ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
The most influential in real estate, say readers

Who's who in real estate
The People's Choice

We asked you to name the industry's creme de la creme--in leadership, vision, impact, and innovation. Here are your choices for most influential.

This month, REALTOR^®Magazine publishes its special issue on the 25 most influential people in real estate in the year 2000, chosen by the editors.

Since you're in the trenches--and likely to have strong opinions--we also asked you to identify who's making an impact on your business life. Many of you responded over the past few months with a breadth of choices. We received nominations for industry heavyweights, such as Homestore.com CEO Stuart Wolff and RE/MAX CEO Dave Liniger; the broker next door, including a Washington state broker who's mentored and motivated her salespeople to success; and even entities, such as REALTOR.COM and e-mail.

Without further ado, here are your picks in alphabetical order:

Ann Arthur, salesperson, RE/MAX of Midland, Midland, Mich.

Jon Boyd, salesperson, The Buyer's Agent Ann Arbor, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.

Howard Brinton, president, Howard Brinton Seminars, Boulder, Colo.

Richard T. Christopher, president and CEO, Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate, Pike Hockessin, Del.

Douglas Dayhoff, Matt Hays, and Ari Vidali, executives at iProperty, Indianapolis

E-mail

Matthew J. Ferrara, president, Matthew Ferrara Seminars, Boston

Tim Ford and Vijay Sankaran, founders, Expeditrix Corp.

Tom Hathaway, The Buyer's Agent, Inc., Memphis

James W. Heavener, ERA Europe

Bradley Inman, president, HomeGain.com, Emeryville, Calif.

Gary Keller, founder, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, Texas

Dave Liniger, chairman and CEO, RE/MAX
International, Denver

Janice Corley McNair, broker and regional director, Coldwell Banker Residential, Chicago

Brian Meagher, broker and president, Minnetonka Realty, Spring Park, Minn.

Cameron Merage, CEO, First Team Real Estate, Orange County, Calif.

Sheri Moritz, president, Concept 2000 Realty Inc., Raleigh,
N.C

Andy Oldham, CEO, eHome

Sharon Prather, broker-owner, Pacific Northwest Properties,
Olympic Peninsula, Washington

Douglas Preston, salesperson, Arvida Realty Services, Weston, Fla.

Alan J. Rogers, chairman and CEO, Douglas Elliman, New York City

Stefan Swanepoel, 9keys.com, San Diego, Calif., former ERA senior vice president, Newport Beach, Calif.

REALTOR.COM

Merle Whitehead, president, Stovroff Realty, Buffalo, N.Y.

Kathy Williamson, salesperson, Prudential Georgia Realty

Stuart Wolff, CEO, HomeStore.com, Westlake, Calif.

Here's what you said about your picks:

Ann Arthur, salesperson, RE/MAX of Midland, Mich., has a down-to-earth style when it comes to buying and selling real estate. I've become interested in the real estate business because of Ann. I purchased my first home from her and sold that home with her and bought my second home with her. I have job shadowed her.

Her style and ethics make her a great candidate for Who's Who in Real Estate. She has a no-nonsense way when it comes to doing business. Ann takes the time to get to know her clients and what their needs are. She takes the time to walk through the real estate process step-by-step. Tell her your price range and area you'd like to live in and she'll do the digging to find that perfect home for you.

I plan on getting my real estate license because of her influence. Ann is approachable person, and her knowledge and experience are invaluable and priceless.
Mike O'Hare
maohare@hotmail.com
EDS
Midland, Mich.

1. Howard Brinton and his Star Power company, Boulder, Colo. Through his star of the month interviews, Howard has brought high-level ideas to anyone willing to listen. He has raised the bar.

2. REALTOR.COM, the No. 1 property listing site, which is working to keep the REALTOR^® at the center of the transaction as the transaction moves online.

3. E-mail, which is bringing a new level of response time to the industry.
Linda Norton
lindanorton@realtor.com
Rhoades Realty, Inc.
Fort Collins, Colo.

Richard T. Christopher, president and CEO, Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate, Pike Hockessin, Del.
isn't only the leader of an independent real estate company with nearly 40 percent market share, he's also a leader in our community, serving on the board of several non-profits and rallying the support of company salespeople and employees to participate in community events.

Our company is a member of The Realty Alliance, in which Dick plays an active role. He continues to be a visionary for the company, maintaining a balance between high tech and high touch.
Helen O'Hara
realinfo@psre.com
Patterson-Schwartz Real Estate
Pike Hockessin, Del.

