Maryann Hilvers Augustine
Frontline Realty Group
Years in Real Estate: 19+years
Areas Served: San Diego County – San Diego, East County, South Bay, San Diego Coastal and Inland areas

What is your unique selling advantage?

World-Class Service. My goal is to have a relationship with everyone I have ever done business with 5, 10, 15 years down the road. Which means I have to provide such an extraordinary level of service with attention to detail and problem solving that my clients always come back and feel compelled to refer others.

What is your sustainable competitive advantage?

My knowledge of real estate applied to how much I care about every single client I deal with and the fact that “I never give up.” That 11^th hour is the difference between who gets it done and who walks away wishing it could have gone differently.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

Having a “Passion” for it. I love what I do and I love my clients. The market is always moving and changing. I feel like you have to move with it and be open to learning new things. However, when it all comes down to the bottom line – it is a people and problem-solving business. You have to be good at both.

Mary Miner
Nextage Lone Star Realty & MBM Property Management LLC
Years in Real Estate: 11
Areas Served: Austin, TX: Pflugerville, Hutto, Round Rock, Cedar Park, Lakeway, Lender

Why did you become a member of Top 5?
I became a member of Top 5 because Verl Workman has been my coach. I learn a great deal from him and he helped me succeed in a difficult time last year. Top 5 has a lot to offer and great tools for us to expand our business.

 What’s your biggest obstacle to staying ahead on information?
I believe that the biggest obstacle is lack of education. We all need coaches and need others to hold us accountable throughout our career. We need to stay focused at all times.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?
It is to really care about your client and your fellow Realtors®. You need to learn to give back and work with your community. Learn to be the expert of your area but then give to others and all will respect you. Have passion for your profession and feel great when you client gets their results.

Chris Nichols
Prudential Utah Elite Real Estate
Years in Real Estate: 9
Areas Served: Utah County, Utah

What is the biggest challenge to using social media?

I think people tend to not be themselves on social sites. This is an opportunity for you to shine and let your personality show. After all, the best client is the one who truly feels connected to you as their agent.

What is your most creative marketing strategy?

When I first got involved in social media I branded myself as utahREpro. That branding and presence across multiple platforms has made a tremendous difference for me. It has provided me with many referrals from across the nation as I have been able to stay top of mind for REALTOR friends when they have needs here in Utah.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

Give back! My career has truly blossomed and been impacted for the good as I have given back to the industry by serving.

Lynn Burley
Burley Properties
Years in Real Estate: 8
Areas Served: Brevard and Indian River County, Florida

What is your unfair competitive advantage?

"My clients would say my attention to detail is my advantage. I make sure that we not only do our job as a Real Estate Brokerage, we also follow up on every detail like we are the ones actually buying or selling the property. I always answer the phone and emails within an hour even on the weekends. We make sure every Buyer is prequalified so they are ready to buy and the Sellers know only qualified Buyers are seeing their home. Communication is the key to any successful transaction. I am a computer geek and when I cannot find a program that best serves my clients, I build one. I have also been in the construction field for years which gives me a unique insight into the construction of the homes, helping me know what is proper and what is not."

What is the most creative advertising you are using?

"We have a unique Internet-based marketing technology system designed to help every Buyer and Seller. We have a specialized individual webpage for every property we list which creates a tremendous amount of traffic, bringing numerous Buyers to the specific property as well as others. We have a personally generated newsletter that we create every two weeks which is emailed to hundreds of potential Buyers that has all of our listings as well as every HUD and foreclosure in our county."

Jo Ferraro
The Jo Ferraro Team @ Century 21 Affiliated
Years in Real Estate: 14
Areas Served: Madison, Middleton, Waunakee, Verona & all of South Central Wisconsin

What is your best idea for time management?

Just ‘do it’! Keep doing only the things you love to do and no one else can. Maximize the value you add to your team members and clients. Communicate effectively, empower others and delegate.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

Putting others peoples' needs and goals above your own self interests. Effective communication, systems, leads management, honesty and integrity.

Why did you become a member of Top 5?  

To add even more value to my clients and leverage me further above my competition!

Do you use social media to stay current?

Yes, I use social media to stay current. I tweet and have a business page for all the real estate issues. I now am using the Top 5 videos and embedded in the website.

Chris Ruszkiewicz
RE/MAX Realty 100
Years in real estate: 18
Areas served: Greater Milwaukee Area; Milwaukee, Waukesha, Washington, Racine & Ozaukee counties.

What is your unique selling advantage?

