Sam Banning
Broker/Owner
HomeSmart Preferred Realty
Pueblo, Colorado | www.southcoloradohomes.com
Region served: Southern Colorado
Years in real estate: 22
Number of offices: 3, with a 4th opening soon
Number of agents: 115
Favorite part of your job: Seeing the enthusiasm and drive new agents possess after getting their first sale, contract or listing.
No. 1 tip for new agents: Show up. It’s also important to find a brokerage that provides mentorship and training.
You recently opened a new office, and have another set to open in the coming months. Why is now the right time to expand your company footprint?
Not only are agents looking for something new, but they’re also looking for something that offers a good business model. And HomeSmart provides a great business model for agents, complete with 100%-commission plans and HomeSmart+, a revenue sharing program that offers full support and training. Not your traditional brokerage, HomeSmart is a little bit outside of the box, and that’s attractive to a majority of today’s agents.
What trends are you currently keeping your eye on?
We’re looking at what all the experts are saying as far as the upcoming short sale and foreclosure market that’s being predicted. Taking advantage of the training HomeSmart provides in relation to working both short sales and foreclosures is one way we’re preparing our agents.
How does your company make its agents’ jobs easier?
By offering the support they need, when they need it. In addition to myself, I have three other staff members who answer calls from agents at any time, day or night, to ensure they’re getting the necessary support. We also make our agents’ jobs easier by providing training, mentoring and lead generation technology. There is no reason why our agents can’t be successful if they follow the programs we have in place. We have great programs in place as well as the support to back them up.
What tools and resources provided by HomeSmart do you and your agents find most valuable?
HomeSmart has a very unique tech platform that is both user friendly and always evolving. In fact, agents can run their whole business through it. If they want to know how to conduct a successful open house, a quick search pulls up numerous webinars that will take them through the steps. Acting as their CRM and website, the platform also houses all their contracts. Better yet, agents can even order yard signs directly through the platform. The unique tools provided by HomeSmart are what make it a desirable choice among agents.
What makes your company stand out in the marketplace?
The agents. We do a lot for the community throughout the year, giving back to those we serve by taking part in yard sales, coat sales, food drives and a variety of other initiatives. Another thing I’m extremely proud of is the delivery service we started when the pandemic all but shut everything down back in 2020. In addition to delivering groceries for those in our community who contracted COVID—or simply didn’t want to venture out of their homes—we also picked up and delivered medications to help ease the burden on our seniors. We still have “groupies” who call us asking for assistance, and we’re more than happy to help, as they’ve been good to us with referrals over the years.
For more information, please visit, www.homesmart.com.
Paige Tepping is RISMedia’s managing editor. Email her with your real estate news ideas, ptepping@rismedia.com.
