ERA^® Real Estate, a global franchising leader within the Realogy family of brands, announced today that RSVP Real Estate, based in Bellevue, Wash., has affiliated with the ERA^® brand. 

The market-leading firm will now be known as RSVP Real Estate ERA Powered and immediately becomes one of the largest companies in the ERA system with over $1 billion in sales volume in the last 12 months. The ERA Powered^® flexible branding option gives companies a choice to leverage their local brand identity and benefit from the ERA brand’s full suite of learning, marketing and servicing resources. 

The family-owned brokerage, which now has more than 400 agents and serves western Washington with a concentration in King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties, was founded in 2004 by Chief Executive Officer Steve Kloetsch and his son Andy Kloetsch, who serves as Chief Operating Officer. They initially operated as a two-person company before recruiting agents into the business in 2008. 

The Kloetsch duo leveraged a family legacy in the real estate industry. Quentin Kloetsch, Steve’s father, founded Spokane-based RSVP Construction in 1971 and built it to become one of eastern Washington’s leading custom home builders.

Details:

• RSVP Real Estate is one of the largest independent firms in the Northwest Multiple List Service and a market-leading brokerage in both sales volume and transactions. 
• The company has been recognized for consistent growth by the Puget Sound Business Journal in its Top 50 Eastside Fastest Growing Private Company rankings and the Top 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the state. 
• They chose the ERA Powered model to maintain the RSVP Real Estate local name recognition and well-respected family legacy, while taking advantage of the ERA brand’s rich suite of training, marketing, technology and lead generation tools, such as ERA Moves, TextERA, the Customer Satisfaction Survey and the Buyer Follow Up program.
• Steve and Andy Kloetsch plan to grow the company through mergers and acquisitions and the ERA development team will work collaboratively with them to help identify and cultivate opportunities. Additionally, Steve and Andy plan to attract full-time real estate professionals.
• Steve and Andy Kloetsch plan to take advantage of ERA’s Top Affiliate marketing, systems and training to continue to help them grow organically, which is an added benefit of their affiliation with ERA.
• Steve Kloetsch previously spent 28 years in various sales and marketing positions in telecommunications. Andy, a graduate of Washington State University, joined the business after starting his career in radio journalism.

Quotes:

“For more than 15 years, Steve and Andy have worked diligently to grow their business into a powerhouse real estate company. Not only do they possess a deep knowledge of the industry, but they are also deeply committed to the professional development and growth of their affiliated agents. As an ERA Powered company, they can implement ERA’s services, products and enhancements best suited for their agents to help them grow their business their way. The ERA Powered model works tremendously for anchor companies like RSVP Real Estate as they are able to continue with their successful operations and branding, and are now fully supported by the growth, lead generation, business consulting and marketing support that comes along with an ERA partnership.”

-Sherry Chris, President and CEO of ERA Real Estate

“We are proud of being a family-owned firm and consider our agents part of the family. By joining ERA, our family now extends across the country and around the world, which is a powerful benefit. As we explored opportunities to drive growth, we were determined to find a partner with a similar culture of treating people right, ERA network’s inclusive and collaborative community really resonated with us. In addition, the brand’s industry-leading technology, tools and platforms will support our recruiting, retention and production goals and perfectly complement our very hands-on, always-on agent support that is a hallmark of our company. We’ve continued to have great success since we founded our company and realize that in order to continue to grow strategically and profitably we needed a collaborative partner that would help us build our capabilities, increase our learning, and more."

-Steve Kloetsch, Co-Founder and CEO of RSVP Real Estate ERA Powered

“When we started our business in 2004, we were very deliberate and measured in growing the company. We realized that we could do things differently and succeed in one of the most competitive real estate markets in the nation by putting the needs of our affiliated agents first. Today marks another deliberate and measured decision that will support our continued growth by arming our team with tools and training that align with today’s connected consumer. At the end of the day, we will always be focused on growth opportunities that will truly benefit our agents.”

-Andy Kloetsch, Co-Founder and COO of RSVP Real Estate ERA Powered

“We’ve always had a deep appreciation for how technology can positively impact people’s lives and that is especially true when it comes to our agents, as they create and sustain relationships with clients. As an ERA Powered company, we’re excited to be able to offer our agents access to a turnkey, comprehensive and innovative technology solution that we could not efficiently offer as an independent firm. Instead of spending time researching, vetting and implementing new technology, we can focus our efforts on richer, face-to-face interactions with our agents to better refine our offerings and provide more personalized technology support to help enhance their relationships with clients and prospects.