Swanepoel Power 200 ranks most powerful executives in the residential real estate industry.

Gary Keller, the co-founder of Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, was ranked in the Swanepoel Power 200 (SP 200) as the nation’s No. 2 most powerful person in real estate for 2023.

According to the SP 200 report, “Keller is the only leader to have been named one of the top five most powerful people in residential real estate brokerage for the past 10 years.”

“This recognition marks once again a shared moment for our whole Keller Williams family,” said Keller. “I’m honored to be in business with each of our team members and market center and agent partners as we continue to thrive together.”

Marc King, the president of KW, was ranked No. 87 on the SP 200. King’s position moved up dramatically from No. 145 in last year’s ranking due his continued efforts to increase KW’s market share and position the company as the place “Where Entrepreneurs Thrive.”

“As we embrace our 40th year in business, we are truly reigniting a culture of supporting entrepreneurs,” said King.

Terra Jorgensen has joined Keller Williams in Montgomery, Alabama. In 2022, Jorgensen sold 58 homes, equating to $17.9 million in sales volume.

“KW has the tools and technology to help elevate our business to a new level,” said Jorgensen.

Since joining KW Montgomery, Jorgensen’s real estate team has been rebranded ‘At Home.’ The At Home real estate team consists of Jorgensen and 2 additional agents.

Jorgensen is the founder of At Home real estate team. For more than a decade, Jorgensen has served as an award-winning, top-producing Alabama real estate agent.

Prior to beginning her real estate sales business, Jorgensen for many years coordinated Jubilee City Fest, a citywide event in Montgomery, Alabama. She has an extensive network of influence in the Montgomery, Prattville, and River Region communities.

CRM enhancements focused on driving meaningful relationships and maximizing profitability

During 2022, KW partnered with real estate agents and teams to release software integrations and CRM features aimed at increasing productivity and eliminating pain points with lead generation, marketing and real estate team workflow capabilities.    

“The iterative updates we rolled out for Command in 2022 were highly influenced by consistent engagement with agents,” said Chris Cox, chief technology and digital officer, KW. “Our solutions will always be anchored in our agents’ success with a laser focus on what drives growth in their business.”  

“Command gives agents more time to deliver increased client satisfaction while maximizing higher profitability,” said Cox. “Agents today want immense value from their CRM; they want efficiency and speed in their business operations and they want it all seamlessly delivered. Command does that.”

The latest updates to Command, a smart CRM-plus solution, include: 

End-to-end integration of CRM tools was enhanced via further embedding the rich, intuitive capabilities of the Campaigns, Contacts and Designs apps within the Opportunities app, which tracks deals across phases of a sales pipeline.The Marketing Tab features curated lists of top performing marketing assets, such as print flyers and trifolds, Facebook and Instagram ad templates, and prescriptive marketing campaign templates. Recommendations change based on deal phase in the Opportunities app. Contact Quick-Create feature within the Opportunities app, which allows agents to rapidly create and edit contact details. The Contacts Imports Wizard enables the thousands of agents onboarding monthly with KW to have an easy and efficient means to import their contacts into Command.Instagram social posting for business accounts was added to the Campaigns app to increase the lead generation and brand-building and engagement opportunities for agents via social media.Contacts information validation functionality was added to the SmartPlans app to give agents visibility on the gaps among the data a SmartPlan requires and the data available for a contact.Cap accuracy dashboard enhancements allow agents to view in real time their progression toward a production cap. As production cap is reached, an agent no longer pays a commission split, meaning the agent is at a 100 percent commission until their anniversary year starts again.Expanded native software integration with DocuSign, which allows for further embedded signature processing, simplifying workflows and document processes between agents and market centers. An Earnnestintegration allows for quick and secure handling of earnest money within the Opportunities app, simplifying the workflow for agents, buyers and escrow holders. A Sisu integration enables real estate coaches to view agent production data on Sisu-powered coaching dashboards, leaderboards and coaching reports.

“When our agents connect with clients through Command, it is the beginning of a meaningful relationship, and that’s the reason we’re a part of one of every five transactions that happens in the U.S.,” said Cox.

AUSTIN, TEXAS December 2, 2022 —  Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, has donated $100,000 to Mobile Loaves & Fishes to support the expansion of the organization’s Community First! Village, a 51-acre master-planned community designed specifically for men and women who are coming out of chronic homelessness. 

Nearly 400 formerly homeless neighbors currently live in the Village.  

“Community First! Village represents the model for how communities across our world can seek to resolve the immense challenges of homelessness,” said Gary Keller, executive chairman of KW. “And we’re honored to continue supporting its success and robust expansion efforts.”

