The Summa Story

How it all started

Summa Real Estate Group was founded by Tim Horst and Eric Martinez in 2009. After selling real estate with traditional firms for more than 20 years, Tim and Eric wanted to create a company that gave more ownership to Realtors. Summa Real Estate Group was the first in the industry to create passive income opportunities for its brokers, allowing a Realtors to work on their business, instead of their business working on them, and providing real opportunity for retirement income.

After months of hard work, Summa Real Estate Group opened its doors. Just two years later, Summa now has seven locations and 140 Realtors in two states. Today, Summa is poised to expand across the country.

At the core of the Summa story is an entrepreneurial drive, shared by the owners and Realtors, alike.

What does Summa mean?

Summa is Latin for "a Summit" or "the highest peak." Tim and Eric wanted a name and logo that represented not only individual accomplishment, but teamwork and collective achievement. What better symbol than a group of people with the right equipment, setting out to summit a mountain together.

Succeeding in business is difficult without the right tools and training. Summa provides realtors with the most extensive and innovative set of tools to reach the summit of their business potential.

The New Model in Real Estate

Until now, a Realtor's income and opportunity reached as far as their next closed transaction. It is rare in the industry today, that Realtors are offered a retirement income. Summa provides an opportunity for Realtor to create a passive income for as long as they are licensed with Summa. This is not connected in any way to company profit or performance.. This unique program can easily add thousands of dollars per month to the Realtor, whether or not they close a transaction.

The Summa culture is very different from the typical real estate company model. This model promotes a realtors creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit. And thanks to our innovative passive income program there is a sense of shared ownership that promotes teamwork, longevity and gives opportunity to realtors that has never been seen before.

Summa believes that a properly trained Realtor, given the right tools and sound opportunity, will not only excel in today's real estate industry, but will enjoy themselves along the way. Summa is a positive group, where shared innovation helps the company and individual succeed.

Tap into Your Entrepreneurial Side

Summa franchising is tailor-made for agents who want to tap into their entrepreneurial side, while minimizing risk as much as possible. Franchisees have the freedom, compensation and decision-making of an owner, yet can count on the support, resources and market position of the well-regarded Summa Real Estate Group.

This setup is ideal for agents who have that entrepreneurial mindset--who know exactly how they want to address their local real estate market--but may need some help getting started with the more commercial aspects of their business, such as advertising, tech resources and accounting concepts.

Be Part of a Truly Different Culture

At Summa we don't just talk about building a better environment, we do it, because it's just good business. Our priorities include, positively impacting our community, building our brand equity and maximizing our profits. To do those things, we need to establish the kind of synergy that can only be achieved when everyone truly buys in.

That means every person in our organization working toward the same goal. By fostering a people-first philosophy and emphasizing collaboration and teamwork, we ensure all our agents have every tool and opportunity they need to thrive. By promoting an enjoyable atmosphere and a fun culture in our workplace, we're simply preparing to succeed.

That includes everything from helping a co-worker on a listing, to dabbling in philanthropy. We pride ourselves on community involvement because we've found that it brings us together as a team. Further, helping out our neighborhood instills a passion in us to not only do our jobs well, but to ensure we're making the right kind of impact in our community.

Utilize Cutting Edge Technology

We're very pleased to have agents who strive to give 100% every day, but we also realize that there are a myriad of resources available that can make that 100% easier to achieve. As such, we're eager to provide the technological tools that can make a business grow exponentially. That means everything from having an absolutely state-of-the-art IDX platform, to providing web design, social media and blogging to those of our agents who are eager to embrace some of the non-traditional marketing methods. Further, for agents who'd rather master the technology themselves, we offer plenty of assistance as well as continuing-education workshops. This ensures that when the latest smartphone is unveiled, or the next Twitter goes live, our agents will know how they can harness its business potential.

Testimonials

“Real estate franchising works for me because it’s nice to know you have the freedom to run your own business, but the name recognition, experience and resources of a bigger company. Summa sets itself apart through the quality of leadership and outstanding web ability and presentation materials, as well as an unequivocal commitment to help and support their franchisees in any way possible.”

--Jim Mitchem, Summa Eugene

“At my last company, I handed 40% of my commissions directly to a principal broker. At Summa, I keep the vast majority of the money I bring in. That kind of forward-thinking attitude and cutting edge business model really represents Summa’s ideology. Further, the passive income earned for helpingbring talented Realtors to the company is a win/win for me, the company and the new brokers.”

--Aspen Clayton, Summa Bend

“Summa's Business Model differs from traditional real estate companies in that Summa Corporate focuses on a culture of teamwork. They’re priority is helping each agent succeed. This has a trickle-down effect, and means that each franchise owner really puts their brokers first to ensure individual success, which leads to team success.

Instead of charging high training and desk fees and commission splits, Summa helps the broker generate more income and then lets that broker keep it! I strongly believe in the Summa business model. I am so proud to be a part of Summa Family and look forward to adding members.”

--Mika Kobayashi, Summa Bethany