Brad Korb
The Brad Korb Team at RE/MAX In Action
Years in Real Estate: 33
Areas Served: Burbank, Glendale, North Hollywood, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, Toluca Lake, Valley Village, and surrounding areas

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

You need to make a commitment to follow your goals.  Work on them daily and spend time improving your business and yourself.  Mastermind with fellow real estate agents with values and goals that are similar to yours.

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

My key to a successful life in real estate is to always hang around real estate agents that are doing more business than you.  Network with top producers from around the country.  Implement ideas they share and add your core values to make them your own.  You can be green & growing or ripe & rotten.  You need to keep growing your business.

Stacy McFarland

BroadHead Real Estate Solutions, LLC
Years in Real Estate: 4
Areas Served:  Austin, Dripping Springs, Bee Cave, Lakeway, Buda, Kyle

What is your sustainable competitive advantage?

BroadHead's competitive advantage is that we have a team that is well diversified in traditional real estate and REO sales as well as staying up-to-date with the everyday evolving technology. This diversity and the many different strengths that each team member brings to the table enables BroadHead to better serve our clients, other Realtors, and BroadHead as a whole.

What is the biggest challenge to using social media?

The biggest challenge in using social media is staying on top of each social media facet and keeping pertinent information up-to-date that is actually beneficial to your clients.

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

The key to a successful life in real estate is adapting to change.  Markets and technology change on a regular basis and if you are not adaptable, you will be left in the dust.

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.”

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! 

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."

Brian Solinsky
South Sound Home Team at Keller Williams
Years in Real Estate: 7
Areas Served: South Sound of Washington State; mainly Puyallup, Bonney Lake, Tacoma, Federal Way, Auburn, and Spanaway 

 What is your unique selling advantage?

“Begin with the end in mind.” Steven R Covey. I start with an understanding of the goals of my clients, then set up a plan for success. Through the use of research, marketing, communication, negotiation, and follow through; I am able to sell homes for the highest price in the right amount of time. As we follow the plan with the end in mind, we can overcome any obstacle that comes our way.

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

Finding success in real estate first involves being in front of people. It is vital to budget your time to allow for such opportunities. Being involved with my community, both in person and in cyberspace let’s others know I am there and ready to serve. It is a natural jump to do business with me as a trusted community-minded individual.

 What are you doing to make a difference and drive new business?

Community involvement is key to my business success. I coach multiple teams in youth sports and am involved in the W.A.T.C.H. DOGS program at the local elementary school. These activities put me in front of people in a positive way and lead to business opportunities as well.

Priscilla Toomey
Julia B. Fee Sotheby's International Realty
Years in Real Estate: 25
Areas Served: Southern Westchester County, NY

Why did you become a Member of Top 5?

For the information and the networking. I learn so much from working with Top 5. The articles all go up on my website, which has helped my search engine optimization tremendously.  

Why is providing relevant content and information critical to succeeding in today’s market?

Everybody starts their home search on the Internet today. They may also hear a lot in the media about real estate. One of the reasons it is so important to provide relevant content is because real estate is local, but what they may be seeing or hearing is not local. I provide important context.  

Why is it essential to build this type of ongoing relationship with clients?

Real estate sales are often looked at as transactional. My background, however, is in relocation, where the relationship goes on for 20 or 30 years. So I look at clients as clients for life and I want to be there as a resource for whatever they need,   whenever they need it.  

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.