Scott Shields

Metro Brokers TV: Welcome to Metro Brokers TV. We are up here at the Habitat for Humanity project in Arvada, Colorado. This is the 2009 project that Metro Brokers is working on and we are with another great volunteer from Metro Brokers Stacey Alyk and welcome Stacey.

Stacey Alyk: Hi. Thank you very much. Good to be here.

Metro Brokers TV: So, it looks like you have been busy on the project.

Stacey Alyk: I have. We have been working on the front it, doing the siding and that yellow ladder has been my home for the last two hours.

Metro Brokers TV: Great. So you are with Metro Brokers. What's your company's name?

Stacey Alyk: I am with Son And SEA Realty in Broomfield.

Metro Brokers TV: And that is your company, you are the owner?

Stacey Alyk: I am. Yes, I am.

Metro Brokers TV: Any associates with you there?

Stacey Alyk: I don't have any; I have one assistant, Debbie Morton[Phonetic], she is awesome.

Metro Brokers TV: Oh, great. So, you have been working on the siding then. Have you been involved in Habitat for Humanity projects before?

Stacey Alyk: This is the first Habitat. I have done other volunteer projects, but the first one with Habitat for Humanity and I just think it's a great cause. So, I was really privileged to be here with Metro Brokers.

Metro Brokers TV: So, did you pick up any skills today that can come in useful?

Stacey Alyk: I have learned a lot about the saw and measuring three times and cutting twice, but it's worked out pretty well.

Metro Brokers TV: It's measure twice, cut once?

Stacey Alyk: Yeah, it's three... it's three times, definitely.

Metro Brokers TV: Great. Well, Metro Brokers really counts on and depends on volunteers like you for the efforts that we put back in the community. So, we appreciate you Stacey.

Stacey Alyk: Thanks. It has been a lot of fun and I am glad to be here.

Metro Brokers TV: Great.

Metro Brokers TV: Welcome to Metro Brokers TV. We are at the Habitat for Humanity project up here in Arvada, Colorado. We are with another one of the great volunteers out of Metro Brokers, Anthony Rael and welcome Anthony.

Anthony Rael: Nice to see you Mark.

Metro Brokers TV: I recall interviewing you last year at this project.

Anthony Rael: That is correct. We were out in Commerce City last year.

Metro Brokers TV: So, you are like a veteran and I recall that you said you had done at prior projects to Commerce City, right?

Anthony Rael: That's right. This is my third Habitat project for Metro Brokers and as long as you guys have space for me to come, I will be here every year.

Metro Brokers TV: Well, it's great volunteers like you that makes Metro Brokers what it is. What kind of projects were you working on today? What were you specializing in?

Anthony Rael: Well, mostly just working on some interior work, putting up some little clips so that the dry wallers can have something solid to screw into.

Metro Brokers TV: Oh, little plastic clips, I noticed them. That seems different.

Anthony Rael: It is different and I am not familiar with it, but I am just following instructions. I got my marching orders and I do what I was told.

Metro Brokers TV: [laughs] Well, Anthony, you know, it's people like you that make projects like this work just from talking to the Habitat people, everything they have labor wise is a 100% volunteer work to build these houses. So, appreciate you being here and being involved with Metro Brokers.

Anthony Rael: Thank you very much Mark and as I was telling somebody else from Metro Brokers, I encourage any other Metro Broker to come along and do this project in future years and encourage your children and your high schoolers and whatever to get involved as long as you are 16 and over, they can use the help everyday. So, come out here and help out.

Metro Brokers TV: Yeah, literally. It's not like you have to spend a week here. You just spend a day.

Anthony Rael: Exactly.

Metro Brokers TV: Great. Well, thank you Anthony.

Anthony Rael: All right.

Metro Brokers TV: Hi. I am Amy Chase. Welcome to Metro Brokers TV. I am here today with Justin Juarez, Justin, great office.

Justin Juarez: Thank you so much Amy.

Metro Brokers TV: Tell me a little bit about it. Where are you located and how long have you been here?

Justin Juarez: Well, we are a new office located in the East Highland area. We are just west of the Diamond Hill Business Center. We have been here since February of 2009 and we are very excited about our location and this energy we are creating here.

