Andy Sachs, one of the country’s top-producing real estate professionals, has left Coldwell Banker to bring the Around Town Real Estate Team to Keller Williams (KW).

In 2019, according to a release, the Around Town Real Estate Team sold $87 million in properties — representing more than 200 homes — and was the top team for Coldwell Banker in the Westchester / Fairfield County region. That same year, Newsweek named Keller Williams the top real estate agency for customer service.

Keller Williams is recognized for its strength as a technology-driven firm, and was named a 2019 Most Innovative Company in the urban development/real estate sector by Fast Company for building an AI-powered virtual assistant that gives its agents hyperlocal information about neighborhoods and listing data that can be shared with buyers and sellers.

KW began prioritizing technology in 2015, with the goal of creating a platform that agents, buyers, and sellers prefer. The technology was one of the key reasons why Sachs made the switch after first being approached by Keller Williams.

“Coldwell Banker has been fantastic for me — I got my start with them over 15 years ago,” Sachs told The Newtown Bee. “But it was time for a change, and after what ended up being a two-year recruiting process and learning more and more about what they had to offer, it was really their technology suite that blew me away.

“Also culturally, it’s a very inclusive place to work. There’s a lot of sharing of ideas to help make everyone more successful,” Sachs said. “So about three months ago I decided this would probably be the direction we’re going in. So I sat down with my team, explained why I thought the move was good for everybody, laid out the financial benefits, projected our planned growth opportunities, and they saw the opportunity as well. And it was humbling that 100 percent of the team came along.”

“We’re excited to welcome the Around Town Real Estate Team to the Keller Williams family,” said Dan Raposo, CEO/Team Leader of Keller Williams Realty in Ridgefield. “At Keller Williams we believe in succeeding through people, and having these nine incredible agents join our team is a huge win for us, and the opportunity to bring the Keller Williams culture and focus on the consumer experience to Newtown is also very exciting.”

“The business is changing faster than ever, and joining forces with Keller Williams will help us stay on top of it,” Sachs said. “Our goal with every client is to gain the same level of trust they extend to their attorneys, accountants, and financial advisers. To achieve that, we need to stay ahead of the curve, and Keller Williams is looking out on the horizon of what’s coming toward us next and preparing for it.”

Modernizing The Market

From a broader perspective, Sachs said he also saw the move to the KW brand as an opportunity to modernize the Connecticut real estate market.

“They really took a tech-focused approach to go toe-to-toe with the Zillows of the world,” Sachs said, referring to the American online real estate database company. “And they matched that advanced technology with great customer service. I was really impressed by that. And they welcomed us with open arms. Not a day goes by that I’m not getting texts, phone calls, and e-mails congratulating us for making the move.”

With a background in sales, marketing, licensing, and branding, he has long realized the real estate industry offers a true chance to help people, and has limitless opportunities for growth.

“It’s unlike anything I had ever experienced before,” Sachs said.

Though they come from various backgrounds, he said three words sum up the Around Town Real Estate Team across the board: bold, transparent, and innovative. Since this vernacular pulses through Keller Williams’ culture, Sachs’ team is excited to join forces.

“All of our team members are intelligent, passionate, and opinionated,” Sachs says. “We try to build consensus, and so much comes from simply listening to their ideas and their thoughts. The overarching feeling we get with Keller Williams is an openness to be able to try new things in an environment that is kind and supportive.”

But, he said, it’s the complex network of moving parts that ultimate sets the Around Town Team apart, Sachs said.

“We’ve always been good at the follow-up, the many little details that our clients appreciate,” he said. Combining that now with Keller Williams customer relation management tools, the branding, and the personalized apps available for every single client will help Sachs and his team move on to a new and greater level of service.

'Trusted Adviser Status'

“I’ve always told my team to treat every client as though you have the same trusted adviser status as their attorney or their accountant,” he said. “We take that approach and live that. Then you take a high functioning team like mine and give them better tools, better marketing opportunities, and they will be better agents for every client they meet.”

Sachs said from a real estate perspective, Newtown has always been very traditional. And with 93 percent of buyers looking online for properties, Sachs believes the tech-focused brokerage that he is now operating will bring a different feel to the local market than people are used to seeing in Newtown.

He said his office will also relocate.

“The new space will be a little more modern,” he said. “We’re in the middle of wrapping up a lease agreement and renovating now.”

Sachs said given the size and global reach Keller Williams has, “our connections have nearly doubled — and there are some wonderful growth opportunities that Keller Williams affords us that I couldn’t do before.”

“This is a forward-thinking, nimble company,” he added, “and I’ve always tried to run my team that way so we can pivot quickly, we can try new things, we can fail fast — if we fail — and that’s kind of the Keller Williams mantra as well. They’re trying new things and figuring out better ways to service their agents and their clients. I want my team to have awesome careers and I want to be able to afford them those opportunities. That means acquiring more clients and serving them better.”

For more information, visit thearoundtownteam.com — or facebook.com/yourconnecticutrealtor.