I offer exceptional service to my clients. With over 18 years as a full-time, successful Realtor, my experience helps buyers and sellers navigate this difficult market. My goal is to do all I can to help each of my clients meet their real estate goals. I strive to make each transaction as smooth and easy as possible.  With 95% of my business coming from past clients and referrals, I don’t have to invest time in pursuing new business.  I’m able to devote my time to serving the needs of my clients.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

Passion and balance.  I absolutely love what I do and love my clients.  However, taking care of my clients can become overwhelming.  I have learned to take care of myself and my family first.  It has made me a better wife, mother, friend and Realtor! 

Valerie Keener
RE/MAX PREMIER
Years in Real Estate: 8
Areas Served: North Dallas, Richardson, Collin County, SE Denton County

What is your unique selling advantage?

"Being an avid reader, and technical almost to the point of being a “geek”, I accumulate amazing amounts of market knowledge and never stop garnering more! Market knowledge is much more than preparing comparable sales information and reports, it’s being aware of commercial development as well as residential, changes in appraisal regulations, lender regulations, inspection codes and school information, and how all of the above factor into residential real estate. The more I know and learn, the more I can help my clients to make the best real estate decisions."

What is the biggest challenge to using social media?

"Social media is time consuming, though there are some great tricks and tools to keep the time commitment it to a minimum. I think the larger challenge is the plethora of social media venues and how to find what works for you and tailor it to your business and personal life. You can be on any of the primary sites, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, and without knowledge of how to use those sites for business, it’s easy to believe they don’t offer anything. It’s easy to want to focus so much on growing business or obtaining business from these sites that you overlook the enjoyment factor! Sometimes, it’s just fun to be on Facebook and keep up with people and “like” their posts!"

Cindy Marsh-Tichy
Weichert Realtors
Years in Real Estate: 13
Areas Served: Parsippany: Montville, Boonton, East Hanover, Denville, Rockaway, Hanovers

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

You really have to love this business. It is so diverse and changes each day so it is always a challenge.  Surround yourself with people that love the business like you do and have the same work habits and philosophy. Everyone plays an important role in making sure the client is satisfied and returns time and time again.  Education is also key. I have always prided myself on staying educated on current topics and issues. I hold several designations and make sure to take classes that bring me up to date on market trends, legal issues, mortgage options and more. There are a lot of topics that until confronted by them, most are unaware they exist. I try to be able to be the source to find the answers.

How have you incorporated video into your marketing?

I use videos in three different ways. First, as a walkthrough of the property when it is listed with my own dialogue as if I was showing it to a prospective client.  Second, I do a segment called Driving with Cindy, and yes, it is videotaped while I am driving and it is a brief overview of a topic, like staging.  Lastly, I have a video that tells my clients why they want to work with me.  Video is very powerful, especially when marketing overseas or across the country to relocation clients.

Jay Frazier
Rural Property Pro, First Weber Group Realtors
Years in Real Estate: 8
Areas Served: The Southwest Wisconsin counties of Grant, Iowa, Sauk, Richland, Crawford and Vernon

What do you do to stand out from the crowd?

I have narrowed my focus to just rural properties: land, farms, & homes on acreage. I don’t handle commercial or traditional residential. This focus and experience has helped establish me as the “Land Agent” for my area.

What is your unfair competitive advantage?

First Weber provides outstanding technology tools that give us a head start and they are continually improving and upgrading as well as providing training on how to use them.

What is the key to a successful life in real estate?

Being adaptable is absolutely essential. Real Estate technology, marketing, communication and the role of the agent has changed dramatically in the 8 years I’ve been in the business, and woe to any agent that doesn’t keep up with the changes.

Christine Richardson
Weichert Realtors
Years in Real Estate: 24
Areas Served: Northern Virginia

Why did you become a member of Top 5?

“I believe strongly in the idea of providing relevant information to my clients. Why is it that consumers call us after they have decided they want to buy or sell real estate? They should be calling us to find out if they should be considering buying or selling real estate. I also like the idea of having a credential that spans real estate companies so that consumers have a true benchmark to seek when choosing a REALTOR®. There are so many "top producers” out there—how is a consumer to choose?”

What is the best way to connect with the consumer?

“I think you have to be versatile and flexible. Some people want to communicate by text and Facebook messaging while others prefer the good old fashioned phone call or face-to-face discussion. And you have to be able to do everything in between, too. I try to make my clients feel as comfortable and make connecting with me easy. That requires different approaches for different people.”