Lisa Rees Top Agent Leavenworth County, KS

You would never know by talking to Lisa Rees that she is the #1 agent by volume and transactions in the Lansing/Leavenworth region. Nor would you suspect she’s one of the top producing REALTORS® in the entire state of Kansas. Lisa is friendly, humble and laid back, even though she’s one of the most successful real estate agents in the state.

What’s perhaps most fascinating about her meteoric rise to the top of the Kansas Real Estate industry is that she never planned on a career in helping others to buy and sell homes. Instead, she happened upon the career almost by chance. “My husband and I owned the local Dairy Queen with his family for ten years. After we sold the franchise I stayed home with my two little girls until they were in kindergarten and second grade,” Lisa says. But when a friend of Lisa’s mentioned that he was planning to buy land to develop a new subdi­ vision, she recalls saying to him, “Why don’t I be your REALTOR® and sell the homes for you?”

The fact that it was 2007, and the beginning of the recession and rapid housing market decline didn’t deter her, though she does admit some of her friends and family were curious about the timing. “A couple of my friends did ask me if I was nuts,” she says with a laugh. “But I didn’t put much into the thought that it was a bad market. I have lived in the area for a long time, and I was very fortunate to have many family and friends put their trust in me in the beginning. It just seemed to snowball from there,” she adds.

All the same, Lisa did employ some smart marketing strategies from the very beginning of her career. “I knew how important internet exposure was from the start so that was my main focus. My husband, Brian Rees, helps so much with my online marketing and getting my name on many search engines. We did a lot with Active Rain and that seemed to help get us started as well. He spends a lot of time deciding where and what works best in that regard. I also did a lot of floor time, got a lot of sign calls, and hosted open houses,” she adds of being disciplined and eager to learn all that she could in the early years of her career.

She credits a great deal of her suc­ cess to the wonderful staff and her brokers at Coldwell Banker Reilly and Sons. “Working for such an amazing company that has been in business for 90 years has really been a true benefit as well. The company has helped me build a strong found­ ation in Real Estate and continues to teach me new ideas and strategies. CB Reilly and Sons continues to hold over 70% of the market share in the area which says a lot both to me, and to my clients. I also work with many very good agents. It is a great team environment.”

Lisa is equally as hardworking for her community as she is for her clients. In 2013, together with friends Hillary Anderson of Leavenworth Rentals and Jody McKnight of Leavenworth Family Dental, Lisa co­launched Hustle for Hunger, a 5K charity run with all proceeds being donated to both the Backpack Buddies Program in various schools and the Lions Food Pantry. In the first year, the race raised $5,000. By its second year in existence, proceeds from the charity race (www.hustle5K.com) topped $7,000. They plan to increase their donationsstill says there is more to accomplish. “I believe there is always room for improvement.”

As far as the future is concerned, Lisa plans to continue to do wha thas proven so successful thus far, while also venturing into innovative new marketing and educational tools for her clients. “I’m planning to start creating videos, and launch a new blog,” she says. In addition, she says that each year, she strives to become a little better at communication, organization,andkeepingtouchwith past clients. Although she’s clearly already found the keys to success, Lisa still says there is more to accomplish. “I believe there is always room for improvement.”