RISMEDIA, January 29, 2009-

Bailout. Credit crunch. Foreclosure. Despite these words permeating the headlines and airwaves, there are companies out there moving forward - even in real estate. Keller Williams® Realty Inc., the fourth largest real estate company in North America, announced that it outpaced the market in 2008, while remaining free of debt, and gave back more than $30 million in profits to its agents.

"Our strategy is no secret. We faithfully follow the sound financial model of leading with revenue - the samemodel our market centers follow," said Mark Willis, CEO of Keller Williams Realty Inc. "As we watch companies throughout the country take on billions of dollars of debt, we are proud to say that our company has not one dollar of financing debt and we remain strong and financially sound. It is our joy to be able to give back to our agents during these times."

Despite pervasive downward trends in the real estate industry, Keller Williams Realty continues to outperform the industry. For the first 11 months of 2008, existing home sales for the United States fell 17% when compared to the same period the year before. By comparison, Keller Williams Realty is poised to outdo those numbers by 10 percentage points, and in addition, the company experienced a much smaller contraction in its agent base compared to the National Association of REALTORS®, who saw a 10% decline in membership.

Click here http://rismedia.com/2009-01-28/keller-williams-realty-bucks-national-business-trends-during-the-toughest-real-estate-market-on-record/ to read the full article from RISMEDIA - The Leader in Real Estate Information Systems.  

 

Defying the Market

How Keller Williams Realty Grows While Others Contract

At Keller Williams Realty the glass is always half full. While most real estate firms - small, large and in between - struggle to stay on sure footing in today's market, Keller Williams Realty just keeps moving forward. In a year when just about every other real estate firm reduced its number of offices, Keller Williams actually wound up in the plus-five department for franchises in 2008.

"I am very proud to say that we have lots of examples of agents and offices who are doing better today than they were doing when the market was thriving," says Mark Willis, CEO of Austin, Texas-based Keller Williams Realty International. And as anyone in the Keller Williams organization will tell you, the company's overall growth is a direct result of the individual achievements of its agents. In 2008, Keller Williams Realty boasted 695 offices and averaged over 72,000 agents across North America. What's more, the company actually gave back $32 million in profit sharing - something Willis rightly refers to as "a significant achievement."

The secret to the company's continued growth over the years also includes its commitment to perseverance and optimism. Market conditions are no excuse - especially for a company that was founded during one of real estate's lowest points. Facing adversity is just part of Keller Williams Realty's DNA. 

Click here http://livemag.rismedia.com/link/ris/2009/feb/34?s=0 to see the full article from the Real Estate Magazine. 

There's No Place Like Home

When contemplating where to live, many people consider different things. Some buyers look for their location near work or schools while others consider the convenience of shopping & entertainment. The Kansas City area has many options to accommodate buyers and make this their home. In fact, in CNN Money's "Best Small Cities to Live In" category, they ranked Overland Park Kansas as 9^th and Olathe Kansas as 11^th. For details of these cities and the benefits CNN Money stated, go to
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/snapshots/PL2053775.html

Home mortgage rates and real estate news - CNNMoney.com
 

Would you walk away?
With 1 in 5 homeowners underwater, many pundits predict a flood of people walking away from their homes. Five readers talked to us about why they are - and are not - sticking around.

House OKs bill to modify mortgages
Read full story for latest details.

11% of mortgages are troubled
More than 11% of all American homeowners who hold a mortgage are either delinquent or in foreclosure, according to an industry report released Thursday.

Confusing credits for homebuyers
Question: I purchased a home last December and qualified for a $7,500 first-time homebuyer's tax credit that I must repay. But I now see that the stimulus package is offering an $8,000 first-time homebuyer credit for purchases from January 1 through November 30, 2009 that doesn't have to be repaid. Will I still have to pay back the $7,500 even though I bought my house just two weeks before the beginning of this year? This sort of timing would be just my luck. --Jeremy, West Lafayette, Indiana

Foreclosures: How bad is your state?


Obama housing fix open for business
The Obama administration's foreclosure prevention program was launched Wednesday.

Mortgage help: Do you qualify?
Details on President Obama's eagerly anticipated foreclosure prevention program were released on Wednesday. It targets 9 million borrowers for help - are you one of them?

Commercial real estate may strain banks
Read full story for latest details.

Snag a great deal on a short sale
Short sales - where a lender agrees to take less than it's owed on a mortgage - are rising sharply. Here's how you can profit.

1 in 5 mortgages 'underwater'
The dramatic decline in the housing market has hit Americans hard: 20% of people with mortgages owe more than their home is worth, according to a report released Wednesday.

Toll Brothers: Bulls vs. Bears
As the spring buying season begins, luxury homebuilders are not anticipating a fresh start.

Obama to test home loan do-overs
Mortgage modifications have a bad rap, yet President Obama is depending on them to stop the foreclosure crisis.

Pending home sales hit record low
Pending home sales sank to a record low in January, according to a report released Tuesday by the National Association of Realtors.

Citi: Mortgage break to unemployed
Unemployed homeowners whose houses are financed by CitiMortgage may be eligible to have their mortgages temporarily reduced to $500 a month, the company announced Tuesday.

Mortgage deductions: Wealthy on the losing end
The Obama administration plans to tap the rich to help pay for its ambitious programs. Specifically, that will include slashing mortgage interest deductions for high-income taxpayers.

Housing fix's bankruptcy plan under fire
President Obama is in danger of losing the biggest stick in his foreclosure prevention arsenal.

Wet basement? 6 simple fixes
Do you dread going into the cellar during a hard rain? You just know you're going to see puddles on the floor or get a sneezing fit from the musty air. A wet basement - a problem that plagues about 60% of homeowners, according to the American Society of Home Inspectors - is not a situation to ignore.

New home sales at all-time low
Sales of newly constructed homes fell 10% in January, sinking to the lowest level on record, according to a government report released Thursday.

Fannie taps lifeline after $59B in losses
Hammered by the ailing housing market, mortgage finance giant Fannie Mae said Thursday it would tap its lifeline from the Treasury Department after reporting $58.7 billion in losses for 2008.

Boomers: 30% underwater
What a turnaround for the American Dream!