Murney ranks high after second year in business

After less than three years in business, Murney Associates has jumped into the top 500 realty companies in the U.S.

With offices in Springfield and Nixa, the company was recognized in the recent Real Trends 500 annual report, a news publication for the real estate industry. Rankings of the U.S. firms were determined by closed transaction sides and closed sales volume.

Murney Associates was ranked 247 amongst U.S. brokers in closed transaction sides, representing either the listing or selling portion of a closed residential transaction. The company also ranked 354 in sales volume with a 1999 figure of approximately $241,772,362, a growth of 17.3 percent from 1998. The first two rankings also placed the company at 93 of the 161 largest privately owned independent realty companies. Locally, that places them at the top spot among Springfield area brokers ranked individually and fourth in Missouri.

Owner Patrick Murney said his company ranked so well in the report because "we have been fortunate to attract top-notch agents."

The firm operates with a strong focus on customer service, Murney said, treating each sale as an "educational process."

"Selling a home is a whole process," he added. "We don't just sell a home and then drop it. We do thousands of transactions every year, but for a customer, it may be their only one."

Besides attracting good agents, Murney said he works to keep them as well. "We set up our offices in a way that is very conducive to our agents," he said. "We are not into egos, we don't have titles and we stress that everyone is an equal. Everyone is treated equally, whether they are an agent or a switchboard operator."

Marketing meetings are held weekly, where agents work to help each other improve sales. Training seminars are also well-attended on a weekly basis, said Jack Rhoads, Murney Associates' director of associate development.

"We have a powerful team and a camaraderie like I have never seen in my 22 years in real estate," Rhoads said. "The altitude of our attitude is very helpful."

The weekly training seminars Rhoads conducts is "a reiteration of what we need to do," and can cover topics from how to hold a better open house to methods of closing sales. Though each agent and their production is measured individually, the company places an emphasis on teamwork.

"This company is set on the premise that it's like we are on a rowing team," Rhoads said. "You can set and reach individual goals but if we don't row together then we won't win as a team."

According to the Real Trends Report there are approximately 80,000 real estate firms in the U.S. The top 500 firms represent less than three-fifths of 1 percent of those companies. The top 500 brokers completed more than 23.5 percent of all new and resale transactions in 1999, totaling 2,494,684 home transactions with a value of approximately $476 billion.

Murney Associates was founded in July 1997 with 26 agents. It has grown to 132 agents in two offices; the headquarters is at 1625 E. Primrose in Springfield and the branch is at 485 Aldersgate in Nixa.