Faye Whitney

Meet Faye Whitney, veteran real estate agent and independent to the core.

One doesn’t spend 15 years as a real estate agent working for three popular realty firms without gaining some pretty in-depth knowledge of how each broker works. Faye Whitney started part time with Reece & Nichols, moved to Realty Executives for 12 years, and inadvertently ended up with Keller Williams when her broker changed brokerage firms.

Eventually landing at Platinum Realty, Faye is a goldmine of information when it comes to comparing real estate company cultures, support and compensation. If you’ve been in real estate for any length of time, her story will sound familiar. If you’re a new agent, she has some valuable insight that can spare you a lot of time, frustration and money.

 

Faye Whitney Lives a Full Life, Her Way

Prior to becoming a realtor, Faye Whitney, now a two-year Platinum Realty agent, worked for AT&T where she honed her customer service skills. Even though most of those skills were perfected working with customers over the phone, face-to-face connections came naturally for her. She’ll be the first to admit that giving up a steady paycheck was scary, but that never stops true entrepreneurs like Faye.

While at Keller Williams, they changed brokerage firms. The forced switch was the catalyst for her landing at Platinum Realty. She explains, “I was co-oping with other agents and a former Realty Executive friend had already made the move to Platinum Realty. I didn’t like paying out so much commission. Who does? But KW raised the cap to $21,000, and that is a lot of money to give up, especially when clients are coming from your own advertising and referrals. Plus, I like independence and do most of my work from home, so I didn’t need an office so to speak.”

 

Regrets, She’s Had None

Faye knows the ins and outs of the business, follows the rules and doesn’t need someone watching over her shoulder. She was looking to make a change, so she met with Dennis Perkins, Platinum Realty’s Vice President of Operations.

“I felt a connection with Dennis. I look at everyone as a friend or family member in business, so that was an important factor in my decision to join Platinum Realty. He listens and is invested in resolving issues. I can brainstorm with him, and his door is always open. I didn’t have that before. Platinum Realty’s back office system is phenomenal. Everything I need to do business is there,” Faye says.

“Never before had any broker I’d worked with referred clients to me. For years, I’d seen brokers hand out referrals to their ‘inner circle.’ At the time, my Platinum Realty broker barely knew me, much less would call me ‘friend.’ But that’s the way it is at Platinum Realty. If someone sees an area or personality match, he or she shares it with you,” Faye explains.

Faye recently co-oped with a relatively novice agent. Though he has only a little over a year of experience under his belt, Faye was impressed with him from start to finish. “He did an excellent job, so she contacted him after closing and the discussion turned to commission. Bottom line: I was keeping 100% of my portion. Having worked for his brokerage in the past, I knew exactly how much he was not keeping,” she recounts.

 

Traveling each and every highway

Faye, a Kansas City native, is married with three sons. She, her husband and youngest live in Lee’s Summit, and she works out of the Platinum Realty office in downtown Lee’s Summit. Well, actually that’s a bit of a stretch. Faye prefers working from home, and goes into the office about five times a month.

Licensed in Kansas and Missouri, much of Faye’s business is in eastern Jackson County. However, she travels each and every highway as far north and south as necessary when clients or referrals call.

Faye says, “I imagine that in five years that I’ll still be selling real estate. I won’t give that up, but my husband and I have a dream of traveling through all fifty states and also seeing the world.”

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