On Dec. 1, KW executives toured Community First! Village and presented an annual $100,000 donation.  KW is more than midway through an initial 10-year, $1 million commitment to support the mission of Community First! Village, having donated $600,000 to date. 

Community First! Village is a development of Mobile Loaves & Fishes, a social outreach ministry that has been compassionately serving Austin’s homeless community for nearly 25 years. 

AUSTIN, TEXAS November 3, 2022 — Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, reports YTD ’22 results, having achieved significant worldwide growth and topped corporate culture rankings.

“As we face increasing macroeconomic headwinds, we are preparing for what we expect to be a slower growth period,” said Sajag Patel, chief operating officer, KW. “Yet, our value proposition in training and coaching is specifically geared to enable our agents to take more market share during economic shifts.” 

“To embrace the market of the moment in Q3 ’22, we purposely launched four new business communities as agents are wanting a greater sense of connection, empowerment, and impact,” said Patel. “Developed in partnership with agents, communities are one more way we’re enabling entrepreneurs to thrive in this fast-shifting market.”

United States and Canada (production in YTD ’22)

Agents closed $381.4 billion in sales volume, down 3.0% from YTD same period of last year.Agents closed 884.5 thousand transactions YTD ’22, down 12.6% over the same period of ’21.Agents took 536.7 thousand new listings (new inventory), down 7.7% over the same period ’21.Agents wrote 962.4 thousand contracts (projected closings), down 13.9% over same period ’21.Contracts written volume was $414.7 billion, down 4.7% over the same period of ‘21.

“While we are less than pleased to report our sales volume is down by a low single digit percentage year to date, there’s immense opportunity in this market for our agents,” said Marc King, president, KW. “And, we are leaning into our powerful culture, training and technology to enable our agents to map a growth trajectory for their businesses based on the new math required by this market.”

AUSTIN, TEXAS November 2, 2022 —  Keller Williams (KW), the world’s largest real estate franchise by agent count, was named one of the World’s Top Female-Friendly Companies for 2022 by Forbes. For the second consecutive year, KW ranked among 400 top companies leading the way to support women inside and outside their organizations.

“We are honored to be recognized for our ongoing efforts to empower women to thrive as leaders and entrepreneurs,” said Gary Keller, co-founder and executive chairman, KW. “While our important work is nowhere near complete, we’re proud to be ranked among so many other world-class companies as part of a shared commitment.” 

To compile the annual ranking, Forbes partnered with Statista to survey 85,000 women in 36 countries. 

Respondents were asked to rate their employers’ performance on gender-related criteria and their willingness to recommend their employer to others. 

Statista also asked respondents to rate companies based on their corporate responsibility, marketing campaigns and public perception, as related to gender equality. The final list ranks the 400 companies that received the most recommendations and boast the most gender-diverse boards and executive ranks.

Franchise unveils training and masterminds for KW New Homes and DEI communities

Keller Williams (KW) has launched the KW Real Estate Planner community for agents to train and mastermind on providing clients with wealth management services.

“As the housing market continues to shift, we’re leaning heavily into the value of business communities to enable our real estate entrepreneurs the opportunity to thrive,” said Sajag Patel, chief operating officer, KW. “As part of a community, our agents are gaining a greater sense of connection, empowerment and impact while staying focused on business growth.” 

KW Real Estate Planner (REP) is a community based around certification, training and networking opportunities for agents to grow and mastermind skills on wealth management for their clients. 

An emerging community, KW REP is led by Dan Ihara, who serves as its’ director. Ihara is also the founder of the Honolulu, Hawaii-based The Ihara Team. 

Gary Keller’s consumer guide to the adventure of home buying is now available

Keller Williams announces the release of an expanded second edition of Your First Home: The Proven Path to Homeownership, a book that serves as a consumer guide to the adventure of home buying. 

“This book is about buying your first home, and I sincerely want to encourage you to make that leap,” said Gary Keller, best-selling author and co-founder and executive chairman, KW. “What’s great about owning a home is that it can lay a solid foundation for your financial future while also setting the tone for your personal lifestyle.”

“This book’s goal is to be your trusted guide and help you know what to expect,” said Keller.

Assembled from hundreds of interviews and in-depth research with real estate agents and consumers, Your First Home is an in-depth guide on the complete process of homeownership. The book was expanded to address new trends and tools to help consumers find, finance and buy a home.

“Where Entrepreneurs Thrive” symbolizes KW’s commitment to real estate agent business success 

Keller Williams (KW), announced today the launch of a new brand tagline, “Where Entrepreneurs Thrive,” at Mega Camp, a KW-powered annual real estate training conference.

