With over 40 years of experience in real estate, Mo Anderson continues to lead the culture of Keller Williams
Realty as Vice Chairman.  As with many OKCMAR members, real estate was not her first career.  She was an elementary school music teacher for 14 years before making the switch.  “My husband was the one who encouraged me to go into real estate,” she said.  “He knew how hard I worked as a teacher, yet the money was not there and there were college loans to pay off.”

Partnered with Jerry Brown and Ruth Honeycutt, she established her first real estate office, a Century 21 franchise, in Edmond in 1975.  It soon became the third top producing office out of 7,500 Century 21 locations in North America. In 1986, the company was sold to Merrill Lynch Realty, where she served as a district Vice President until December 1989.

Anderson joined Keller Williams Realty in 1991 and became its president and first CEO in 1995.  The growth over the past 24 years has been astonishing.  Anderson said, “Back then there were 1500 agents in 45 offices.  Today there are 189,000 agents in 36 countries.”

Since her first RPAC investment in 1982, Anderson has personally invested over $60,000. For the past decade she has been a Major Investor, giving at least $1000 or more to support RPAC’s efforts.

When asked why she is so personally invested in RPAC, Anderson responded, “Homeownership benefits could be taken away if we do not have an active political committee to make an impact in decision making in Washington”. 

Three major concerns continue to be motivation to invest.

• To keep those in government from
  trying to take away agent commissions

• To maintain the tax interest
  deduction for private property ownership

• To keep control of the industry in
  the hands of those in the profession

“If we don’t fight every day, every year the things that we take for granted could be taken away,” said Anderson.

She continued, “Our yearly challenge is to get our agents to understand that their livelihood is always under attack and you must always be prepared to fight back. RPAC allows us to do that.”

Anderson believes it is important for REALTORS® to understand free market capitalism and the tendency of countries to move away from the concept.  “In my years, I have seen what the move toward socialism does to a country.  If that were to happen in the US, we can forget about the benefits of homeownership.” 

“We are at a crossroads and it is a critical time for REALTORS® to understand the difference between free market and closed market. When you understand the comparison of the two systems, it becomes easier to understand why we should be involved in the political process.”

What does such an icon in the real estate industry suggest for brand new REALTORS®?

Start by knowing these three things:

• The Rules
• How to write a contract and listing agreement
• The foundation on which you are working

She added, “A good grasp of the market systems is important not only for political reasons, but it will also give you an appreciation of what it means to be a REALTOR®.  That is important.”