Our Story

A company built for real estate agents – by real estate agents.

Keller Williams® Realty, Inc. is an international real estate franchise company with more than 75,000 real estate agents, operating in more than 670 market centers (offices) across the United States and Canada. Keller Williams Realty is currently the second-largest residential real estate company in the United States.  In 2010, Keller Williams Realty CEO Mark Willis announced the expansion of Keller Williams Realty beyond North America. 

Founded in 1983 by Gary Keller and Joe Williams with the mission to build careers worth having, businesses worth owning and lives worth living® for its associates, Keller Williams Realty has been among the fastest growing real estate franchises in North America.

In 1991, the company began franchising, and in 1998, opened its first international franchise in Canada.

In 2011, during the most challenging real estate market in history, Keller Williams Realty not only surpassed Century 21 to become the 2nd largest real estate franchise in the U.S., the company also ranked as the No. 1 real estate franchise on the 31st Annual Franchise 500 list by Entrepreneur magazine.

Despite market conditions, Keller Williams Realty has continued on a growth trajectory that has outpaced the industry and its competitors.

 

 

Additional industry highlights include:

  • REAL Trends, Inc. – Represented 23 percent of the top 500 brokerages ranked by closed transactions and 24 percent of the top 500 brokerages ranked by closed volume in the annual REAL Trends 500, 2011
  • REAL Trends, Inc./Wall Street Journal – Represented 23 percent of  the top 1,000 agents and teams in the U.S. in annual ‘The Thousand’ report
  • Entrepreneur Magazine – Ranked #1 real estate franchise on the 31st Annual Franchise 500 list, 2010
  • Inman News – Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board Gary Keller named one of the 100 Most Influential Leaders in Real Estate, 2011
  • Inman News – eEdge named the Most Innovative Web Service in the real estate industry, 2011
  • Training Magazine – Highest ranking real estate franchise on the annual Training Top 125, #47 Overall, 2010
  • Swanepoel Trends Report – Most Recognizable Real Estate Franchise for 2009, #1 Industry Trendsetter for 2009
  • Inc. Magazine – One of the Top 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America,  2009
  • American Business Awards – Sales Training/Coaching Program of the Year in 2009
  • Franchise Times - Top Quartile of Franchise Operations in the U.S., 2009