KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY - Key Persons
Bill Hurme joined Keller Williams Realty in November 2013 with more than 40 years of experience in the real estate industry. Much of this time was spent carving out a unique business for himself through strong relationships with builders and developers in the greater Seattle area.
Hurme's business focused on new construction and he wondered if the training opportunities he was seeking would be geared toward agents with a more diversified business. "Recruit-Select was fantastic!" said Hurme.
In her first month with Keller Williams, Caroline Huo of the Peninsula Estates market center is already feeling more empowered and has renewed excitement for her career.
Huo joined Keller Williams from Coldwell Banker because she wanted more tools to take her business to the next level. "Keller Williams teaches agents how to run their real estate business like a business," she said.
When it comes to luxury properties in the Destin, Fla. area, the go-to person is Cindy Cole. Since she began selling real estate in 2009, she has carefully built the Cindy Cole Fine Homes brand, becoming the number-one seller of Gulf-front property on Florida's Emerald Coast.
As her business grew, she realized she needed more support in systems and technology, and she found what she was looking for with Keller Williams Realty. In March 2015, she joined the Destin (Fla.) market center.
With a 12-month total closed volume of $33.6 million, Cindy Shetterly is the #3 agent in the Northern Kentucky MLS. "When I began focusing on building a team, I quickly realized that I had no idea how to assemble the right team," Shetterly says. "I also wanted to make sure I was the best team leader I could be. Keller Williams Realty provided me all the tools I needed."
From the models and systems to the education to KW MAPS Coaching, Shetterly feels that Keller Williams has given her comprehensive direction and support. "I believe that as a team leader it's an obligation to be enrolled in KW MAPS Coaching because your team is relying on you," she adds.
Being restricted by an office remodel that dictated how many filling cabinets he could have motivated Dave Clark to make a change for his team. Clark knew the allotted configuration wasn't going to work for his team, so he started looking for a new company.
"I interviewed a few places and most seemed to be that same ‘old-school' traditional approach. They would all give us an office and take a large chunk of our profits," he says.
Mega agent David Hoffman of the Lake Norman - Cornelius market center (N.C.) didn't get his start in real estate. In fact, before he became a successful top-producing agent, Hoffman was the go-to guy if you wanted to know about the "jock tax" - the practice by some tax authorities of levying state and local taxes against traveling professionals, especially professional athletes. Then, one day, Hoffman made a life-changing decision to follow his heart. This decision led him to real estate and ultimately to Keller Williams and Mega Agent Expansion.
Dr. Tom Galovic and Troy Dixon knew they wanted to form a real estate group. The question was where.
One of the most respected real estate professionals in his market, Gary Mercer, Sr., has been dedicated to his clients for more than 25 years. But not only is Mercer a great businessman, he is a proud father who loves being in business with his children.
"As a father, one of the greatest joys is seeing your children's career just take off. It is so much fun to see them succeed," Mercer said about his son, Gary Mercer, Jr., and daughter, Sharra Mercer, both members of The Mercer Group.
The instructor, Georgia Alpizar was very knowledgeable and he enjoyed her direct approach while teaching. Most important, he was able to apply the lessons and models to his business despite the fact that he does not practice traditional resale.
Jeffrey Quintin grew up in Ocean City, N.J., and dove immediately into real estate after high school. After 23 years as a successful real estate agent, Quintin made the move from Berkshire Hathaway to Keller Williams Realty in January 2016. "Let's put it this way," he says. "I've been dating Keller Williams for six to seven years now; I just now married her."
Quintin, whose closed volume for 2015 was $55 million, chose Keller Williams because the company's models and systems are in alignment with his goals to succeed. "Keller Williams offers outstanding support and a multitude of tools to grow my team to the 7th Level," he says. "This was not a possibility at my previous brokerage; it's not a possibility anywhere but Keller Williams."
"You get out what you put in. I've only been with Keller Williams since January 2016 and have already completed BOLD and attended Family Reunion and Mega Camp."
Quintin enrolled in BOLD within the first few weeks of coming aboard. "BOLD allowed me to leverage the education and classes offered and to have a better mindset," he says.
"Keller Williams also offers killer technology," he adds. "And the ability to invest in other offices and market centers is brilliant."
Quintin's mission of assisting clients in reaching their real estate goals while making a positive difference in their lives is right in line with the Keller Williams culture, and he is ready to make even more dreams come true in 2016.
"We were invited to Family Reunion, and we got more tools in one hour than we did in the past 15 years," Jennifer said. "Being able to talk to mega agents who are in the same position as we are and have them add to the process and offer their insights into what they did to get their business where it is today was amazing," Kurt added.
Brothers Chris and Joe Ferzoco are no strangers to Keller Williams Realty. Frequently networking with real estate agents across North America, they quickly learned just how much of a team-friendly company Keller Williams is. But that wasn't the only reason they joined the company.
