HomeSmart International announced CEO and Founder Matt Widdows has once again been named to the 2018 Swanepoel Power 200 (SP200) list of the most influential leaders in real estate. Widdows, who has been named to the list for several consecutive years, increased his ranking by four spots to come in at No. 21 for 2018. Widdows’ ranking on the prestigious list also makes him the highest-ranking leader included in the list from Arizona for the second year in a row.
“There continues to be recognition and affinity for HomeSmart’s high-performing brokerage model,” said Widdows. “Our staff works tirelessly to bring that model to the forefront of industry discussion so that more agents can keep more of the money they earn, while giving brokers a clear path to profitability. My inclusion on this list shows that those efforts continue to pay off.”
In addition to Widdows’ high ranking on the 2018 SP200, he was also ranked No. 5 on the SP200 Power Brokers list, a subset of the main SP200 that acknowledges executives who predominantly oversee company-owned brokerage firms. Widdows leads with a focus on empowering and supporting agents with proprietary technology and streamlined operational processes.
“Our first priority is our agents,” said Widdows. “Our brokerage business system and company-built technology platform has allowed our flagship brokerage to process more than 30,000 transactions last year with just 30 employees. Those same technologies and processes have helped our franchises to run more efficiently than the rest of the industry, while providing valuable services to their agents.”
The SP200 annually ranks the top executives in the residential real estate industry and publishes eight categories covering Corporate Executives, Power Brokers, Technology Executives, MLS Leaders, Women Leaders, Emerging Leaders, Trendsetters, Social Influencers and the overall SP200. This year more than 3,000 leaders were reviewed and researched, resulting in a total of 274 listed across the 10 SP200 categories.
Last year, Widdows and his companies were also recognized by other leading industry and local organizations for exemplary leadership, high levels of production and dramatic growth. Some of these include Arizona Foothills Magazine (2017 Best National Valley-Based Company), 2017 Real Trends 500 (No. 10 for transaction sides and No. 15 for transaction volume), 2017 RISMedia Power Broker Report (No. 9 for transaction sides and No. 13 for sales volume) and 2017 Inc. 5000 (No. 1908 overall). In 2017, HomeSmart International opened 40 new franchise locations and increased its agent count from 10,949 to 14,462 – a 3,513 net agent growth.
To learn more about the HomeSmart franchise business model, click here.
