Teles Properties is the product of the imagination and experience of Lou Piatt, Peter Hernandez, Steve Shull and their partners, Ernie Carswell, and Melissa Alt. Lou and Peter began working together in the early 1980s as the respective President and Regional Manager of Jon Douglas Company.

When Lou and Peter began wondering "what if" they started by examining their experience to remind themselves of all of the good ideas that they were exposed to over the previous 30 years in the real estate business. They had been exposed to a lot of great ideas - concepts they admired included high-end imagery and marketing, integrity, good customer service, and good service to agents. They also studied and hoped to emulate the most attractive features of progressive companies outside of the real estate field, such as Apple, Google, Nike, and Goldman Sachs.

As the partners researched past and current real estate companies, they observed a fatal flaw: in virtually every company, 20% or 30% of the agents in each office provided almost all of the offices' income. Still, real estate companies throughout the U.S. were still dedicating their valuable resources to supporting very large numbers of non-productive salespersons, often introducing their least capable salespersons to clients in an effort to jump-start their careers. The partners decided to take a different path. It was clear to them that if they built offices staffed only by that 20 to 30% of productive agents, they could redirect the resources saved by not employing low-performing salespeople into providing better services and support for both agents and clients.

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Though the Teles Properties model was simple and direct, months and months were dedicated to the development of the concept. The company committed itself to opening offices only with experienced, productive salespersons with good character. The model also included developing a professional image that reflected the values of the company's owners and sales associates; creating an environment dedicated to improving the real estate experience as a whole; building great marketing systems that would meet the needs of the company's customers and agents, and creating a new company philosophy founded on the concept of "partnership, rather than the typical real estate company – agent relationship.

Typical real estate companies and offices are built on large numbers of salespersons, most of who do little business and exhibit a minimal amount of skill and competence. Companies hire large numbers of these salespersons with the hopes that some of them will succeed. This formula has some success in an over-heated real estate market, but it is far from ideal. Teles Properties is based more on the concept of a professional law firm or investment banking firm, where each member of the team is held accountable for their performance, their competence, their level of service, and their integrity. In turn, the company believes in cultivating an environment that fosters collaboration and feed-back where everyone's opinion is sought and considered.

Teles Properties believes that real estate service can be elevated, and that the customer experience can be greatly enhanced. That higher level of service includes a commitment to customer confidentiality, a special level of loyalty, and a promise to provide clients with competence and integrity. The Partners reviewed all of the possible real estate models before developing the Teles Properties' unique concept. In the end, we realized that there was a niche for a professionally managed real estate boutique, catering to a clientele seeking a higher level of service and competence that respects loyalty, confidentiality, and the importance of personal relationships.