Who do you hire...agent or company?

Often times when you're on the inside of something, you can miss what the outside perspective is. The old can't see the forest through the trees analogy. A colleague of mine mentioned that the perception of Keller Williams Real Estate here in Gig Harbor is that we're a new company, a little start-up, kind of a mom and pop. I want to share the following information not to toot our horn, but simply to introduce many Gig Harbor home buyers and sellers to our great company, maybe for the first time.

Keller Williams was formed in the early 1980's in Austin, TX, by Gary Keller and Joe Williams. They wanted to form a new kind of real estate company that was run by the agents in a manner that they (the local real estate experts) felt would best serve the needs of their clients. Keller Williams has been the fastest growing residential real estate company in North America for the past 6 years, and is currently the 3rd largest real estate company in the United States (source: RealTrends).

Keller Williams passed Re/Max for the #3 spot in the nation. While we lost about 7% of our total agent count in the downturn of ‘08, Re/Max saw their numbers drop nearly 20%, moving us into the 3rd spot in agent count. Although we've dropped in agent count, Keller Williams Gig Harbor has seen an increase in the number of agents working in the office as we continue to find ways to assist our agents during the tough times.

Real Trends also discovered that Keller Williams was the only franchise in America that experienced growth in the total number of transactions, total number of offices, and number of agents per office in 2008 (through May ‘08). All other national franchises went backwards.

Keep in mind that these numbers don't include local companies such as Windermere and John L Scott, they are only national franchises. One great advantage to you when it comes to national companies is that we have a great referral network for folks moving in to Gig Harbor from out of state. In terms of local listing inventory, Keller Williams currently sits 4th behind Windermere, John L Scott, and Coldwell Banker. For ‘09, in terms of listing volume, Keller Williams is 2nd behind Windermere.

When considering things from a national perspective, however, it's interesting to note that KW.com receives more than 100,000 more visitors monthly than either Windermere or John L Scott, and we're the only one that has seen an increase in web traffic over the past year. That probably has something to do with the fact that KW.com is the only major real estate website that gives you a comparative home valuation tool that allows you to compare your home's value on Zillow and Cyber Homes, and we have a free foreclosure list right on our homepage.

So what's the bottom line? I believe that all of the local real estate companies in Gig Harbor have some fantastic agents that call them home. There are folks in each office that I'd love to work with. Each company has their own unique value to their agents and their clients. Personally, I believe that Keller Williams has proven that through their agent-centric model that we are the office that gives more value to their agents than any other, thus giving us more tools to benefit our clients. Really, though, real estate is a people business, and it's the person whom you're hiring, not the company. Our huge national presence and top-rated online presence can give you an edge in terms of finding buyers for your home, but the person you hire needs to be someone whom you trust, get along with, and respect. I believe you can find that person at any office in Gig Harbor. I'd encourage you to give me a call and see if I may be that person!