“I have always believed that great leaders develop great leaders,” says Ed Krafchow, chairman of the board, Better Homes and Gardens Mason-McDuffie Real Estate. In the following interview, Krafchow expounds upon how his company is growing for success.
Ed Krafchow
Chairman of the Board
Better Homes and Gardens Mason-McDuffie Real Estate
Barbara Pronin: Let’s begin with a little background on Mason-McDuffie Real Estate…
Ed Krafchow: Mason-McDuffie has been a landmark real estate company in the Northern California/Western Nevada marketplace for 125 years, with an unmatched reputation for quality and service in every market we serve.
BP: How do you choose potential partners and what makes this model work so efficiently?
EK: We chose Better Homes and Gardens as a national umbrella for its fresh approach and inventive mindset, and our partners for their ability to stay sensitive to local conditions and respond to their needs with great ideas for growth. Our newest merger resulted in the formation of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Bahay Co. “Bahay” translates as “my home” in Tagalog, because this dynamic and highly successful group of agents, led by Rob Burton, Adora Lazaro and David Gardner, works closely with the Filipino community.
BP: How did you identify this underserved group, and why did you decide to take up the challenge to provide real estate services to underserved groups in your region?
EK: As our vision statement says, we “celebrate diversity.” In San Francisco, where we have a sizeable Chinese population, we needed agents who not only speak the language, but understand the needs of foreign nationals as well as the needs of other potential foreign clients who wish to buy property in this country. With our partner, Bahay Co., we’re honing in on the Filipino community because of its unique quality as a culture that intensely values homeownership.
