In my short time in real estate, I have met agents who are doing fifty to one hundred transactions a year solo. They do, of course, rely on an assistant or other staff in the brokerage. But the majority of the Realtor work is being done by them. I applaud them, but I'm not looking to go that route. 

In fact, I wasn't even thinking of getting into real estate a year ago. I was into my 32nd year at Delta Airlines and things in the airline industry were deteriorating faster than a Country/Western-song relationship. So,I bailed out of that and took my brother, Craig, up on his offer to move to San Ramon, California and join him and his wife, Tracey, in their real estate business – The Harper Team at Keller Williams in Danville, CA.

It turns out that we have different, yet at times, overlapping skills and talents that create a great foundation for teamwork. I read a lot in blogs and books that the move toward teams is the future of a successful real estate business. I'm sure there will always be the Lone Rangers, but it seems to me if you want a life beyond the cell phone, a team makes more sense. 

Of course, working closely with people has it's rewards and challenges and there are those times when one needs to seek guidance outside the conventions of your local office water-cooler-therapy group. I found The Five Dysfunctions of a Team to be a worthwhile read. When you throw a few family dynamics into the mix, things can get very interesting at times. Fortunately, as the older brother,I learned to be respectful of a younger brother who taught karate!

Let me introduce you to each of us and give you a little background. I do this because we want your referral business. I think there is great potential in networking and we want to make it clear that we are looking for other like-minded business people to work with.

Tracey Harper, the good looking one in the middle, puts the REAL in Realtor. Tracey grew up in the area, so she brings the invaluable asset of intimate knowledge of the local area to the team. Tracey's business background is as a bookkeeper. That's another big plus.

She worked for Standard Pacific Homes, a big builder out here in the San Ramon Valley. Tracey moved up to assistant comptroller and decided it was time for a change. She went into sales and closed escrow on over 300 homes for Standard Pacific before deciding to move on.

To me, Tracey is a little weird – she loves contracts! Tell me that isn't an asset in this business. I've never seen anyone get excited about going to a seminar on lender fraud.

Tracey's biggest asset to the team is her – her personalness, her soul. She is just a nice, friendly, engaging person which makes it easy for my brother and me because all we have to concentrate on is getting clients in front of Tracey. It takes about ten minutes for a client to start offering Tracey all future business from their young children.

In the next segment we will discuss what sibling rivalry brings to a team.