With greater than $1B in gross sales in 17 years, the co-founders of Weinberg Choi Residential in Chicago constructed their actual property enterprise on relationships.
An Early Lesson in Homeownership
Native Chicagoan Tommy Choi has by no means taken homeownership without any consideration. As a younger boy, Tommy’s grandfather usually reminded him of one of many prime causes he immigrated to the USA from South Korea: for the chance to personal his own residence. “He needed to place his stake within the floor,” Tommy mentioned. “He needed to say that this piece of Chicago, this piece of America, was his.” His grandfather impressed upon Tommy the assumption that homeownership wasn’t a assure, however a privilege. Tommy couldn’t have guessed how this attitude would later issue into his life’s work.
A couple of years after graduating from faculty, Tommy was at a profession crossroads. He was making good cash, however he was depressing in his day job. His inside gross sales place with a tech firm paid properly sufficient for him to purchase his first property – a rental the place he lived along with his finest buddy, Missouri native Josh Weinberg. Josh was working in gross sales for a nationwide homebuilder, and whereas he appreciated the actual property trade, the 2 usually commiserated about their each day grind. That’s once they began fascinated with constructing one thing collectively.
Tommy and Josh already knew they made good enterprise companions. Again in faculty, they’d created a worthwhile autograph gross sales enterprise that funded journeys and events. They harnessed the identical entrepreneurial spirit to write down up a brand new marketing strategy, and by 2007, the buddies had turn out to be licensed actual property brokers. Preferring to construct an impartial model, they opened Weinberg Choi Residential as a boutique brokerage and by no means thought of becoming a member of a bigger group.
Regardless of their enthusiasm and dedication, Tommy and Josh obtained pushback from family and friends, who thought they have been making an enormous mistake coming into the actual property trade in the course of a downturn. Nevertheless, the prevailing market circumstances supplied an sudden profit. Whereas different firms have been contracting and brokers have been leaving actual property, Tommy and Josh took up the slack, rising and constructing their community and database. “We have been on the market hustling, assembly folks, actually constructing relationships – which has been the muse from day one,” Josh mentioned.
On the outset, the companions centered on what they knew finest: They concentrated their efforts on serving to latest faculty grads discover house leases, realizing these renters would ultimately flip into householders. With persistence, their technique labored, and those self same shoppers known as again once they have been prepared to purchase. The strategy resulted in year-over-year progress for the companions’ burgeoning enterprise.
Discovering A Sport-Altering Hiring Technique
Because the enterprise grew, Tommy and Josh discovered themselves carrying a number of hats – and approaching burnout. They knew they wanted help, however as Tommy mentioned, “If you begin to become profitable as an agent, that’s if you begin to get protecting over it.”
After 4 years, they made their first rent, and later grew to a seven-person group. Whereas they have been doing properly, they discovered themselves making hiring choices based mostly on favorable private impressions, somewhat than on a candidate’s profession potential. They ultimately acknowledged they have been doing a disservice to potential expertise and to their enterprise.
Later, after becoming a member of Keller Williams® ONEChicago, they realized how vital a complete hiring technique might be to their efficiency and progress. They adopted Profession Visioning, KW’s four-step expertise screening course of, and by no means appeared again. Josh mentioned the deep-dive strategy to hiring has allowed them to set expertise up for achievement by positioning every particular person in a job that not solely makes use of their strengths, however fuels their hearth to come back to work every day. “Palms down, CV is the primary game-changing factor for our enterprise, which can also be a game-changer for our life,” Josh mentioned. It’s what’s allowed them to scale their group to 16 members robust.
Offering for his or her group’s success has turn out to be Josh and Tommy’s prime precedence. “Our group is tremendous vital to us. Impacting their lives and [helping] them obtain every part they ever dreamed of and extra is why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Josh mentioned.
Discovering A Clear Cultural Match
Their give attention to private affect ultimately led Tommy and Josh to Keller Williams. In 2016, a colleague they admired, who had simply joined a KW® market middle, invited them to sit down all the way down to be taught extra concerning the firm. They have been stunned by the cultural alignment. Tommy recalled, “After we discovered extra about it … we realized Weinberg Choi was mainly Keller Williams. We have been dwelling the tradition of what KW was.” That’s once they made the choice to affix Keller Williams® ONEChicago.
They plugged into KW programs and fashions immediately. Josh mentioned, “Earlier than we joined Keller Williams, we had tried out each completely different mannequin with our group, and we have been very, very worthwhile. However we realized we actually didn’t have a mannequin – apart from making an attempt each completely different factor.”
By being strategic about their new hires and following a specialist mannequin, Tommy says they added years of information to their group with out having to take action in real-time. “And we realized that not solely might now we have an even bigger life, we might create an even bigger alternative for everybody that’s a part of our household at Weinberg Choi,” Josh mentioned.
The distinction was fast. Earlier than becoming a member of Keller Williams® ONEChicago, Weinberg Choi was averaging $30-35M in gross sales quantity a yr. Of their first yr with KW, they hit $50M, and from 2021-2024, they averaged greater than $100M in gross sales quantity and 150-175 models offered yearly. Since their founding, the group has offered greater than $1B in actual property and served greater than 2,000 shoppers. It’s an accomplishment they by no means imagined could be doable for a referral-based enterprise.
Defining the Fashionable Actual Property Skilled
After they made the choice to affix Keller Williams® ONEChicago, Josh recalled they did so figuring out they might be capable of run their enterprise in response to their beliefs and values, and construct on the model that they had labored so laborious to determine.
As a enterprise, Tommy says their differentiator is serving their shoppers as “trendy actual property professionals.” To the Weinberg Choi group, meaning leaning into offline cellphone calls, lunches, and face-to-face touchpoints, whereas additionally offering digital content material that engages their audiences and will increase their on-line visibility. From explainer movies on rate of interest shifts to mortgage fundamentals and native restaurant suggestions, Tommy says constructing a web-based popularity is about creating helpful, well timed posts that construct belief with followers. For Tommy, it’s additionally about letting his persona shine via and creating real connection. The twin-pronged strategy to advertising helps them keep prime of thoughts with previous and future shoppers, whereas serving as a throughline to their tradition and mission.
Tommy says he will get to honor his grandfather’s legacy with each shopper they serve. “I feel my grandfather could be very pleased with not simply what I’ve completed, however what we’ve completed as a group, collectively,” he mentioned. “Particularly figuring out the explanation why I’m within the place I’m at this time was due to his journey right here.”
Watch the complete KW Actual Property Function Fashions Weinberg Choi profile @kellerwiliams on YouTube.
