Brandyn Herbold/Chad Roffers
When Herbold and Roffers formed SKY Real Estate a year ago, they did not sneak on to the real estate scene. These two Realtors, both formerly fast-rising producers with Michael Saunders & Co., opened for business with a splash.
From a unique ad campaign featuring the company's clients, to making sure they appear at -- and sponsor -- many local events, Herbold and Roffers wanted to make sure SKY Real Estate was visible.
Apparently, the strategy worked. Herbold and Roffers report that SKY sold more than $100 million in residential real estate its first year, growing from three to 13 sales associates in one year.
In 2002, Herbold opened brandyn & co., which generated $20 million in gross sales its first year. Before opening SKY, Roffers had been a $20 million producer himself with Michael Saunders & Co., and prior to that, he had been putting his MBA to work with Ad Auction, Cendant and U.S. West Dex (now Qwest), where he negotiated transactions with AOL Time Warner, Yahoo and Palm. In November, the pair bought an affiliation with Sotheby's International Realty, a coveted connection previously held by their former employer, Michael Saunders.
This year, SKY Sotheby's is tripling its office space. The new offices will feature meeting rooms with high-definition plasma displays of virtual home tours. The company will continue to stay on the technological front line; it provides its associates with BlackBerrys that give access to the MLS service and the ability to post new listings while in the field. In addition, the company is implementing a complimentary home staging service, a California trend that helps homes look their best for a faster, more profitable sale.
Herbold and Roffers predict that SKY's 2005 sales volume will increase 100% this year, based on projects in the pipeline and expansion plans.