It’s a homecoming of sorts says Britt Lopez, who has been with Keller Williams since 2004 — back when Dallas City Center was a franchise of the brand. When Dallas City Center split from the brokerage and became independent, Lopez decided to go to Keller Williams Urban, where she has been since 2012. Now, she’s back with Kevin Caskey and his team of top-performing agents.
“For me, it’s a fresh start. It’s a new year, and it’s important for me to do that, to start over,” Lopez said. “I need to be around people who are like me, who work as hard as me, to keep me up there. I believe that an agent is only as good as the agents around them, and Dallas City Center is just a good working environment.”
Of course, Caskey is thrilled to have Lopez back, as it proves that the Dallas City Center brand has become a force on par with larger national brokerages that have more resources. For Caskey, shows that investing in the individual team members is a formula for success, especially considering the exponential growth his team posted in 2014.
“I’m very happy that she’s coming back,” Caskey said, “because that’s showing that she sees us as a success.”
Lopez’s East Dallas Real Estate website has become a neighborhood resource for those looking to buy or sell in Lakewood, Hollywood-Santa Monica, and Forest Hills. And likewise, with her endless hustle, Lopez has turned into a household name in some parts.
“I work all over East Dallas,” Lopez said, “but Hollywood Heights has my heart.”
That’s not a bad place to be, considering the kind of growth this neighborhood is seeing. And with demand and rising prices, a good Realtor is an asset that can’t be matched. With a competitive market, it’s important to be focused on growth and making each quarter bigger than the last. That’s important to Lopez, too.
“I do want to grow, and I do want to grow with them,” Lopez said of Dallas City Center.
The interesting part is the meteoric rise of this independent brokerage, which posted numbers that are $45 and $100 million ahead of its nearest competition.
“The people we used to compare ourselves to, we don’t anymore,” Caskey said about his fast-rising team. “I think [Lopez] saw that our agents were succeeding and thriving,” even without a big franchise affiliation, he said.
The big change will be regarding how Dallas City Center does its branding, Caskey added. It’s all very much focused on the agent, not the brokerage’s brand. And there’s a level of training, development, and support in his office that is attracting many agents from other brokerages, too. It’s definitely a recipe for growth, Caskey said.
“When [Lopez] left, she thought she needed the franchise name, but a lot of our agents have found that it really doesn’t matter,” Caskey said. “I thought, of all people, she didn’t need anyone else, Britt is a brand all her own.”