Metro Brokers TV: Terrific. Justin, tell me a little bit about your background. How long have you been in real estate and are you specializing in any one particular area?

Justin Juarez: I have been in real estate for about nine years now. So, during that time I have seen lots of different markets. Originally when I got in, I started specializing in first time home buyers, then I started working with my sphere in my second and third homes and as the times changed, so did my business and now I am pretty much focusing with investors and we are adapting to today's real estate market.

Metro Brokers TV: Terrific and as we mentioned, this is a new space for you, a little bit different than what you are used to working in. Tell me why you came to a space like this, what was attractive about it for you?

Justin Juarez: Well, you know, Amy, I worked in different offices, lots of cubes, bullpens, the whole nine, and when we opened this office, we wanted to kind of create something that was going to be representative of today's agents. Most agents are very mobile and it gives them the freedom to kind of create their own business model, but still gives them the professional atmosphere if they need to meet with a client or you know have the resources and tools to be successful in real estate.

Metro Brokers TV: And how are you attracting new agents to this space with this changing business model, you know, off site agents, how is that working out for you and what are you doing to attract new agents?

Justin Juarez: You know, we have had great success. My biggest thing is that I am using Internet marketing, CraigsList, e-flyer marketing, and then also just word of mouth; as with anything, the best way to get it to the masses is through the masses. So, my agents have been great and other associates out of my office have been spreading the word for us as well.

Metro Brokers TV: Terrific and tell me two reasons why have you stayed with Metro Brokers, what works for you and what do you like about Metro Brokers?

Justin Juarez: You know that's a great question Amy and to be honest with you, I got about three on the top of my mind; #1, flexibility. Metro Brokers allows me to create my business model that works effectively for me and allows me to operate with a big name brand recognition and also the corporate support is unmatched.

Metro Brokers TV: Terrific. Well, Justin, thanks so much for taking the time to work with us today and good luck.

Justin Juarez: Thank you very much Amy, have a great day.

Metro Brokers TV: Yeah, you too, thanks

New Offfice Owner Brad Evans operates Denver Core

Metro BrokersTV: Hi. I am Amy Chase with Metro Brokers and I am here today with Brad Evans, managing broker and owner of Metro Brokers Denver CORE. Brad, welcome.

Brad Evans: Hi, how are you today?

Metro BrokersTV: Good. Thanks. Thanks for joining me. So, tell me a little bit about your real estate background.

Brad Evans: Real estate background, this is my sixth year in business. We just started this Metro Brokers in January this year. So, before that I had been at Keller Williams, I had been a top performing agent there for five years and just really started[Phonetic] the need to have my own office.

Metro BrokersTV: Terrific. So, you were at Keller Williams first. Tell me a little bit about your experience at Keller and how it varies at Metro Brokers.

Brad Evans: I think Keller Williams was a great launch pad for my practice as a Realtor®. It really kind of gave me the tools to start and now as a more mature agent, I think it started becoming a hindrance more than it was a help.

Metro BrokersTV: Great. So, you have been with Metro how long now?

Brad Evans: January 1st this year, 2009.

Metro BrokersTV: Terrific and tell me a little bit about your business model and how Metro Brokers facilitates you working your own model?

Brad Evans: Our own model is... we are downtown Denver Real Estate agencies. So, we kind of focus mostly on downtown Denver and the kind of core Denver real estate and the Denver neighborhoods around it. So, our desire was to be that kind of more urban hit agency that we couldn't get Keller Williams to do.

Metro BrokersTV: The brand, name, recognition was also important to you changing... or coming from someone like Keller Williams where you have got that brand recognition continuing on with Metro Brokers was also important.

Brad Evans: Yeah, I think you know Keller and then now with Metro, there is a bigger network that we could be part of and I think that just kind of... that was something that was attractive to us. We didn't want to just be Joe's Real Estate Company. We really wanted to be part of a bigger whole and then we saw that as an opportunity to network with all the other Metro Brokers even in the state where we were getting referrals from Longmont and Colorado Springs and Grand Junction. So, it's a great tool to use as a network tool and that's probably a big part of our business.

