contact with great agents in your area (and you might save some money in the process, too).

🚀 Ready to get started?

Sign up below to get matched with top-performing agents in your area! Compare options, choose the best fit, and save money.

  • Sellers get pre-negotiated 1.5% listing fees (avg. seller savings is $9,600.)
  • Buyers can get 0.5% cash back after closing ($2,000 on a $400,000 house)

Clever is 100% free with no obligation. Give it a try today!

View Agents Near You

Rating methodology

We evaluate brokerages based on four core criteria we think will help readers make informed decisions. We broke those criteria down into discrete metrics so we could make the score as objective as possible. Here’s a quick breakdown of that criteria and methodology:

Customer experience

Do most people who work with this brokerage have a generally positive experience? Are there any red flags?

What we looked at:

  • Average customer ratings across various third-party review sites, like Zillow, Realtor.com, and Google
  • The content of those reviews, via sentiment analysis tools and manual reading, to pull out key positive and negative themes and summarize key risks and benefits
  • The Better Business Bureau profile for formal complaints

Overall agent quality

How strong is the agent team? What are the chances of ending up with a solid realtor that will meet different needs, preferences, and availability?

What we looked at:

  • Total number of agents vs. offices to gauge how wide the selection is
  • Average experience of the entire team, based on public agent data on sites like Realtor.com and Zillow
  • Average annual transactions per agent, sourced from RealTrends or brokerage-provided data, compared with the industry average

Visibility and reach

How much "brand power" does this brokerage have? Does it increase awareness and get more eyes on your listings, more showings, or quicker offers?

What we looked at:

  • Social media presence across all major consumer-facing social platforms (Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram)
  • Online audience size through web traffic volume and monthly Google searches for the brand name
  • Marketing reach, like listings on all major MLSs and populator listing sites like Zillow and Realtor.com

Value and service quality

How does the brokerage compare with other conventional brokerages? How does it compare with the market rates for commission (~3% listing fees)? Are you getting too little, the right amount, or more service for the tentative fee?

What we looked at:

What we consider "full service" for a real estate brokerage:

  • Professional home valuation
  • Advice on how to stage your home
  • High-quality professional photography
  • Listing on a multiple listing service (MLS) and home-buying websites
  • Open house management
  • Negotiation
  • Assistance with paperwork

Authors & Editorial History

Our experts continually research, evaluate, and monitor real estate companies and industry trends. We update our articles when new information becomes available.

Better real estate agents at a better rate

Enter your zip code to see if Clever has a partner agent in your area
If you don't love your Clever partner agent, you can request to meet with another, or shake hands and go a different direction. We offer this because we're confident you're going to love working with a Clever Partner Agent.