Defying the odds, this neighborhood brokerage firm is thriving as it celebrates 20 years of ups and downs in the Atlanta market.
With its original office tucked away in what used to be a Sinclair gas station along East Lake Drive in Decatur’s Oakhurst neighborhood, Keller Knapp Realty is a small-business success story that stands out in the Atlanta real estate market. While many small firms have closed or merged in favor of large, corporate brokerages, Keller Knapp Realty has thrived to become one of Atlanta’s most respected mid-sized firms.
What started as a single office in Oakhurst with a small handful of agents has grown to nearly 200 agents with 3 offices in Atlanta. And a fourth office is planned to open later this year.
Being small and nimble is one important ingredient that has helped Keller Knapp succeed in today’s rough-and-tumble real estate market. “Without large corporate oversight and bureaucracy, we can quickly make decisions and pivot to do what’s best for our agents and our clients. The Atlanta market and how we do business changes on, what seems like, a daily basis. We must be able to respond quickly so our agents can provide exceptional service to our clients”, says Weslee Knapp, Broker/Owner of Keller Knapp.
Indeed, Keller Knapp appears to be a place that attracts agents who want a high level of Broker support and agent engagement, with a boutique firm culture. According to Melissa Wakamo, Managing Broker, “We have grown very organically over the years. We don’t do aggressive recruiting to try to fill our roster. Instead, we rely on our agents to help us put the word out to the agent community about how unique our company is. We’re very hands-on in our approach to training and support.”
As large companies with high-tech/low-touch business models seem to be taking over the market, Keller Knapp has stayed true to their original Mission: Always with Atlanta’s great good in mind, our mission is to strengthen our communities through agent engagement, providing unmatched local expertise to our clients in a way that only a neighbor can.
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