“We went on a mission to define our decades-long purpose,” said John Keller, head of transformation at KW. “And, we ended up right where we began.”

“We will continue to build the place where entrepreneurs thrive,” said Keller. “It’s what we’re built to do, what we love to do, and what the industry needs us to do.” 

Via a video presentation, Keller unveiled the new tagline to more than 11,300 Mega Camp attendees. 

The current real estate market may be shifting, but there is still plenty of opportunity for agents. “Over the next several months, the housing market will be more in line with pre-pandemic market conditions,” shares KW chief economist Ruben Gonzalez. Loralynne Ball, head of retail sales for Keller Mortgage, has an even sunnier assessment. “Though mortgage rates are rising from the incredible lows we experienced last year, they’re still not at all what we’d consider high. Now is still a great time to get home financing.”

To help real estate professionals connect their clients to the financing they need, Keller Mortgage has an army of knowledgeable professionals excited to assist in all kinds of transactions. “As a partner of Keller Williams, our loan officers are here to provide your clients with the easiest home financing experience available,” says Ball. “We have decades of combined experience working with local homebuyers, understanding their unique financial situations, and navigating federal and state lending policies to help them select a loan program that best achieves their short- and long-term goals.” 

Connect with a Keller Mortgage Loan Officer

To leverage the vast experience of their loan officers, Keller Mortgage has created a portfolio of products with an equally diverse array of options to allay the fears of even the most anxious consumers. Below is an overview of some of their latest offerings. For a full list, head to KellerMortgage.com and connect with one of their experienced loan officers. 

Keep Eager Clients Hungry with Offer Ready

Offer Ready is Keller Mortgage’s fully underwritten pre-approval program created to help buyers bid with confidence. By providing faster loan approval and stronger purchase offers, Offer Ready helps clients enter the market prepared to impress sellers as soon as they see a property that piques their interest. Clients can also track their status, upload and manage documents, and communicate with their loan officer directly from the Keller Mortgage online portal.

Block Rate Hikes with Lock and Shop

Lock and Shop prevents changing interest rates from dampening clients’ home-shopping excitement by locking in rates for as many as 120 days while they shop. And if rates change in their favor, clients have the option to reset their rate to current market conditions within 60 days of closing. Lock and Shop rates come with no upfront fee and apply to primary or secondary homes for conventional loan products.

In support of proven and emerging real estate market segments, Keller Williams has launched three business communities – KW Wealth, KW Relocation, and KW Style to Design. 

“Each enables our real estate entrepreneurs to continue to thrive in today’s dynamically shifting housing market,” says Sajag Patel, chief operating officer, KW. 

“As we push onward past COVID-driven market conditions, we’ve found agents want a greater sense of connection, empowerment, and impact,” says Patel. “Developed in partnership with our agents, communities are how we’re leaning in to best serve them in support of their business growth.”

The new communities join a powerful lineup of others, each boasting specialized training, technology, coaching, mastermind events, and referral opportunities to their members. 

What’s in store for KW agents with the latest communities? Let’s dive in!  

As the face of your brand, your presence online can help boost business and build connections with your audience. By showing off your expertise and your personal style, you can help past and potential clients alike feel excited about working with you. Our month’s worth of August prompts can get you started as you build out your posting calendar and find success through social media. 

Take a look at our daily prompts below and scroll through the customizable graphic templates from Designs to help you feel confident in your social media marketing this month!

Week 1

August 1 – First day of the month, first day of the week! Check in with your audience about your yearly goals. What goals do you have for the rest of the year? Ask your followers to chime in with how their goals are going. 

August 2 – This home is officially off the market! Use an Under Contract design template from Designs to highlight a home that’s newly under contract. Share your client’s story to show potential home-buyers the value of buying in the shifting market. 

August 3 – Is that a back-to-school commercial on TV? Highlight the schools in your area and share insights about the ones local parents and students love.

As they say in all their branding, the Hello Neighbor Team in Gilbert, Arizona, is far more than a business. They are all about helping their clients and team members live their best lives and for influencing and impacting their community positively. And now the high-performance team that closed 85 transactions for $40 million last year has moved to Keller Williams from eXp and is thriving in their new home. 

The principals of the team, Lisa Funk and Martha Fuller, have nearly 50 years of real estate experience between them covering everything from land sales to extensive residential sales to custom builds. The pair met years ago at Toastmasters and became fast friends and then accountability partners. Since their business practices were so similar, they’d back each other up for vacations and meet each week to track progress against their individual goals. They worked so easily and efficiently together that they joined forces in 2016 with the desire to grow a team together. 

