Ed Rapisarda
Broker/Owner
Cara Fox
Broker/Owner
Realty ONE Group Fox
Vacaville, Calif.
www.rogfox.com
Region served: Sonoma, Napa, Solano Counties and surrounding areas of Northern California
Years in real estate: Ed: 10; Cara: 20
Number of offices: 1, with expansion plans in place
Number of agents: 61
Motto that you live by: My wife Cara and I run the company according to the following motto: “Surround yourself with great people under a common goal and get out of their way.”
How does being a part of Realty ONE Group help you and your agents do your jobs well?
For our agents, we are able to put more money back into their hands—which, in turn, allows them to build their own unique business. With the extra savings, they are given tremendous freedom to have their own autonomy and create excellent careers by utilizing our guidelines. For Cara’s and my part, we see ourselves more as a concierge service for our agents who are our clients. And by being part of Realty ONE Group, we are able to give agents excellent support, training and office space, as well as a great place to work and build their careers.
What is your best advice for hiring and retaining agents?
Set the example for what you expect and lead from the front. Not only are we honest, but we also give our agents a lot of feedback while being open to their feedback as well. We also try to be accountable for our own actions. In addition, we check in with our agents frequently to find out what’s going right and what’s going wrong. I feel like we are a family. It’s amazing how much can be accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.
How do you stay ahead of the competition?
We do not focus on our competition. While we are aware of what the competition is doing, we focus on ourselves and how we can become better.
What is one of the most innovative things you are doing today?
Every day, we strive to deliver that “wow” factor. Our culture is inclusive in nature, and we offer leadership, business support, technology and a winning commission structure. This is a family-like environment.
What is the one thing your agents say is the best thing you do for them?
We are all about broker support. We answer their calls 24/7 and go out of our way to let them know that each and every one of them is very important to us.
How has your market weathered the impact of COVID-19?
With all of the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, we didn’t know what would happen, so we faced COVID-19 with the mindset that there may well be opportunities, so we needed to find them. To that end, we’ve been holding Town Hall meetings with our employees so that we all have a good feel for the organization, our culture and what’s happening. To address the issue of selling houses while sheltering in place, we turned to virtual open houses. And, perhaps most importantly, we tried to give buyers as much information as possible upfront so that they could make their decisions as easily as possible.
For more information, please visit www.realtyonegroup.com.
Lesley Grand is a contributing editor to RISMedia.
