Keller Williams Realty Becomes Largest Real Estate Franchise in North America
Company reports record growth, productivity and profitability gains;
announces expansion into the United Kingdom.
AUSTIN, TX (September 16, 2013) – With a net gain of 12,000 associates in the past year, Keller Williams Realty is now the largest real estate franchise in North America. The announcement, based on publicly available agent count data as of September 9, 2013, was made during Keller Williams Realty’s Midyear State of the Company presentation. Keller Williams is now home to more than 90,000 associates around the world.
“We are not a company of complacency,” CEO Mark Willis said. “We have the best business model in the industry and it’s leading to increased productivity, profitability and profit sharing that are at all-time highs for our company and unrivaled in our industry.”
In recent months, Keller Williams Realty has shattered its monthly records for listings taken, contracts written, commissions earned, owner profit and profit share:
- Year over year, units are up 8 percent, closed volume is up 17 percent and gross commission income is up 18 percent.
- Ninety-five percent of the company’s offices are profitable year to date – a figure that far outpaces the standard for franchise businesses.
- In the past 12 months, the company has distributed $58 million in profit share to associates, a 33 percent increase over the previous year.
Features for consumers include:
- The ability to search for homes based on criteria or by custom drawing on an interactive map;
- GPS localized data displays homes in a given area that match the consumer’s price range;
- The ability to easily swipe through galleries of photos to decide whether a home fits one’s needs and then add it to saved searches for convenient reference on the app or via the agent’s website, where the saved searches are synced;
- The ability to save notes on properties for future reference; and
- Faster communication between agents and consumers via call, text or email.
The strong growth, productivity and profitability gains follow a year of milestones for the company:
- The release of the Keller Williams mobile app – personally branded for each of the company’s 90,000 associates. In the past 30 days, more than 58,000 consumers have downloaded the app to their Apple and Android devices.
- Publication of co-founder Gary Keller’s new book, The ONE Thing, which has appeared on 117 bestseller lists, including The New York Times, where it has been on the business bestseller list for 5 months, and The Wall Street Journal, where it earned the #1 spot.
Willis used concepts from The ONE Thing to illustrate his presentation, which took place at Mega Camp, the real estate industry’s premier educational and networking event for top producers. “Keller Williams leaders, what you’re doing is lining up a perfect domino run,” he said. “Being #1 in agent count in the United States was our first domino. We’re on our way to knocking over bigger and bigger dominos until we’re #1 in agent count, transactions and volume all across the world.”
Keller Williams Worldwide President Chris Heller also announced the company’s expansion into the United Kingdom. In recent years, the company’s global division has announced franchise agreements in Austria, Germany, Indonesia, Southern Africa, Switzerland, Turkey and Vietnam. Heller touted the achievements of the company’s regions outside of North America and welcomed more than 100 international guests from countries including Brazil, China, Colombia, Ghana, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Poland and Russia.
“Around the globe, entrepreneurs, brokers and agents are looking for and asking for what we offer,” Heller said. “They crave our models, systems, training and technology. And because Keller Williams can offer all of those at a level they have never seen before, we are attracting tremendous talent and gaining momentum.”
“Success leaves clues,” Keller Williams President Mary Tennant said during her State of the Culture update. “And your unprecedented achievements this year all flow from the culture of success, caring and opportunity you created and are enhancing every day.”
