Mulinix and Lee said they don’t sell homes, which is unusual in Norman’s real estate industry.

“In Norman, in almost every single real estate office, the owners are competing against their agents,” Mulinix said. “How can I say: ‘Here let me help you,’ when I’m competing against you?”

Lee said Keller Williams of Norman further distinguishes itself from competitors by treating its employees fairly, whether they’re a top producer or somewhere in the middle.

“We treat our associates like partners, whereas a lot of real estate companies focus all their attention on one or two agents,” he said. “If that agent has a bad month, bad year, then it changes the company’s whole outlook.”

One big change

In the decade since Keller Williams of Norman opened, things have changed in the real estate business. Prices have gone up. Lending practices have gotten weird. But Mulinix and Lee agree the Internet has had the biggest impact on their business and how it’s conducted today.

“The last 10 years have changed for the positive,” Lee said. “Technology has changed the face of real estate nationwide. It’s taken us to a much more proficient, professional level.”

Mulinix said the Internet also has changed the buyer.

“When I first started, we had to get people in the cars, get them out to the house,” Mulinix said. “Today 80 percent of home buyers check online first, so they’ve already seen what they like and what they don’t. The Internet has saved us so much time.”

Norman’s Keller Williams agency has more than 60 associates, but only five full-time employees. The company is co-owned by Mulinix’s brother Russell, a corporate attorney in Oklahoma City.

“I will only work with family,” Mulinix said. “You trust them, you don’t have to question their loyalties.”

Russell’s profession also comes in handy, Mulinix said.

“It’s wonderful having a lawyer as part of the company,” she said. “We have access to Rusty pretty much whenever, unless he’s in court.”

Mulinix said she and her brother also have a system of checks and balances that keep the business running smoothly.