Douglas Dayhoff, Matt Hays, and Ari Vidali, executives at iProperty, Indianapolis
Their clear vision has raised awareness about the crucial role of technology and transaction management in real estate. Their launch of one of a viable transaction management platform has helped make 2000 a year of advances in real estate technology.

The three leaders have set the bar for other real estate technology companies to follow. iProperty doesn't just deliver the application and leave customers to figure out how to use it--the company is very responsive and customer-friendly. When our brokerage began using Chorus, they invested weeks of training time, helping salespeople become comfortable, not just with iProperty's product, but with basic computer skills and Internet use. Their exceptional customer support has made it much easier for our salespeople to become tech-savvy and boost their businesses.
Shaun Tracy
shaun@micron.net
RE/MAX of Boise
Boise, Idaho

Matthew J. Ferrara, president, Matthew Ferrara Seminars, Boston, pioneered the no-geek-speak and no-sales-pitch approach to technology education in real estate in 1990, and has held skill development workshops across America and Canada every year since.

Ferrara has authored more than 25 technology classes approved for continuing education in more than two dozen states. Ferrara has written and delivered the GRI Technology segments.

Ferrara helps practitioners avoid the traps of tech hype, and deflect the disintermediaries who would otherwise use technology to cut them out of the system.
Matthew Ferrara
educator@att.net
Matthew Ferrara Seminars
Boston

Tim Ford's and Vijay Sankaran's, founders, Expeditrix Corp., first product, SmartClose, is a neutral online service provider that facilitates transactions but doesn't modify the traditional business roles of the closing participants.

When important documents are added to the system, participants receive instant notification via their chosen medium--phone, fax, pager, or PDA-- to keep abreast of each and every aspect of the transaction.
Kirstan Ryan
kirstan_ryan@lpp.com
Lois Paul & Partners
Austin, Texas

1. Tom Hathaway, The Buyer's Agent, Inc., Memphis is visionary and savvy. He has furthered the radical notion that buyers should be represented fully and professionally.

2. Jon Boyd, salesperson, The Buyer's Agent Ann Arbor, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich. Boyd has helped to create the first mortgage cooperative.
Bob Fisher
bob@realestate-annarbor.com
The Buyer's Agent of Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor, Mich.

James W. Heavener, ERA Europe, Winter Park, Fla., doesn't just talk about the global real estate market, he has made it a reality by helping establish 700 ERA offices in 12 European countries.

In doing so he has changed the real estate market not only in Europe, where he has introduced American-style techniques and methods, but also the U.S. real estate market, where he has broadened the scope of business to include the European Union.
Orlando Gonzalez-Arias
orlando1@retemail.es
ERA Spain
Madrid

1. Bradley Inman, president, HomeGain.com, Emeryville, Calif., is an Internet and technology pioneer and visionary. He has been one of the industry's most influential leaders. As founder of Inman News, he created the first news feature service for real estate and first online news channel for the industry. Later, he started HomeGain.com, a practitioner matching service for sellers.

2. Dave Liniger, chairman and cofounder, RE/MAX International, Denver, helped to revolutionize the brokerage industry. His company innovates more than all the other real estate franchises combined. He's also a maverick with charisma and an unflinching drive, who typifies the real estate sales industry.

3. Stuart Wolff, CEO, HomeStore.com, Westlake, Calif., is another true technology visionary. Wolff is one of the most powerful and thoughtful leaders of real estate's next generation.
Kevin Hawkins
kevin@tnlg.com
TNLG.com
Bainbridge Island, Fla.

Gary Keller, founder, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, Texas lets each of the Keller Williams franchise offices share up to 50 percent of its profits monthly. This year Keller Williams will share as much as $5 million with its associates. The result is a truly bottom-up, salesperson-driven organization.
Mark Willis
willis@kw.com
Keller Williams Realty
Austin, Texas

Gary Keller, Keller Williams Realty, Austin, Texas stresses the fiduciary aspect of real estate, and does all he can to keep the real estate professional central to the transaction.
Larry Daniel
Billy Long, Keller Williams Realty
Springfield, Mo.
ozarkshome@home.com

Dave Liniger revolutionized the real estate industry and paved the way for top producers to develop their skills and build their businesses and teams. RE/MAX is still the only company to have daily satellite network broadcasts of educational events.
Brandon Kekich
brandonkekich@remax.net
RE/MAX 100
Northville, Mich.

