Local Real Estate Agents Attend Keller Williams Convention

   Four local realtors from the recently opened Keller Williams Lake Oconee branch attended the annual Keller Williams convention In New Orleans LA (Feb. 20-24) called Family Reunion. This convention was one of the largest in the industry with approx. 8,000 agents from across the country and Canada in attendance.

   Highlights of this event included speeches by Gary Keller, founder of the company, and Mark Willis, CEO, where they discussed the current state of the real estate industry, future industry projections and where Keller Williams is positioned.  In 2009, Keller Williams was the only national Real Estate Company to increase sales in both dollar volume and units sold. They were also the only company to grow in number of agents and finished the year with over 75,000 U.S. realtors. This positive performance, despite the overall challenging national real estate market, was attributed to several national consumer preference awards the company received and the unique Keller Williams business model of profit sharing and cooperation among agents. They both promised continued growth and improvements for the company in 2010 including "state of the art" upgrades to KW.com ( Keller Williams website for listings) which already gets over 2.6 million unique visitors each month, plus plans for launching an international division and for making Keller Williams the first Green Company by being completely paperless at the end of the year.

  The agents attended daily workshops hosted by industry leaders from all around the U.S. dealing with a wide range of topics including:  marketing, technology, luxury homes, financing, negotiations, short sales and foreclosures. During these workshops, the agents were able to network with other agents from all over the country and talk about strategies and solutions for the many challenges facing buyers and sellers in this market. In addition, presentations and "hands on" training were given on the latest products available to help realtors provide the best service possible to their clients.

  The convention concluded with an awards ceremony where top agents were recognized for their accomplishments. Despite the Lake Oconee Keller Williams branch only being open since October 2009, two of the agents received national sales awards.  Jamie Dutton received a bronze medal and Kim Logan received a gold medal for sales made during 2009.

   New Orleans provided a great back drop for the convention and everyone loved the Cajun atmosphere.

All the agents in attendance looked forward to returning to their local markets and putting their "lessons learned" to work.