Todd Priest and Rob Vossoughi
Owners, HomeSmart PV & Associates
Modesto, California
https://homesmart.com/franchise/hsca004
Region served: Central Valley of California
Years in real estate: Todd (31) and Rob (16)
Number of offices: 5
Number of agents: 565
Jordan Grice: How did you come to partner with HomeSmart, and how has that helped mold your brokerage?
Todd Priest: When we were looking at doing this on our own, HomeSmart had contacted us, and we flew out and met with them. Not only did we find that it would’ve taken us years and hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop the infrastructure and technology they had already in place, but they also didn’t treat us like a number. They treated us like family, which really resonated with us because of our culture with our company.
JG: What tools and resources provided by HomeSmart do you and your agents find the most valuable?
Rob Vossoughi: HomeSmart provides us with a fantastic set of technology called the RealSmart Technology Suite, which we think is the best in the industry. Their listing tech is extremely valuable. Their tech team makes sure that when we have a listing, it gets broadcast to over 1,000 search engines and websites in a short time. We are about 80 miles from the San Francisco Bay area, and 25% or more of our buyers come from there, so we need our homes on the circuit immediately, so those buyers are aware of it.
JG: As the real estate industry continues evolving, how do you and your agents stay ahead of the curve to maintain productivity?
RV: We look at our agents as our customers, and every day we set out to find what’s the most we can provide them that offers the best experience and chance at success.
We’ve grown from zero agents to 565 agents with no recruiter and no referral fee program. Things will always keep changing, and as leaders, we are always trying to pay attention to how the industry is changing and how we can apply that to our agents to give them the best advantage in competing.
What strategies do you have in place to successfully reach out to first-time buyers?
TP: As real estate agents, we’re also consultants. Part of that means guiding first-time homebuyers on what’s happening in the market to prepare them. That’s not only for the challenges that they are going to face but also for how they will structure an offer and what we need to do to get our offer looked at and put into a place that will get it accepted. The market is evolving not only technologically but also competitively. All we can do is consult and prepare our buyers for the challenges they will face.
JG: What would you say is the best advice you offer to new agents?
RV: You have to work hard, and you have to treat yourself like a business. HomeSmart provides everything for the agents—insurance, training, tech and support. We have everything. The only thing that we don’t have is clients, so we help agents focus on “getting clients into their business” and then we support them when they do.
TP: I tell every agent that joins us that our business is about relationships and trust. If you can establish those two things, the rest of it is academic. We’re a brokerage and a platform that provides all the tools, training and education to help them with the academics of the business.
For more information, please visit www.homesmart.com.
Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jgrice@rismedia.com.
