Instructors

Lee K. Barrett is a second generation real estate broker and president/owner of his family-owned practice which was established more than 55 years ago. Having more than 38 years of real estate experience, Barrett is a practicing real estate agent/broker in the Las Vegas market and continues to stay active and keeps his finger on the pulse of real estate. During his career, he has been a top listing agent, averaging more than 150 listings a year.

Barrett teaches with humor and insight into today’s market and its complexities. As an instructor, he creates an experience that provides practical applications that can be put to use by his students after leaving his classes. Creating behaviors and attitudes that will earn students more money in today’s market, Lee motivates and challenges his students to dream big and achieve their goals. 

Chris Bird has been in the financial business for more than 30 years. He started his career with a degree in accounting and a minor in business administration. He also holds the Certified Financial Planner Designation and was a Senior IRS agent for 16 years. He conducts more than 125 seminars a year on accounting, financial planning, wealth building, residential rental property ownership, and tax strategies for the real estate and financial industries nationwide.

Bird was an adjunct instructor at the University of Illinois in tax law for 20 years. He is a Certified Instructor at RRC and a Senior Faculty Instructor for the REALTORS Land Institute. He currently holds his real estate license in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Chris has a unique way of making a tough subject (taxes and investments) entertaining and enlightening at the same time. 

Chris Bird Seminars
2906 E. Oaks Road N.
Urbana, IL 61802

Phone: 217-384-7070

As the managing partner for a new venture capital and incubator company, Camelio focuses on both acquisitions and working to help grow products within the portfolio.

Prior to selling his company to Lone Wolf Real Estate Technologies, he was the co-founder and president at Barcode Realty. He is internationally recognized as an expert in real estate technology, marketing, and entrepreneurship.       

Dale Carlton Jr. has worked in real estate since the mid 1990s and has been an attorney since 2001. He was formerly the senior vice president and executive broker at Lindsey & Assoc., Inc., Arkansas’ largest real estate firm with approximately 150 agents and over $700 million in sales in 2005. That same year, Carlton opened his own company and is now the principal broker and owner of Carlton Realty, Inc. During his real estate career, he has brokered more than $3 billion in real estate closings, has personally sold more than $100 million in properties, closed more than 700 transactions, and has owned, co-owned, or managed more than 200 residential and commercial properties.

Speaking to over 50,000 people, Carlton is a Certified Instructor with the Residential Real Estate Council, he teaches Instructor Training Institutes, is a certified instructor with the Arkansas State Board of Private Career Education, and teaches with the Arkansas Institute of Real Estate, Lorman Education Services, Sterling Education Services, Inc., and other real estate designations.

Jack Cotton has worked continuously in the real estate company he started in his college dorm room in 1974, accumulating decades of luxury real estate experience.

In 2005, Cotton sold his company to Sotheby’s International Realty and managed the firm’s Cape Cod office until 2016. He now sells luxury homes while sharing his extensive knowledge with agents as an author, teacher and certified coach.  

Gee Dunsten, a graduate of the University of Maryland, has been in the trenches of the real estate business for three decades, having helped more that 2,500 families achieve the American Dream of homeownership.

Nationally recognized as a residential sales and marketing specialist, Dunsten is currently an associate broker with Long and Foster in Ocean City, MD. He has been a Certified Instructor with the Residential Real Estate Council for more than 25 years and served as 2001 National President. A prolific author and speaker, his hand on approach to real estate training with leading edge ideas and systems has made him a popular speaker at the NAR conventions, as well as numerous state and local association conventions and seminars. He is also president of Gee Dunsten Seminars, Inc. and has taught in all 50 states, as well as Australia, New Zealand and Chile.

Technology instructor Craig Grant has an amazing ability to present technology topics in such a fun and easy-to-follow way, the average agent can not only understand it, but go home and apply the knowledge and tools they need to succeed in today’s fast changing real estate marketplace.

With more than 150 speaking engagements around the country each year including some of the industry’s top events, Grant is considered the Real Estate Tech Guru.

Chandra is a practicing REALTOR®  in addition to being an active instructor, which allows her to bring real world current experience to the classroom. In addition to being a Certified Instructor, Chandra also teaches GRI and ABR courses for real estate groups across the nation. She is the managing broker/owner of Colorado Mesa Realty, LLC, and has been recognized as the designer and creative consultant on three award winning Parade Homes in Colorado Springs.

Born an identical twin, Hall appreciates the power of individual differences. She uses this belief to help others identify their natural abilities and create more of what they desire both personally and professionally. Her passion is to assist others in recognizing their unlimited potential and unique purpose in life. Through an engaging presentation style combining humor, knowledge, and motivation, audience members discover: Innovation + Implementation = The Realization of What is Possible. 

