No one can predict the future of real estate, but you can prepare. Find out what to prepare for and pick up the tools you’ll need at Virtual Inman Connect on Nov. 1-2, 2023. And don’t miss Inman Connect New York on Jan. 23-25, 2024, where AI, capital and more will be center stage. Bet big on the future and join us at Connect.
San Francisco-based OWN Real Estate has joined Keller Williams, according to an announcement on Wednesday. The 19-agent team closed 80 transactions worth $107.1 million in 2022 and has a lifetime sales volume of $900 million.
Wilson Leung
“Keller Williams’ culture is second to none, and its referral network is the best locally and nationally,” OWN Real Estate founder Wilson Leung said in a statement on Wednesday. “KW teaches agents to run profitable businesses with good margin and reserves, and in my eyes, exemplifies this given they are one of the few private brokerages that still exist.”
Leung launched his real estate career in 2003 at the age of 16 as a property manager. He earned his broker’s license in 2010 and founded OWN in 2014 as a Keller Williams team. Leung left the Texas-based franchisor in 2019 for Side Real Estate, a company that partners with and helps high-performing teams and independent brokerages grow through backend structural support.
Despite his success with Side, Leung missed Keller Williams’ training, coaching and education.
“I’m education and learning-based, and so is Keller Williams, and that is why I came back,” he said. “This is a market where you take market share for the future … I recommend that real estate agents build your brand and relationships as a hedge for tomorrow.”
“What we’re doing now may not get us paid today,” he added. “And we must be okay with measuring our day, week, and month with activities that will build our business for tomorrow. That’s my mindset for this market.”
Debbie Bradley
Keller Williams Northern California and Hawaii Regional Operations Manager Debbie Bradley celebrated Leung’s return to the franchisor and highlighted his intelligence and integrity.
“We proudly welcome back home Wilson Leung to Keller Williams,” she said. “Wilson is one of the brightest minds in real estate and has an exemplary reputation in the local and national real estate market.”
“Besides being one of the biggest producers, he conducts himself with high integrity and treats people with the utmost respect,” she added. “His influence on diversity and opportunity in the market is second to none.”
Keller Williams has spent much of its recruiting power on ‘boomerangs’ — the term used to describe an industry-wide trend of agents and team leaders returning to their longtime brokerage affiliations as the market slid into an abrupt slowdown. Several of the franchisor’s high-profile additions in 2023, such as the Ken Pozek Group and Laurie Finkelstein Reader Real Estate, fit into this trend.
“I saw what KW was doing with [agent] communities and it excited me,” Pozek told Inman of his return. “Finally breaking down the behemoth of a company into interest groups that allow people to excel where they’re at. When I thought about where would best allow us to grow and thrive, KW was a clear choice.”
Keller Williams President Marc King said the franchisor’s training and coaching systems are one of their biggest value propositions and have been key in recruitment and retention this year.
“The market that we came from was a speed-based market. We have the stats to show the percentage of business won by the first or second agent involved with a consumer. But now we are in a skills-based market,” he told Inman in a previous interview. “To that end, we’re singularly focused on enabling our agents through training, coaching, masterminding, modeling, technology and more to charge the storm and position their businesses to continue to grow over time, no matter the market.”