Their brokerage didn’t advocate for a team model, and they began to realize that their values in real estate and in life weren’t in alignment at their professional home as well. “We were dying on the vine, not thriving,” recalls Fuller.

That’s when the Hello Neighbor Team made the move to Keller Williams at the beginning of 2022. Funk says, “We feel like we’ve found our forever home and wish we would have come aboard five years ago when we first started our team. The energy here is palpable.” 

Since joining Keller Williams Integrity First Realty in Gilbert, Arizona, they have implemented processes and systems to complement their passion and work ethic in order to take their team to the next level. “It is so cliche, but it’s been nothing but lollipops and butterflies since we’ve been there. We’ve been floored by the support, systems, models and people since day ONE. I can’t even believe we’re the same team that we were last November. It’s because of the support and the mentorship that we have,” offers Fuller. 

In 2015, a vision was established – to create an initiative that would help empower and equip the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs with tools that would remove their limiting beliefs and allow them to live bigger, fuller lives. 

The vision – established by Keller Williams Co-Founder Gary Keller – would formally turn into the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization called KW Kids Can (KWKC).

Since its inception, the organization has helped thousands of young adults and high school students, hosting self-development events powered by Gary Keller’s Quantum Leap material and offering scholarships so graduates can receive free coaching and scholarships.

To fund this mission, KWKC hosts an annual Founder’s Day fundraiser honoring Keller. This year, the fundraiser runs July 15 through July 21, Keller’s 65th birthday, with a goal to raise $650,000. 

Make a Donation

The Founder’s Day Impact 

“In our first two years celebrating Founder’s Day, our associates and supporters raised over $500,000 toward helping KWKC empower the next generation,” shares Brandi Lauve, Executive Director for KWKC. “And, over the past two-and-a-half years, KWKC has provided thousands of young leaders (ages 18-28) and entrepreneurs self-development opportunities valued at more than $550,000, and awarded $317,250 in coaching and $362,058 in scholarships.” 

From the introduction of profit share (over $1.7B shared to date) to the release of The Millionaire Real Estate Agent – an industrywide business and wealth-building blueprint – Keller Williams has shown an unwavering dedication to helping agents build wealth. 

Today, the effort deepens with the introduction of its latest community, KW Wealth. 

“As an abundant-thinking organization, we believe that all agents have the ability to experience wealth and transform their lives,” shares Sajag Patel, Keller Williams’ chief operating officer.  

“That’s why we partnered with renowned real estate investor Brett Tanner to launch KW Wealth. Brett and his team have cracked the code to achieving $50 million in personal net worth. Over the course of their workshops, community members will learn, in detail, how to find and capitalize on investment opportunities, run the right numbers for their goal, grow in a network of like-minded peers, and earn incredible ‘behind the rope’ access to thought leaders in the wealth space.” 

Meet Brett Tanner

As a leader, innovator, investor, and top-selling real estate agent, Brett Tanner is a quadruple threat in the world of real estate investment. Ranked as the #9 real estate team in the country by the Wall Street Journal and consistently ranked among the top real estate teams at Keller Williams, the Elite Home Advisors – 90+ agents strong – have sold over $2 billion in real estate. Highly sought after as a national speaker and mentor, Brett imparts his deep knowledge of the real estate investment space to industries focused on entrepreneurial growth and leadership. 

Well known in the Greater Toronto, Canada, area, large commercial indie KOLT Realty recently joined forces with Keller Williams Real Estate Associates, Mississauga, to spearhead its commercial division. KOLT specializes in three avenues of commercial real estate: investment sales, leasing, and management. The 10-agent team focuses on industrial investing and has been a strong boutique brand for many years. KOLT found a niche in industrial condo conversions, buying on a cap rate or income valuation based on the lease in place, and then changing the title to condo. Team Leader and Broker of Record Daniel Kolber offers, “We buy a property for fair value, put in 30 bucks or more a foot to improve it, and turn around and sell it at a premium. Our customers love them, and we deliver really good returns.”

In 2021, KOLT Realty closed 41 commercial transactions, representing $37.5 million in volume generating almost $1 million in gross commissions. And, in 2022, the hardworking team has already closed several significant transactions with 58 more pending, representing over $184 million and growing, with over $5 million in GCI slated for 2022.

Led by Kolber and Takashi Yamashita, the KOLT team is thrilled about the union. Kolber says, “With hundreds of residential agents at KWREA, the KOLT team looks forward to helping them expand their services to include commercial transactions.”

