Though they are not on a team together and both are high-performance solo agents, Brent Banks and Amanda Stewart share an interdependent business relationship that supports their individual goals and achievements. At their former brokerage, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Demorest, Georgia, Banks ended 2019 with 33 transactions at nearly $5 million in volume. Stewart was the #1 agent in that office with sales of $9.7 million and 50 transactions. Neither could have done it without the other.
Their story begins about six years ago when Banks began helping Stewart’s husband, Zane, purchase a string of rental properties. A family friendship was born. When Stewart left her job in marketing to stay home with their new baby, she helped her husband manage the rental property business. “It snowballed from there,” she says. As the Stewarts were building their investment portfolio, Banks was guiding and advising them, and handling the transactions.
When the business was burgeoning, it made sense for Stewart to get her real estate license. “Brent is the reason I’m an agent today,” she offers. “He’s been doing this with great integrity for more than 25 years. I watched how successful he was and how he never compromised how well he treated people. He’s a bigger part of my story than he probably realizes. He mentored my husband and I, and freely shared advice and encouragement so that we could be successful.”
Banks feels so proud to be a part of both the Stewarts’ lives. “I’m helping their family and they’re helping mine. In fact, all of our lives are so intertwined that both of our families went to dinner together and made a group decision to join Keller Williams.” Banks was content where he was, but couldn’t help noticing what Keller Williams was doing in the market. “I was watching KW’s market share grow, while other companies were stagnant or losing ground. I also saw top agents from other companies making the move and experiencing plenty of early success. You don’t see that in other companies,” he adds. “It became very clear that KW is where I needed to be.”
For Stewart’s part, she’s quick to say that she made the move because Banks did. Both of them prefer Keller Williams’ commission structure and are excited to tap into training and education to get some leverage and expand their businesses. Banks says the success of his collaboration with the Stewarts is a proverbial case of iron sharpening iron. He sees that’s the culture of Keller Williams too. “Amanda and I are so encouraged to be around other like-minded agents who share so eagerly, truly want to see us do well, and are already pushing us to reach our fullest potential.”