6 | Home Towne Real Estate
posite of agents affiliated with a national
firm ten years ago. At the time, this team
was comprised by people with ten to fifteen
years experience in real estate, and business
was pretty good. The team had great sales,
but what was not so great were the operating
costs, from the mortgage fees to percentages
paid to the national office, the agents began
to speculate that if they took more control of
their destiny, they would not only fare better
professionally, but would also be able to pro-
vide better services for their customers. As
Benton says, “They knew they had the refer-
rals and ability to sell. They felt that if they
had a little more freedom, they could do the
job better, and make a better living too.”
Benton says there was not so much fear
of leaving the seeming job security they had,
but there was some fear of the unknown.
Nonetheless, the team seized the opportuni-
ty and went on to open a small office, taking
it upon themselves to set-up the phone lines,
paint the walls, decorate the interior and
do everything else to transition into a full-
fledged operation. In the ten years that have
followed, that small business has evolved to