Janice Corley McNair, broker and regional director, Coldwell Banker Residential, Chicago, has inspired and motivated me, a 16-year real estate veteran, with her strong leadership.

When I hit low points, she supports and encourages. When I ran into trouble, she pushed to have the company begin a two-year legal battle to recoup my commission. When salespeople get caught up in business dramas, she checks in even if she's out of town.

She's the most influential person in my life because she develops my creative side, and most importantly, because she believes in me. This broker has a unique talent for bringing out the maximum potential and talent--hidden or not--in the people that work for her. That's an essential quality for all leaders.
Linda Rodriguez
homesforU@juno.com
Coldwell Banker
Chicago

Brian Meagher, broker and president, Minnetonka Realty, Spring Park, Minn., is single-handedly changing the way in which the sale of residential real estate is being practiced. Operating on higher ground, raising the bar, elevating the playing field--all describe this man's method, and his life.

Coming to work for Brian has changed my life. I left a real estate company with a corporate infrastructure and a large name to come to a small company with few salespeople. Was I crazy? Although terrifying, the risk was calculated, because of Brian's caliber and vision. His method of management is based on reciprocity. In other words "let me get to know who you are so I can give you what you need, so that you can work better for your clients."

A significant part of his 16- to 17-hour days are devoted to whatever, however he can help us or our clients.

Here, I'm more than my volume. Brian believes that if he builds a team based on respect and working towards a common goal, we'll succeed, thrive, and redefine the process of selling or buying a home.

Brian isn't just among the top 25 real estate professionals. He invented the top.
Cathryn Andrews, salesperson
tobytrevis@minnetonkarealty.com
Minnetonka Realty, Inc.

Cameron Merage, CEO, First Team Real Estate, Orange County, Calif., created First Team in 1976 with only two salespeople. His focus was on developing an advanced sales training program. Today the company has grown to more than 1,100 associates, 21 offices, and is on track to close more than $3 billion in sales.
Bill Plattos
billplattos@firstteam.com
First Team Real Estate
Costa Mesa, Calif.

Sheri Moritz, president, Concept 2000 Realty Inc., Raleigh,
N.C., has steadily increased her influence in the real estate industry in the past three years. With the start up of her successful fee-for-service real estate company selling $14
million-plus in 1998, the first year, and $30 million-plus in 1999, she's expecting sales of $40 million-plus in 2000.

She promotes fee-for service nationally, consulting with other brokers who want to start a similar non-franchised business operating system. The system allows salespeople to take the structure of Concept 2000 Realty Inc. and establish their own brokerage--either fee for service, virtual, or traditional. Her company provides training.

Moritz has been influential in advancing the industry's Gen Xers. She has been successful in recruiting, training, and retaining Gen-X salespeople and employees. The office
manager is 22 and the administrative assistant of this tremendously busy office is 19. Sheri's currently working on GenXagent.com, a site for Gen X consumers to find Gen
X-friendly salespeople--techno-savvy and able to meet the communication needs of the Gen-X consumer.

Moritz has been recognized as a pioneer and advisor to many brokers about the virtual office. She's one of the first practitioners to implement a virtual office, where all of the
company salespeople work from their home--busy ones work from their cars. She has grown her virtual office staff from herself in a one-room office to a staff of 17 full-time virtual practitioners servicing three MLS districts throughout North Carolina.

Moritz also authored a book and Web site called RealEstateStartUp.com. The book is a guide to technology tools salespeople need, which comes with a trial version
of Microsoft FrontPage software so salespeople can design their own sites.

Moritz is an active member of the Real Estate Educators Association, and promotes salespeople's professional development through technology and education. In fact, she
obtained her GRI in 2000. She already holds the ABR.

In addition to her tremendous industry involvement, Moritz also established a non-profit organization called Homes with a Heart. As a former abused and foster child, Moritz started this fund-raising company offering real estate school scholarships to graduating seniors who are either in foster care or underprivileged. Homes with a Heart offers camping-canoeing trips and training in life skills, such as setting up bank accounts, interviewing for a job, and maintaining credit.

Moritz's impact and involvement will continue to influence the industry for years to come.
ReneeHillman
Concept2ks@aol.com
Concepts 2000 Realty
Raleigh, N.C.

