Linda Sherrer, Gino Blefari, Christy Budnick, Elizabeth Hudgins and Tom Petway at the annual awards ceremony

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty recently honored its top real estate professionals during the company’s annual awards ceremony. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices also welcomed a special guest to the festivities – Gino Blefari, who recently took the helm as CEO of HSF Affiliates, LLC, the parent company of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, Prudential Real Estate and Real Living Real Estate brokerage networks. Blefari succeeded Earl Lee, who retired last year.

Prior to joining HSF Affiliates, Blefari was president and CEO of Intero Real Estate Services, Inc., a leading real estate brokerage based in Silicon Valley. Blefari founded Intero in 2002 and built the company into one of the fastest organically growing firms in real estate. Real Trends ranked Intero No.12 for sales volume in its 2013 study of the 500 largest U.S. Brokerages.

“Gino is a pioneer and one of the most innovative professionals in the real estate industry,” said Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Network Realty Founder, President and CEO Linda Sherrer. “He exemplifies true leadership – helping others achieve success. Our associates take great pride in our company and they loved Gino’s energy and hearing his leadership message.”

Many find it remarkable that Blefari operates as CEO of one of the fastest growing real estate franchises in America, and is actively involved every day in mentoring agents to succeed and achieve their goals in their real estate business. It was fitting to have Blefari in attendance as Sherrer shared the exciting news about her team’s outstanding success and record-breaking results for 2014.

For the fifth straight year in a row, the company achieved double-digit growth in closed sales. In 2014, the company had its busiest December in company history with more than $82 million in closed sales. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices new listings increased nearly 12 percent over the previous year. Additionally, the company’s closed sales of homes priced above $500,000 in 2014 increased by more than 32 percent over 2013 results. The company outperformed the Northeast Florida Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which reported a 14.8 percent increase in 2014 closed sales priced above $500,000 over the previous year and a 6.2 percent increase in new listings in 2014.

The annual awards celebration honored the company’s 2014 top producers for their performance, accomplishments and sales success. The winners include:

• Elizabeth Hudgins of the Ponte Vedra Beach office led as top producer with more than $38 million in closed sales.
• Stefanie Bernstein of the St. Augustine office was named top agent in listings.

• Al Kekec of the Beaches/Intracoastal West and Southside office was honored as top sales agent. Kekec was also honored as the company’s top transaction agent.
• Paula Fallon of the company’s St. Augustine office was named Rookie of the Year. She achieved more than $2 million in closed sales.
• The Ponte Vedra Beach office received the Chairman’s Cup, which recognizes over achievement of budget targets in a number of categories, including client feedback, recruiting, listing sides, closed sides, per person productivity, closed volume and profitability.
• The Avondale/San Marco office swept the Top Company Office awards in numerous categories including tops in listings, sales, transactions and production.

The celebration will continue into February with the Top Producers Awards Gala, a special invitation-only party for more than 60 of the company’s award-winning Realtors at the prestigious Epping Forest Yacht Club.

“We value our agents and associates, and their contributions to our company’s success,” said Broker/Executive Vice President Christy Budnick. “Our team is constantly raising the bar to deliver the highest level of performance and service to clients. They are the most experienced, productive and results-oriented agents in the marketplace, and we are all looking forward to an exciting and positive 2015.”