From Idea to Innovation: The StackWrap Story in Real Estate Tech
Leverage Member Innovation Series: The Leverage community includes many forward-thinkers in the world of real estate. This week, we feature an innovation from member Craft & Bauer.
The innovative autonomy that comes with being an independent real estate team or brokerage can also present unique challenges, such as finding flexible tech solutions that make an agent’s day-to-day workflow more efficient and effective. Oftentimes, building proprietary tech solutions with all of the bells and whistles is cost-prohibitive for most.
That’s why Max Fitzgerald, CEO and Co-Founder of his independent brokerage Craft & Bauer Real Estate Co. decided to branch out into tech and create his own solution.
“During the early days of COVID, I had the idea to try and create an online ecosystem that allowed us to consolidate all of the tech, tools, and systems that we offered our agents,” said Fitzgerald. “Our agents needed the ability to log into one digital home base and find everything that our brokerage offered them, like their CRM, transaction management tools, marketing materials, task management, MLS links, and more, in one place.”
And that’s exactly how StackWrap started.
In 2020, Fitzgerald partnered with web development agency SQUARE M and a team of industry tech experts and started developing StackWrap for the internal Craft & Bauer team. After its implementation, their agents swiftly began using the technology while also offering suggestions to fine-tune it.
After several years of internal use and product development, a casual dinner conversation sparked the idea to make StackWrap widely available to other brokerages, real estate teams, and mortgage companies. The platform launched in January 2024, and the team is excited by its momentum.
“StackWrap has become more than a knowledge base; it’s a fully dynamic management tool for leaders and agents to maximize their efficiency through the simple organization of their internal tech stack while also having the ability to easily sync with other third-party tools their team or brokerage may be using. At its core, StackWrap is a cost-effective solution that allows other real estate professionals to create a proprietary online ecosystem for their organization,” said Fitzgerald.
StackWrap is built with customization in mind, allowing admins to seamlessly integrate their current tools and design their home page with drag-and-drop functionality. With varying layers of access, admins can specify user permissions and easily toggle between users to oversee their teams. In addition, broker-owners or team leaders can see their team members’ outstanding tasks, sales pipeline, and other essential information crucial to driving success.
Fitzgerald also knows that onboarding new agents is a significant pain point for most brokerages, so StackWrap features an internal onboarding tool that automates the process.
“We designed StackWrap to specifically meet the needs of independent brokerages and teams. We are giving a competitive advantage to those with an entrepreneurial spirit, and going toe-to-toe with the big box brokerages from a tech perspective,” Fitzgerald shared. “StackWrap has flexible pricing options because we understand that these independent organizations have to be mindful of their resources.”
StackWrap can be white-labeled to incorporate a team’s logo and branding, making it a turnkey, cost-effective solution.
"Stackwrap has been an absolute game-changer for our team at Frontgate Real Estate," said Jeff Biebuyck, Co-Founder of Frontgate Real Estate. "As a cofounder, I can confidently say that this product has transformed the way we operate by providing us with a crucible dashboard that serves as the single source of truth. It seamlessly integrates all the tools and resources currently offered in the real estate space into one centralized platform. With Stackwrap, our team and staff can easily keep everything front and center, resulting in increased productivity and operational excellence for our agents and teams. This innovative solution has truly revolutionized our workflow and I highly recommend it to any real estate professionals and teams looking to streamline their operations."
Succeeding in the real estate industry demands an ambitious, visionary approach, and the tech world is no different. Fitzgerald, SQUARE M, and the StackWrap team have found an innovative opportunity at the intersection of both industries, signaling newfound possibilities for brokerages and teams.
About Leverage Global Partners
Leverage is a community of growth-oriented independent and independently-minded agents, teams and brokerages who recognize the value in their own brand while acknowledging the benefits of a worldwide network. Through a combination of curated global advertising, public/media relations, social media and networking, Leverage helps its members create diversified marketing programs for their listings and themselves. For more than a decade, members have entrusted Leverage to promote more than $170 Billion in listings.
This results in winning more business through earning the trust of sellers. For more information, visit http://www.leveragere.com/the-network.