With the support of Keller Williams Team Leader Stephen Hanlon and Broker/Owner Sunny Daljit, KOLT aims to grow to at least 20 commercial agents by year’s end. In addition to KW’s tech platform, educational resources, and global brand, the KOLT team points to Hanlon and Daljit’s energy, leadership, and success as their primary motivation to join Keller Williams. “They have about 400 agents with them now who get a lot of commercial leads. Our agents are already working on them. As we launch and do more internal marketing with KWREA and within KWRI, the opportunities are endless,” says Yamashita.

The team is already experiencing the synergy of the physical location of the office in one of the vibrant learning centers in Mississauga. Yamashita says, “With KW’s extraordinary training programs, we’re seeing a variety of people coming in to take part. It’s very compelling to be amidst the energetic and expectant flow of people and professionals that are coming through.”

Trends in the market can sometimes heavily favor either buyers or sellers. When this happens, staying connected to your audience through social media can help you successfully encourage those who are hesitant to get started, keeping your business thriving. 

Explore this month’s prompts to see how you can use your social media plus Designs in Command to keep home sellers and buyers engaged.

Week 1

July 1 – First day of the month, last day of the work week! Use your story to share your summer playlist or a new song that you’ve recently added that you’re excited to start the weekend with.

July 2 – Remind your potential buyers about the joys of homeownership with a client testimonial. Use a testimonial template from Designs to highlight your favorite home-buying success story.

July 3 – The Fourth of July is tomorrow! Make sure your audience knows where and how it’s safe to celebrate. Use your story to pass on local government updates about personal fireworks and share some tips about firework safety during the celebrations.

The path to homeownership often begins with a budget. But it may not be the one you think. Personal financial habits are actually the foundation for home-buying opportunities. So, helping a client understand their personal budget will help them determine not only what their home-buying or investment budget may be, but also spot opportunities for aligning their habits with their goals.

Layout A Monthly Budget

Have your client gather the following materials:

The last three months of their bills, pay stubs, bank and credit card statements, and any other financial document.Using the categories provided in the personal budgeting resource, have your client calculate how much they spend, on average, in a month.Download Our Personal Budgeting Worksheet

If your client is satisfied with their spending habits, congrats! Their work is done. You know what their monthly budget is and can use that when evaluating the investment that they want to make in a monthly mortgage payment.

Once each of the categories is filled, if they feel less than stellar about how much they are spending each month in total or in any one of the areas, they are in a position to re-evaluate their habits.

As their agent and fiduciary, remember that you cannot decide what is important to your client. Your commitment to them is that you will help them evaluate their priorities and their options. So, if your client needs to adjust their budget, have them work through the following exercise to decide where they may want to make adjustments.

Your net worth number can tell you a lot. It is the number that shows you where you are on your financial path, and if you use it wisely, you can also use net worth as a compass to help you achieve larger financial goals. Homeownership is one of the greatest drivers of wealth-building – homeowners have 40 times the net worth of renters.

For aspiring homeowners looking to start their homeownership journey, understanding their net worth is the first step to understanding what their financial options are. And, for those further down their homeownership adventure, tracking their net worth can help them see how homeownership is affecting their financial well-being. 

How to Calculate Net Worth

Figuring out where your net worth is requires some simple math. You can follow along below to determine your current number, or you can use this net worth calculator.

Begin Your Calculations

You’ll take a sheet of paper and list out all your assets, combining their value. Assets include things like automobiles, 401(k)s, savings accounts, and even nice jewelry.

Then, in another list, identify all your debts. These are anything that you owe on – student loans, car payments, and credit card balances, for example.

For first-time homebuyers, making the transition from renter to homeowner can be exciting, overwhelming, and scary all at once. Yet as Gary Keller and Jay Papasan write in the second edition of Your First Home,  “Those who live the most fulfilling lives base their decisions on facts, not fears.”

Below, we’ve outlined four powerful facts from Your First Home to help move anxious homeowners toward the fulfillment and abundance Keller and Papasan nod to.  Delivered with empathy, care, and your expertise – these facts can help ease fears and move clients closer to experiencing all the bounties homeownership brings.

Pre-Order Your First Home (The Second Edition)

Fear #1: “I can’t afford to buy a home now.”

Fact: Until you do the math, you don’t know what you can or can’t afford.

If you are currently paying rent, generally you can afford to buy. From a financial point of view, in the United States, the tax savings on mortgage interest alone usually make up most of the difference between your rent and mortgage payments – the tax write-offs you get at the end of year will generally help you save a lot of money. 

Additionally, depending on your credit score, you can end up affording more than you realize. Note: The credit scores used for mortgage lending tend to take on a much larger picture of your overall credit score. 

Finally, although there may be a higher initial cost to buying a house, if you’re planning on staying in one place for a few years, the equity you build can end up being a financial boon.