Andy Oldham, CEO, eHome, started an online real estate brokerage back in 1998. eHome is forcing traditional real estate brokers to put consumers in control of the transaction.
Derek Overbey
doverbey@ehome.com
eHome.com
San Jose, Calif.

1. Sharon Prather, broker-owner, Pacific Northwest Properties, Olympic Peninsula, Washington, has an unbelievable understanding of the Internet and technology. And she's a NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^®e-PRO® 500 candidate.

2. Myself. I was instrumental in designing and forecasting how technology will be used to benefit the real estate practitioner. And I've completed the e-PRO® 500.
Douglas Preston
dpreston@westonflorida.com
Arvida Realty Services
Weston, Fla.

Alan J. Rogers, chairman and CEO, Douglas Elliman, New York City
Rogers has demonstrated leadership on major issues affecting the residential real estate industry in the nation's largest and most competitive real estate marketplace, New York City.

New Urbanism and Historic Preservation. He has focused on adding new residential space in cooperation with developers in a city where apartments are in short supply. He has led Douglas Elliman sales efforts to realize the largest share of downtown New York development projects by opening up new residential neighborhoods. To accomplish this, he has made an effort to convert vintage commercial buildings into state-of-the-art apartments.

Technology. Rogers is dedicated to educating the consumer and facilitating buying, renting, and selling through a continuing investment in innovative technology. He has taken a leadership role in creating a public Web site with combined residential listings from all New York brokerages. And he's developing and expanding DouglasElliman.com into a single source of real estate information for the consumer. The site is accessible on handheld computers for house hunters on the go.

Brand and image. Under Alan Rogers' leadership, Douglas Elliman enjoys the largest market share of the Manhattan residential marketplace, achieving more than $2 billion in sales in 1999. This record establishes a benchmark for successive sales increases at Douglas Elliman, now on track for almost $3 billion in sales for 2000.

To his long list of accolades, Rogers most recently added the honorary professor award from the Academy for Continuing Education, Real Estate Division.

Rogers has been in the real estate industry for more than 27 years. Prior to Insignia Financial Group's acquisition of Douglas Elliman in 1999, he concurrently served as managing director of Douglas Elliman and Milstein Properties. Earlier in his career, Rogers was with Knight Frank & Rutley, a real estate company in England, his native country.
David Pratt
dpratt@elliman.com
Douglas Elliman
New York City

Stefan Swanepoel, 9keys.com, San Diego, Calif., and former senior vice president ERA, Newport Beach, Calif., has written major works on the e-commerce revolution and the impact it
will have on organized real estate. His vision, evaluation, and suggestions in this area are a basic road map for the next generation of real estate companies.
Rick Hoffman
rhoffman@cbcalifornia.com
Coldwell Banker Associates Realty
San Diego, Calif.

Swanepoel is one of this industry's most prolific visionaries and thought leaders. As a real estate executive and an author, Stefan has consistently been ahead of the curve, leading the way for forward-thinking people in the integration of Internet technology and existing business paradigms.

His books, including 1998's, Real Estate Confronts Reality, and his newest title, Real Estate Confronts the e-Consumer, have impacted brokerages throughout the industry, as evidenced by the number of top brokers incorporating technology partners into their business models.
Doug Dayhoff
Doug.Dayhoff@iproperty.com
iProperty.com
Indianapolis

Merle Whitehead, president, Stovroff Realty, Buffalo, N.Y.
Whitehead is a prime mover and real estate veteran who has made Stovroff Realty the envy of the industry in Western New York. He has directed several mergers, the latest with the largest real estate company in the Albany area.

Stovroff is largest independent company in New York state. Projected 2000 sales should top 1.5 billion. Stovroff's innovative Web site provides REALTOR.COM-type Web sites to salespeople at a fraction of the cost. Stovroff.com lawn signs generate more hits than any local site. Stovroff's community presence is huge. Merle realizes that positioning salespeople to make the most transactions is key. He's involved in real estate governing boards on the local, state, and national level.
Richard McGirr
rmcgirr@stovroff.com
Stovroff Realty
Amherst, N.Y.

Kathy Williamson, salesperson, Prudential Georgia Realty, Buford, Ga., has only been in the business less than five years, but she did $16 million last year and closed more than 200 units. She has cutting-edge revolutionary methods of selling.
Stacy Reed
stacyga@aol.com
Prudential Georgia Realty
Buford, Ga.