First Team Real Estate is celebrating its 40th anniversary as the largest independent real estate firm in California. It has grown from 5 agents in 1976 to over 1,700 agents today across 25 offices. The company has sustained its success through commitment to service, innovation, and local market expertise. It aims to provide a full-service experience for clients and differentiate itself through in-depth local knowledge and resources. First Team continues expanding its market share while maintaining its focus on the Orange County region and client service.

1. www.rismedia.com
L-R Michael Marshall, CFO; Cameron
Merage, Founding President & CEO; Mark
Hughes, COO; Terry LeClair, SVP Sales
First Team Real Estate
RREIN Member
NewCommitment to Service and Innovation Lead
to Sustained Success for First Team Real Estate
Page 48
Years40

2. by Barbara Pronin
RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
Commitment to Service and
Innovation Lead to Sustained
Success for First Team Real Estate
Years New40
Mark Hughes
COO
First Team Real Estate
RREIN Member

3. RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
Barbara Pronin: What a special
time in the history of First Team
Real Estate, Mark. I know you are
excited to join Cameron and the
Merage family in commemorat-
ing this 40th
anniversary.
Mark Hughes: Absolutely. It’s a
time to focus on our history of ac-
complishment, and we’re planning a
series of events and recognitions to
thank our people and make the mile-
stone special for everyone. At the
same time, we see this as a great
time to look ahead, to strategize
and gear up for new successes in
our next 40 years.
BP: How would you characterize
the company’s current position-
ing in your marketplace?
MH: Our primary market remains in
and around Orange County, where
we are an established market lead-
er—No. 1 in sales units and volume
for the past 10 years or more. We’ve
expanded our footprint into parts of
Los Angeles and Riverside counties,
and the most recent RISMedia Pow-
er Broker Report ranked us 14th
in
the nation in sales, but we are best
known here, in the region that has
made us their brokerage of choice.
BP: How has the company
evolved over the years to adapt
to changes in the marketplace?
MH: We are proud to be the origi-
nal Orange County-based real estate
company. When Cameron opened
his first office in Huntington Beach
in 1976, this was a young, desir-
able and fast-growing region with
great weather and miles of coast-
line, midway between Los Angeles
and San Diego. Now, it is more than
ever a place where many people
from around the world want to live,
and we have been able to grow with
the region, both as a full-service re-
source and a trusted advisor to our
clients.
BP: What would you point to as
your competitive differentiation?
MH: We are the local market expert.
Nobody knows the local market like
we do, and nobody provides better
service. As a result, we have earned
both name recognition and a reputa-
tion for outstanding customer care.
We are a one-stop shop, providing
mortgage, title, escrow and other an-
cillary services, and we maintain a
distinct global presence through our
exclusive associations with Chris-
tie’s International and Leading Real
Estate Companies of the World®—
an important advantage in our high-
end market areas. While we tend to
have a higher price point than some
competitors, we are acknowledged
experts in pricing and value creation
for both buyers and sellers in all
markets. And while we capitalize
on digital and social media outreach
opportunities, we also utilize print
media to reach a more traditional
demographic. Also, at a time when
many competitors are shrinking
their office space in favor of virtual
workplaces, we are the antithesis of
that. We still have relaxing and newly
remodeled Starbucks-like working
spaces that make life easier and
more pleasant for our agents as well
as our clients.
BP: What are today’s buyers and
sellers most concerned with when
it comes to buying and selling
real estate?
MH: Sales are brisk, and we ap-
pear to be back in a normalizing
market, although inventory still lags
demand. But we live in a changing
environment because millennials,
who make up about a third of today’s
buyers, have different needs and
“Our goal at First Team is to meet the challenges
of an ever-evolving real estate market with the
innovation, professionalism, and local market
knowledge that gives our clients an edge.”
-CAMERON MERAGE, Founding President & CEO, First Team Real Estate
S
wiftly approaching its 40th
anniversary, First Team Real Estate, with 25
offices and more than 1,700 agents, is the largest independent real estate
firm in California. Last year, the Orange County-based company was ranked
11th
among the largest privately held firms in the nation. That’s an enviable growth
curve for a company that was founded by President and CEO Cameron Merage with
just five agents in a single office in 1976. “But our phenomenal growth is only part of
the story,” notes COO Mark Hughes. “We take pride in being as technically proficient
as any firm in the industry. But what sets us apart is our commitment to serving
as the full-service equation in an ever more virtual environment.” In this exclusive
interview, Hughes discusses First Team’s full-service philosophy—and its continuing
promise to exceed the expectations of every agent and client.

4. RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
expectations than the generations
that preceded them. They want a
comfortable “nook” instead of a Mc-
Mansion—a home that is “greener,”
more efficient, easier to manage,
and close to good schools, shopping
and restaurants.
BP: How are your sales associates
meeting these changing consum-
er needs?
MH: We understand that we are no
longer keepers of the housing data.
Consumers today have access to
massive amounts of market informa-
tion. What they don’t have is the expe-
rience or expertise to analyze all that
data and make it work to their advan-
tage. So we see ourselves as a “real
estate and lifestyle concierge”—a
one-stop resource able to help them
match expectations with market reali-
ties. Our long experience and unique
knowledge of the local market helps
us to do that best.
BP: What is the company doing in
terms of training to keep its sales-
force equipped to succeed?
MH: We believe in daily coaching
and lifetime learning. After our new
agents go through licensing school,
they attend a three-week “Power-
Curve” course at our Irvine head-
quarters to get their careers ignited.
Then they attend weekly training in
technology, marketing, lead genera-
tion, follow-up, transaction manage-
ment and all things related to real
estate. Once they are up and run-
ning, we offer mastery classes three
weeks out of every four in specifics
like Google apps, negotiation, social
media marketing, and other topics
designed to put them—and keep
them—ahead of the industry curve.
BP: How are you recruiting and
retaining top agents?
MH: We maintain a presence on so-
cial media, but we also have the lux-
ury of our local standing, so for the
most part, people call us, and our
agents are typically our best recruit-

5. RISMedia’s REAL ESTATE
ers. We just tell our story, and our
value proposition, and it’s a draw for
both new and experienced agents.
We have developed a roadmap to
a career-oriented agent model that
can help our agents build predict-
able, dependable and sustainable
careers. By and large, this is a 24/7
business, but we know the impor-
tance of life balance, and our goal is
to help improve the quality of life for
every one of our agents by helping
them work smarter, not harder. We
strive to provide all the tools, strate-
gies, training and support they need
to perform at their very best, in ad-
dition to all the recognition, cultural
support and information-sharing
that helps keep them at the top of
their game.
BP: How has your technology
evolved to meet the demands of
agents and consumers?
MH: Our goal is to marry ingenuity
and creativity with technical innova-
tion. We have a strong IT department
and cutting-edge proprietary soft-
ware, and while we do utilize some
great third-party apps, we take great
pride in creating our own solutions.
We believe in thoughtful contact
management, and we consistently
push breaking market information to
our agents so that they are able to
execute faster than anyone else.
BP:How have your marketing and
promotional strategies evolved to
better connect with today’s con-
sumers?
MH: As I mentioned earlier, we re-
main heavy into print media to keep
us front and center, but we combine
that with incisive digital media and
mobile marketing to improve the
consumer’s overall experience. We
use our own in-house marketing
department for creating yard signs,
flyers, custom agent collateral tem-
plates and other promotional mate-
rials, which enables us to be both
fast and market-forward. Also, the
Merage family is a philanthropic pil-
lar of Orange County and many of
our agents are leaders in their own
communities, dedicating a lot of
time and energy to helping people
in need. For 40 years, we have sup-
ported local organizations ranging
from Orangewood Children’s Home
and the Irvine Public Schools Foun-
dation to the Salvation Army, Second
Harvest Food Bank, the Leukemia
and Lymphoma Society and Music
For a Cure. We know that we owe
much of our success to the support
of our clients in all the communities
we serve. Through our charitable
giving, we are able to help improve
the quality of life in Orange County
and express our gratitude for that
support.
BP: In your opinion, what do to-
day’s agents need to succeed?
MH: A combination of personal
dedication and accountability, su-
perior market knowledge, and great
organizational support. That’s what
enables them to drive the best ex-
periences for every buyer and seller.
And doing that is what helps them
build long, productive and rewarding
careers.
BP: Again, congratulations on 40
years of success. What are your
plans for continuing to grow the
company?
MH: The Orange County community
continues to grow, and while we will
expand our footprint over time, our
immediate goal is to double our over-
all marketshare in the next three to
five years. We have increased mar-
ketshare in the luxury market by
double digits in the last few years,
and we believe that this increase,
plus our full service and interna-
tional reach, are just a few of the
factors that will help us reach that
goal. Cameron had a long-term stra-
tegic vision when he founded First
Team Real Estate—an unwavering
commitment to client service, value
creation and unmatched knowledge
of the local market. That’s the vision
that still inspires us, and it’s what
we all aspire to. RE
For more information, please visit
www.firstteam.com.
“Giving back to the communities in which our
agents live, work and play is ingrained in the First
Team culture.”
-CAMERON MERAGE, Founding President & CEO, First Team Real Estate