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 as a right. 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 stated. “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 nicely sufficient for him to purchase his first property – a rental the place he lived along with his greatest pal, Missouri native Josh Weinberg. Josh was working in gross sales for a nationwide homebuilder, and whereas he appreciated the true property trade, the 2 usually commiserated about their day by day grind. That’s after they began fascinated about 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 chums had grow 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 received pushback from family and friends, who thought they had been making an enormous mistake coming into the true property trade in the midst of a downturn. Nonetheless, the prevailing market situations supplied an sudden profit. Whereas different corporations had been contracting and brokers had been leaving actual property, Tommy and Josh took up the slack, rising and constructing their community and database. “We had been on the market hustling, assembly individuals, actually constructing relationships – which has been the inspiration from day one,” Josh stated.
On the outset, the companions centered on what they knew greatest: They concentrated their efforts on serving to current faculty grads discover condominium leases, realizing these renters would finally flip into householders. With persistence, their technique labored, and those self same purchasers referred to as again after they had 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 sporting a number of hats – and approaching burnout. They knew they wanted help, however as Tommy stated, “Whenever you begin to make cash 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 had been doing nicely, they discovered themselves making hiring selections primarily based on favorable private impressions, somewhat than on a candidate’s profession potential. They finally acknowledged they had been doing a disservice to potential expertise and to their enterprise.
Later, after becoming a member of Keller Williams® ONEChicago, they realized how essential a complete hiring technique could possibly 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 stated the deep-dive strategy to hiring has allowed them to set expertise up for fulfillment by positioning every particular person in a task that not solely makes use of their strengths, however fuels their hearth to return to work every day. “Arms down, CV is the primary game-changing factor for our enterprise, which can also be a game-changer for our life,” Josh stated. It’s what’s allowed them to scale their group to 16 members sturdy.
Offering for his or her group’s success has grow to be Josh and Tommy’s prime precedence. “Our group is tremendous essential to us. Impacting their lives and [helping] them obtain every little thing they ever dreamed of and extra is why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Josh stated.
Discovering A Clear Cultural Match
Their give attention to private affect finally 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 in regards to the firm. They had been shocked by the cultural alignment. Tommy recalled, “After we discovered extra about it … we realized Weinberg Choi was principally Keller Williams. We had been residing the tradition of what KW was.” That’s after they made the choice to affix Keller Williams® ONEChicago.
They plugged into KW programs and fashions right away. Josh stated, “Earlier than we joined Keller Williams, we had tried out each totally different mannequin with our group, and we had been very, very worthwhile. However we realized we actually didn’t have a mannequin – apart from attempting each totally different factor.”
By being strategic about their new hires and following a specialist mannequin, Tommy says they added years of data to their group with out having to take action in real-time. “And we realized that not solely may we’ve got a much bigger life, we may create a much bigger alternative for everybody that’s a part of our household at Weinberg Choi,” Josh stated.
The distinction was fast. Earlier than becoming a member of Keller Williams® ONEChicago, Weinberg Choi was averaging $30-35M in gross sales quantity a 12 months. Of their first 12 months with KW, they hit $50M, and from 2021-2024, they averaged greater than $100M in gross sales quantity and 150-175 items offered yearly. Since their founding, the group has offered greater than $1B in actual property and served greater than 2,000 purchasers. It’s an accomplishment they by no means imagined could be doable for a referral-based enterprise.
Defining the Trendy Actual Property Skilled
After they made the choice to affix Keller Williams® ONEChicago, Josh recalled they did so understanding they might have the ability to run their enterprise in line with their beliefs and values, and construct on the model they’d labored so onerous to ascertain.
As a enterprise, Tommy says their differentiator is serving their purchasers 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 repute is about creating helpful, well timed posts that construct belief with followers. For Tommy, it’s additionally about letting his character shine by means of and creating real connection. The twin-pronged strategy to advertising helps them keep prime of thoughts with previous and future purchasers, 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 happy with not simply what I’ve achieved, however what we’ve achieved as a group, collectively,” he stated. “Particularly understanding the rationale why I’m within the place I’m as we speak was due to his journey right here.”
Watch the total KW Actual Property Function Fashions Weinberg Choi profile @kellerwiliams on YouTube.
