Search Like An Agent!
Register for a FREE Listingbook Account

From the category archives:

About Real Estate

The video above gives a good overview of the business systems which are taught at Keller Williams Realty. The videos at the bottom of this article go into more detail on how to start building a team. If you are an agent in the St. Louis area and are considering changing brokerages, contact me to discuss how I can get you a free copy of the Millionaire Real Estate Agent book.

When I joined Keller Williams, I was positive that I would never want to hire an assistant or build a team. At the same time, I recognized that there have been times in the past when I was equally as positive about something, and then later changed my mind.

A perfect example is my insistence that I never wanted to represent sellers.

I was working at an exclusive buyer’s brokerage which served people who were relocating to St. Louis for a job.  I was sure that I would feel very uncomfortable trying to win the business of a seller…competing with agents and having to pitch my services. I was sure that I would have less control over the transaction since I knew how to help my clients find the best home to meet their needs and budget, but with a listing I simply would have to wait for a buyer to discover the house (how wrong I was!).

After 5 years of exhausting work and 24/7 work weeks, I finally decided that I had to make a change or I was going to have to get out of real estate. I simply couldn’t continue working myself to death.

So I took a deep breath, got some great advice from a trusted colleague, and moved my license. I left a company which only allowed me to work with buyers but provided me with all of the clients I could handle, to a full service brokerage where I had more control over my business and could start representing sellers, but I would also have to find my own clients (yes..I was going to have to pitch my services to people!).

My point is that we don’t always know where our path will lead.

A year later I realized it was time to change brokerages again. My independent brokerage was changing ownership and it simply wasn’t a good fit for me. This time, I wanted to move to a brokerage that met my current needs but also had the resources to help me if I decided I wanted to grow in an unanticipated direction.

I realized that all of my real estate training at my 1st two brokerages focused on teaching me how to work with buyers and sellers, how to price homes and negotiate deals. I was taught how to avoid getting sued and how to get a deal closed.

But no one had ever taught me anything about running a business. My brokerages didn’t talk about reigning in your expenses or how to hire an assistant. They didn’t help me develop a business plan, calculate how many leads I needed in order to hit my income goals or how to implement a solid accounting system.

I still haven’t gotten around to doing all of these things, and some of them I may never do. But I like knowing that I’m with a company that can guide me through Small Business 101 when I am ready to take those steps.

Take a look at the videos below to get a taste of how Keller Williams can help agents who want to treat their business like a business.

Millionaire Real Estate Moment: The Assistant Executive

Millionaire Real Estate Moment: The Three Key Hires

These videos just give you a snapshot of the types of things that Keller Williams can help you with as you learn to treat your real estate business as a small business.

Email This Post Email This Post    

{ 0 comments }

Most St. Louis residents haven’t heard of Keller Williams Realty.

In St. Louis, we are very loyal to our brands. We are careful and slow before switching to something new.

So how did a company who opened their doors just 4 years ago and closed their first real estate transaction on 4/20/06 become the #1 office in the St. Louis region?

(Yes, Keller Williams Realty St. Louis is the #1 office in the St. Louis region based on the number of closed sales & #2 in the region based on closed sales volume between 1/1/10-8/27/10. Keller Williams Realty International is also the #3 real estate company in North America and winner of the JD Power award for 3 yrs in a row for Highest Level of Home Buyer Satisfaction.)

Keller Williams Realty offers everything a real estate agent could want. For me, it boils down to 5 basic tenets:

  1. Business focus – treating each agent or team as a small business and providing the resources for that business to grow
  2. Education – everyone from new agents to seasoned veterans benefits from ongoing top-notch education held daily in the Market Center along with regional and national events
  3. Culture - a belief that it all boils down to always doing the right thing and an environment that really lives the mission statement of Building Careers Worth Having, Businesses Worth Owning and Lives Worth Living
  4. Building Wealth - a great compensation package in which every agent is at a 70-30 split with a reasonable cap, an agent leadership council which makes the financial decisions affecting agents and the ability to gain passive income through profit sharing which could provide a retirement income
  5. Opportunity for Growth – Keller Williams offers opportunities for agents to move into Market Center management, training, coaching and to even become investors in future offices

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be telling you more about Keller Williams and why an agent might want to consider Keller Williams if they are ready to take their career to the next level.

This video will give you an overview of how Keller Williams works and how it is different from other companies.

Be sure to subscribe by email or RSS so you don’t miss out on the upcoming videos giving you detailed information to see if Keller Williams is the right company for you.

Email This Post Email This Post    

{ 0 comments }

Will Non-Technical Real Estate Agents Disappear?

August 23, 2010

I seem to be part of a small group of real estate agents who can relate to both technical and non-technical colleagues. The fact that I am always looking for ways that technology can improve my business puts me in the minority of real estate agents who are often described as “techie agents.” I can [...]

Read the full article →

New Photograph Requirement for St. Louis Home Listings

August 17, 2010

It has been 10 years since the St. Louis MLS moved their listings to the current online system. At first, most of the listings didn’t have pictures. Before long, agents started adding a few pictures and gradually it became the norm for listings to have multiple pictures that show off the entire interior of the [...]

Read the full article →

Social Media Training for Real Estate Agents

August 10, 2010

Every real estate agent that isn’t living under a rock has heard that they should be using social media to build their business and promote their property listings. But most agents and most brokerages simply don’t know how to get started or how to use the tools effectively. Free Social Media Classes for St. Louis [...]

Read the full article →

How Can Home Buyers Find Demographic Information for an Area?

July 5, 2010

If you were moving to a new city and trying to decide where you wanted to live, you would have a lot of questions before you chose a neighborhood. The most common questions are: Where are the best (or good) schools? Where are homes in my price range? Where can I find a newer home? [...]

Read the full article →