Bill Taylor
Associate Broker
What began as a simple six letter personalized license plate, later turned into a marketing marvel. The innovative creator- award winning real estate agent Bill Taylor- struck a cord when he instituted MrSell as his real estate persona in 1998. Since then, he has successfully assisted hundreds of buyers and sellers throughout the Hampton Roads and Central Virginia region, as well as opening and managing his own real estate companies. But beyond the swanky catch phrase, his priorities have stayed true: unbeatable customer service and plenty of hard work. But despite small setbacks, Bill focused on getting a real estate license- which he thought would be a part time gig. However, after listing his first home, it sold in just three days. He was hooked. From that point forward, all the Japanese fundamentals and strategies went to creating a great career in real estate. He began working for Long and Foster and eventually moved to ReMax for a few years. Still intrigued by the idea of running his own company, Bill formed ALTA Real Estate. When real estate was thriving in 2004, everyone was starting their own company, including me, Bill recalls. Running a small real estate company in this competitive market was a real eye opener for me. After managing ALTA Real Estate, in 2005 Bill recognizing the downturn in the housing market, contacted Keller Williams Regional and eventually sold ALTA to new owners of the first Keller Williams Realty franchise in this area - Keller Williams Greenbrier, now known as KW Coastal. Bill stayed at Keller Williams as the Principal Broker until 2012 when he and Connie decided to once again open their own real estate company – James & Lee Realty. He has spent many years developing good agent and client relationships in real estate throughout the area, and by operating his own company, he knew he could expand on his talents enabling him to serve his clients on the very highest level. The concept of James & Lee Realty is to make clients feel special and not like some unknown passed around in a large company or team. We want to create an environment where our clients feel like they are exceptional no matter how big or small the deal is and treat buyers and sellers to the highest standard of customer service, states Bill. And this concept worked with James & Lee Realty. After ten years, business doubled each year with the number of realtors in the company and overall sales volume. But again, sensing a shift in the market due to the pandemic, rising interest rates, exorbitant home prices and the new technology customers were using to search for homes, Bill decided it was time to search for a company that could better meet the needs of the changing market and the changing atmosphere of today’s client. We decided that in order to support our agents and give them the tools to better serve their clients, it was time to search for that one national company that stood out among all others, Bill recounts. Bill and Connie sold James & Lee Realty in March 2022 to Coldwell Banker Premier. There is no stronger brand than Coldwell Banker in the real estate industry being the oldest, trusted brand with 116 years in operation, says Bill. It was a no-brainer for us. Coldwell Banker’s unprecedented technology and superior service towards their agents, as well as their clients, sold us immediately. Bill and Connie felt that the Hampton Roads area was very under-represented by the Coldwell Banker brand and decided it was time to expand this great company in the area.