Metro BrokersTV: Great and obviously you are a top producer, you are a very successful agent. Tell me a little bit about some of your awards and what do you attribute your success to?

Brad Evans: You know the awards, those are cool things, but I think it's the happy clients that we work with. I think... and that's the reward to me more than it is like you know being Rookie of the Year or top G.C.I.(Gross Commission Income), the Keller Williams game[Phonetic], that's the rewards that we have is the happy clients.

Metro BrokersTV: Absolutely. Great answer. Is there anything that you would like to share with our viewers about Metro Brokers before we part ways?

Brad Evans: Oh, if you are thinking of coming in Metro Brokers, call me. I mean we are happy to talk to you about why we are here. I think that was the openness that we felt at Metro Brokers that no other office kind of ownership tools that were out there really offered.

Metro BrokersTV: Definitely. Brad, thanks so much for your time and welcome to Metro Brokers.

Brad Evans: Great. Thanks. Appreciate it. Have a great day.

Metro BrokersTV: Thank you.

Metro Brokers TV: Hi. I am Amy Chase and welcome to Metro Brokers TV. I am here today with Mike Hixon of Hixon and Associates. Mike is out of the southeast suburban Metro Brokers office. Mike welcome.

Mike Hixon: Thank you.

Metro Brokers TV: Thanks for coming today.

Mike Hixon: You are welcome.

Metro Brokers TV: And I would like to hear a little bit about you, how long have you been in the business and how long have you been with Metro Brokers.

Mike Hixon: I got my real estate license in 1985 and I joined Metro Brokers in January of 2003.

Metro Brokers TV: Okay. So, you have been around to see some of these trends and some of these changes within our market.

Mike Hixon: A couple.

Metro Brokers TV: A couple, just a few, eh?

Mike Hixon: Just a couple.

Metro Brokers TV: All right and I know that you are active within Metro Brokers. You are currently serving on our membership and communications committees. Okay. Well, one of the things that I think is unique about Metro Brokers is that our membership is growing despite a down-turned[Phonetic] market. Can you tell us a little bit about what you are seeing and what your experience with that is on membership?

Mike Hixon: Yeah, it is growing. Last year we had several offices open up that in a downturn[Phonetic] market is pretty impressive. I mean there is a lot of folks are going the other way. We are actually opening up several offices or did open up several offices and in our last two membership orientation there were well over 30% of RE/MAX brokers, former RE/MAX brokers that were in attendance.

Metro Brokers TV: And we are also pulling from other firms as well. Where are you seeing other people come from?

Mike Hixon: Keller Williams is a significant number of folks who came in the last orientation.

Metro Brokers TV: What are you hearing from those folks? What do you think the reason is why they are leaving RE/MAX and Keller and coming to Metro instead?

Mike Hixon: I think without a doubt it's our business model. When you look at Metro Brokers business model versus some of the other large franchise firms we are just a real true independent thinking office or organization that you can actually go out, open up your own office and not have to worry about you know large fees and big office issues that we don't have to deal with. We are truly independent.

Metro Brokers TV: Yeah, that is unique with Metro. For somebody who is considering looking at Metro Brokers as a place to hang your sign, what would you like to say to them, what do you think is important for potential members to know?

Mike Hixon: What are you waiting on? I think you should get on over here. When you look at what we have in our business model along with the support for Metro Brokers and all the training models[Phonetic] and... we are very... we are a lot more... we are thinking a lot more out of the box and a lot of folks[Phonetic]. We have a great media campaign going on, a lot of synergy, the offices are working together better than most offices you will find don't have that type of synergy what we do.

Metro Brokers TV: And we are all over the city.

Mike Hixon: All over. In the mountains and....

Metro Brokers TV: In essence.

Mike Hixon: Yeah.

Metro Brokers TV: An office for everyone.

Mike Hixon: There is, there truly is. There is you know like if you don't like a certain setup you can find an office just about anywhere that you fit.

Metro Brokers TV: Terrific. Mike, thanks so much for coming today.

Mike Hixon: You are welcome. Thank you.

Metro Brokers TV: All right. You bet.