Houston’s population is approximately 3 million people. The market has 18,000 licensed Realtors. The average sales price for the area is $150,000, and Ronnie and Cathy’s is $200,000. Over the past 5 years, the average appreciation has been only 3% and

Houston had zero appreciation for 2004.

ASSISTANTS/TEAM

Ronnie has taken the entire real estate transaction, torn it apart and created an “assembly line” where each phase of the transaction is done by someone and that is generally all they do.

Ronnie and Cathy are the rainmakers of the team and everyone else moves the business down the “assembly line.”

In 2004, Ronnie had 18 team members. Rather than independent contractors, the three Buyer Agents and two Listing Agents on his team are employees.

The employee agents earn more than the vast majority of real estate agents in his market.

Ronnie has phenomenal retention, with Rene being with him for 14 years and the rest of the team over 5 years.

There are 3 people in the pending department.

Listing coordinators follow up with other agents, send out Seller’s Disclosures and talk to Sellers weekly. (They carry 200 listings currently.)

The Contract Negotiator negotiates 90% of the contracts for the listings.

SYSTEMS

Ronnie uses Online Agent/Agent 2000 as his database. All conversations are data entered by every team member so that there is a continuous, real-time record of all interactions.

MARKETING

Ronnie’s database contains 7,000 past clients.

Past clients receive a postcard every three months. A minor point, but one with a significant impact, is the fact that the postcard features their photograph on the front and the back. Knowing that it will be thrown away, they increase the odds that they “Buy brain cells on the way to the trash.”

The team’s listings are advertised in a number of different real estate magazines, and always in color.

There are 5 billboards in the area where they do most of their business, and just like their postcards, magazine ads and website, the same picture of Ronnie and Cathy is featured. The key here is consistency and continuity.

KEY ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS

Advertising - Ronnie points out that even in the early days of building their business, they still invested what they could into advertising.

Repeat/Referral Business - 70% of their business is from repeat and referral business.