Kim Knapp's real estate career began in 2000, when she sold $6 million her first year and became the top producer of her company. In 2005, Kim started training other agents while selling and running a team. Today Kim has a team, trains, speaks, travels, serves on her local MLS board and Board of REALTORS Educational Task Force, and is the founder of one of the largest REBar Camps in the country.

Founding Real Dynamic Agents, a training program to meet the needs of agents at all levels and with various learning styles and provides opportunities for any agent to ultimately take their business to the next level. Agents are able to experience high energy training filled with real time cutting edge information that makes sense right now.

Jackie Leavenworth is from the Cleveland, Ohio area and was licensed in 1984. She quickly became her company’s top producer and was constantly asked to share the secrets of her success. Leavenworth has been sharing those secrets for more than 25 years.

Leavenworth is married to a real estate broker and is the owner of Jackie Leavenworth Seminars, a real estate coach to agents around the United States and has worked her way up to the prestigious title of Certified Instructor. Coach Jackie’s humorous, comfortable and engaging style will awaken the inner you to strive for behavioral change that will make a difference. 

Juanita McDowell is the President of InMotion Consulting, LLC.

Each year, her firm delivers more than 200 seminars to agents and entrepreneurs across the nation.

James Nellis II, a third-generation REALTOR®, is CEO of The Nellis Group. He has been in the real estate business for more than 15 years and specializes in utilizing cutting--edge technology and creating new systems to bring real estate to the next level. The Nellis Group was ranked #11 in RE/MAX USA in 2009.

Nellis focuses on new ways of doing business to capture a greater market share of referral business. He also works with non-profit organizations to help them improve their growth and build connections within the local community. Nellis runs webinars and seminars on social fusion and integrating technology into your business to succeed in today’s market. 

Mark Porter is a residential real estate broker, investor, consultant and seasoned technology and business planning instructor. Porter's ultimate passion is helping real estate agents implement what it takes to be and do better.

Porter's animated, humorous and engaging teaching style leaves participants with the practical tools needed to take action and implement. Porter, a 25 year veteran of the real estate industry, is the broker-owner of Castle Hills Real Estate. When he is not teaching, he is helping the Castle Hills Subdivision area community buy, sell and invest in real estate. 

Matthew Rathbun is a Virginia licensed broker and executive vice president of Coldwell Banker Elite. He has served as an association director of education and president of Four Pillars Education. He has opened and managed real estate firms, as well as coached and mentored agents. As a Residential REALTOR®, Matthew was a reoccurring high producer.

Rathbun teaches a variety of national designation courses, broker-manager courses and risk reduction programs. He also teaches regularly for Coldwell Banker Corporate and provides consulting services for one of the most innovative learning tools in the industry.

There isn't a time when Rich Sands doesn't remember being in the teaching business. For 15 years, he taught high school students and then spent another 16 years in the real estate business educating clients about buying and selling homes. For nine of those years, he was the Director of Education for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Colorado. As a RRC and GRI instructor, Sands has helped hundreds of real estate professionals prepare for the challenges of a fast-moving, rapidly-changing business environment.

Combining nearly 82,000 miles as a runner over a 42-year span with 20 years of coaching elite athletes, Sands delivers a unique perspective for real estate professionals. He believes top-producing REALTORS® and the world’s finest athletes share many traits, behaviors and attitudes. As a teacher, Sands motivates his students to take their businesses to the next level. 

Phone: 302-378-9510

Frank Serio has run the gauntlet from sales associate to top producer to sales manager/trainer. In his fast-paced presentations, Serio shares his own experiences and the innovative ideas used by top producers across the country. His seminars are packed with knowledge and information, and enjoyed by all. Serio was President of the Coastal Association of REALTORS® in 1997 and REALTOR® of the Year in 1994.

He has also served on numerous committees on the local, state and national levels. Serio is currently associated with RE/MAX By The Sea in Bethany Beach, Delaware, where he actively sells real estate. He is a Certified Instructor and served as the 2011 RRC National President. His versatility allows him to offer seminars on a wide variety of topics. 

Pat Zaby began his career with a bachelor's degree in real estate from the University of North Texas and earned the CCIM, CRB and CRS designations. He's been involved with the Residential Real Estate Council since its inception and an instructor since 1983. He served as RRC President in 1990 and the REALTORS® National Marketing Institute in 1993.

His contributions to the industry through speaking, teaching, writing, and development have earned him the recognition and respect as one of the industry's authorities. He has been a favorite speaker at national, state and franchise conventions for over 25 years and stays in touch with tens of thousands weekly through his blog at PatZaby.com