QUESTION:
Off the top of my head, I can think of so many different real estate companies: Re-Max, Coldwell Bankers, Windermere, VanDorm, Prudential, Century 21, and of course, Greene Realty. Can you explain how all this works? --Megan--
ANSWER:

Great question! There are so many real estate companies out there and they have a variety of specialties and things to offer. To the client the agent is more important than the company. My optimistic belief is that a great agent will work for great company. Winderere, Prudential, Coldwell Banker all are real estate franchises. They have benefits in the national name recognition and resources offered to their agents. However, the agent has to pay for those services as part of their commission (their paycheck).
Our company, Greene Realty Group; was started up like any new business by Jim Greene. He is a business graduate of WSU and was the top selling real estate agent in Thurston County in past years. He is a hard-working, moral family man that runs his company based on his beliefs. He was an agent for another privately owned company in downtown Olympia before starting his own company. The great idea he had was to hire a marketing specialist. Her name is Lea Finnell and she does phenomenal work for each agent. She designs and orders our business cards, she designs our branding and she creates a new lovely flyer for each of our listings. She is in charge of our website, GreeneRealty.com and does our newspaper advertising lay-outs as well. You name it and she does it.
Our company has really great agents who get together weekly to discuss new listings and ask for help to find homes for our clients. We bring in speakers from the community to learn about new programs. Recently we helped out at the Thurston County Food Bank. We filled bags with apples and sorted through others to discard the bad ones. Another group made pie crust bags for Thankgsiving. Although we are all independent contractors, we do have a strong team ethic that also makes our office unique. We follow Jim's lead when gray areas arise. They often do in this business as every transaction is a learning experience.
There are many Internet and cut-rate agencies out there. There are reasons to use those companies. It depends on how much you have the time or expertise to do yourself. We are full time professional Realtors in our office. We offer superior service. At Van Dorm for instance, many agents have full time jobs and do real estate on the side. You have to be full time to work at Greene Realty. Each company has strengths and weaknesses. The people that work there should reflect the service level of the company! Shop around and interview agents after asking friends and family for referrals! --Shelly--