What does it mean
to be a First Team agent?
50 Years. One Question.
You don’t needFirst Teamto sell a house.
- There are cheaper brokerages.
- There are different models.
- There are countless places to hang a license.
And your clientdoesn’t need youeither.
They have thousands of choices.
Why First Team?
Why you?
Before First Team
was First Team…
1976
Source material: The First Team Story — treated as a historical document, not a statement of current company size.
1976
Cameron Merage opens his first office under a nationally known franchise with only a few associates.
The Founding Idea
Build an environment around the needs of the associates. Open communication. Solve problems together. Bring out the best in people — and instill a belief that agents could be invincible in the marketplace.
1980
Out of approximately 6,500 franchise offices, this one office listed and sold more homes than any other office in the country.
1985
Three offices. Two hundred associates.
We chose
independence.
Not independence for its own sake. Independence gave First Team the ability to invest more aggressively in the things that make an agent better.
We didn’t become independent just to be independent. We became independent so we could build something better.
“We empower our sales associates to drive unmatched value and results to the consumer, thereby making them the number one Realtor® of choice.”
- 01Empower our sales associates
- 02Unmatched value + results
- 03The consumer
- 04Number one Realtor® of choice
Our tools is not the mission.
Our technology is not the mission.
Our training is not the mission.
They are how we deliver the mission.
First Team creates value for the agent. The agent turns that value into results for the consumer.
What happens
when a culture
compounds?
Orange County transactions
January 2000 — July 2026
0+
Orange County sales units since 2000
0+
More than the #2 brokerage
Source: TrendGraphix | Orange County | 1/1/2000 — 7/31/2026
Market leadership
was never the mission.
It was the result
of living the mission.
Then.
Now.
The gap is
0
Source: TrendGraphix | Orange County | 1/1/2026 — 7/31/2026
We are still #1. But only 14 transactions separate #1 and #2.
A 50-year legacy can be inherited.
Leadership has to be re-earned.
Our #1 position is not our identity. It is a lagging indicator of whether we are living our identity.
So what is the standard?
Teamwork
We do not operate like hundreds of individual companies sharing a logo. We make one another better.
Working together to achieve common goals.
Accountability
If we say it will happen, it happens.
Keeping your promises through fair and consistent practices.
Respect
The person across the table is not an obstacle. They are a person.
Listening to and appreciating another person's point of view.
Quality
“Good enough” cannot be the First Team standard.
Exceeding internal and external customer expectations.
Responsibility
We own outcomes.
Taking ownership of behaviors and decisions.
Innovation
We don't protect yesterday simply because it is familiar.
Creative thinking that leads to new ideas or methods that add value to our mission.
Would a client know these are our values?
Would another Realtor® know?
Would the people in this room know?
0+
Families.
Not transactions. Families.
Since opening our doors, First Team has helped more than 260,000 families move throughout Southern California.
- First home
- Marriage
- A new baby
- A new job
- Upsizing
- Downsizing
- Retirement
- Divorce
- Loss
- A fresh start
We sell houses. But on the other side of every transaction is a human life.
Our responsibility doesn’t end at the closing table.
1976
A culture of giving back begins alongside the company.
2004
First in Our Hearts is established as a company-wide philanthropic initiative.
Habitat for Humanity
Historical donations and hands-on volunteerism — First Team associates and employees physically helped construct Habitat homes.
2007
$55,000 Habitat for Humanity contribution generated through First Team employee and agent generosity.
2019
$250,000+ raised through the inaugural Team Kids Superhero Golf Tournament.
2021
$400,000 raised through the Team Kids Charity Golf Tournament.
Local impact
- Team Kids
- Hoag
- Newport Sea Base
- Stuff the Bus / Spark of Love
- Local schools
- Youth programs
- Community initiatives
First Team underwrote event expenses so that contributions could go further — the point was impact, not optics.
Success creates a responsibility to give back.
The communities that built our success should be better because First Team is part of them.
Jordan “JoJo” Cline
Make the connection.
Savor the moment.
Find the joy.
The Live Like JoJo Foundation’s vision is for children, regardless of healthcare challenges, to have opportunities for joy-filled, meaningful experiences with their families.
$0
First Team + Live Like JoJo
Today, the story continues. Our agents are helping turn success into impact for local children and families.
This isn’t separate from what it means to be First Team.
This is what it means to be First Team.
For 50 years, thousands of people built this reputation.
You didn’t build all of it. Neither did I.
But we decide what happens to it next.
- Every client interaction.
- Every phone call.
- Every transaction.
- Every promise kept.
- Every problem solved.
- Every agent we help.
- Every innovation.
- Every time we give back.
Every one of those moments is either adding to the First Team name… or withdrawing from it.
Our job isn’t simply to inherit the legacy.
Our job is to leave it stronger than we found it.
An agent can choose any brokerage.
A client can choose any Realtor®.
So our responsibility is to make those choices matter.
- First TeamFirst Team invests in the agent.
- AgentThe agent creates unmatched value for the consumer.
- ConsumerConsumer trust creates community leadership.
- CommunitySuccess creates a responsibility to reinvest in the community.
- LegacyThat impact becomes the legacy the next generation inherits.
When someone sees First Team Real Estate under your name…
what should that tell them about you?
Because I am a First Team agent, my clients can expect…
The standard we inherited.
The legacy we carry forward.
1976 — 2026
50 Years. One Team. Next Chapter.