"Keller Williams is a modern company with great technology and fresh energy," Joe said. "What attracted us to Keller Williams is that it is a forward thinking company," Chris added. "Being with a company that is on top of what is going on in today's world with technology is so important."
Job Titles:
- Keller Williams Associate
Having a team is nothing new to Amy Pomerantz, a longtime star in the Durham, North Carolina real estate market. She had used the team approach to selling real estate since 1991, but always felt like she was "swimming upstream," because most other people worked solo and her previous company wasn't structured to accommodate teams.
In 2014, Keller Williams associate Joe Mitchell invited her to a KWRI class run by Kent Temple on how to run an effective team. "It was the information I'd been looking for over the past 21 years," Pomerantz says. The class covered team structure, incentivizing team members, and personality profiles-all revelations for Pomerantz. Several agents had been talking to her about joining Keller Williams for years, and the class finally convinced her to come onboard in October 2014.
Zimmerman and Haight came to Keller Williams from @properties, where their recent 12-month closed volume was $95 million with 225 units.
Job Titles:
- Keller Williams Associate
Kelly Hager is no stranger to Keller Williams. Previously with the company in 2007, she left to join RE/MAX, but then returned to KW in 2016. "I wasn't learning at RE/MAX," Hager says. "If I hadn't left Keller Williams, I wouldn't have realized all that I was missing. The training and development at Keller Williams is better than anything available in corporate America."
Hager has taken several courses at the Keller Williams Realty International Learning Center in Austin, Texas, and every time she does, she says she learns something new. "I've even taken the same course more than once. It's a different experience each time."
Kevin Larose had been working in the real estate market of his Port Credit community in Toronto, Ontario, for more than 13 years with RE/MAX. Two colleagues, John Furber, operating principal of Keller Williams Realty Solutions, and Mike Clarke, a sales representative at Keller Williams Advantage Realty shared Keller Williams with him and expressed interest in having Larose join KW.
Larose had read The Millionaire Real Estate Agent by Gary Keller and was impressed with its approach to building teams. Still, Larose had a hard time leaving RE/MAX out of loyalty, which he values greatly. So, he approached Furber for a frank discussion and was then invited to a 10-person mastermind group with Gary Keller.
Job Titles:
- ALC Member and Quantum Leap Instructor
Ten years into her successful real estate career, Pennie Carroll finally found a business model that mirrored her goals. She was given a copy of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent (MREA). She loved it, but there wasn't a market center in her area. When, one did open, she seized the opportunity.
Carroll was anxious to see what a company switch would do for her reputation and her business. Keller Williams was still building market share in her area and not as well-known as other companies. "This was a concern that never became a reality," she said.
Licensed since 1996, Roni Benge-Adamson brings invaluable experience and expertise as a member of one of Southern Arizona's top-producing teams.
Benge-Adamson joined Keller Williams Realty in 2013 and has found that the team-building tools, the technology and the willingness of the agents in the office to help her succeed have been critical to helping her grow her business.
Stephanie Vitacco of the Encino - Sherman Oaks (Calif.) market center was consistently in the top 10 of Coldwell Banker's agents in the nation. She has been recognized by Los Angeles Magazine, the San Fernando Valley Business Journal, and consistently appears on the REAL Trends' "The Thousand". With more than 25 years of experience in the field, when it was time to make a change, she knew all the players and had some ideas about where she wanted to go.
"I get tremendous support from my OP and TL. They've been very supportive in allowing my current team to thrive in this environment. Whatever I need, they're there for me."
"I wanted to be with a national company that was entrepreneurial in spirit. I wanted to be with a company that supported their agents, had great technology and had a strong infrastructure as far as education and team building," she said.
Vitacco moved her six-person team to Keller Williams in January 2014. Since then, she says the support she has found from her market center has been invaluable, especially in helping her learn and implement the KW systems that will help her grow her business.
Todd Paxton has enjoyed considerable success as a real estate broker and has been a top real estate agent in Southern Indiana for 10 years.
He was at the top of his market. He was happy as an investment partner in an independent company that had recently merged with ERA. He didn't want to be near the top - he wanted to be the best. After attending Mega Camp, he knew where he needed to be to get the education he sought. He knew he needed Keller Williams Realty.
Paxton's mindset was aligned with Keller Williams long before he joined. He had been watching the company grow in his market and started learning more about it. Then he went to Mega Camp. "My friend had joined Keller Williams a few years earlier, and he told me, ‘You are an education junkie - Keller Williams is perfect for you!'" Paxton couldn't agree more.
Since joining Keller Williams in 2013, Paxton has stocked up on training - attending Mega Camp again and again and attending Recruit-Select in Austin, Texas. He is also participating in trainings offered in his market center.
Recently, Paxton got on the other side of the instructor's desk and began teaching regional classes. "Eventually, I want to transition into education and training," Paxton said. Now that he's part of the #1 training organization in the world, Paxton is definitely in the right spot to achieve that goal.