Tim and Lori Sojka—Keller Williams-Houston West

A Passionate Client-Service and Marketing Team Who Just Happen to be in Real Estate
By Woodie Stephenson

Husband and wife team, Tim and Lori Sojka of Keller Williams Houston West, are a different kind of real estate team. Tim and Lori, better recognized amongst their peers and clients as the “See Tim Sell” Team, have been married for 14 years and have only been practicing real estate since 2005, but they have quickly established themselves as a driven, motivated, service-oriented force. Utilizing their unique marketing techniques to create an easily recognizable brand for themselves, Tim and Lori have prided themselves most in creating an outstanding reputation for the service they offer their clients. By utilizing their strong marketing skills and focusing on raising the level of service and commitment in the Realtor-client relationship, Tim and Lori are breaking the traditional business mold.


Lori was born in Fairfield, TX, and raised in Pearland, the middle child of three siblings. Blessed with a loving family, Lori recalls growing up with cows, turkeys, chicken, her great parents, younger brother, and older sister. As a young girl, Lori sought to gain lessons and experience attending the same church she calls home even today. Grounded by her faith and principles, Lori would face her first major challenge at the age of 14 when she was diagnosed with Lupus, a kidney disease. Struggling to survive with her rapidly progressing condition, Lori turned to God as she experienced a series of close brushes with death.

“Being diagnosed with kidney disease taught me to lean on the Lord,” Lori humbly says, “When I was 18 years old, I was able to receive a kidney transplant from my older sister, Denise. I never gave up faith and I was blessed.”

Tim’s background was the antithesis of the stable environment that Lori experienced growing up. Tim, the son of a military family, was born in San Diego, CA, but experienced 7 moves at a young age before his parents would divorce. Tim eventually settled in Silsbee, a small, rural, town near Beaumont. Tim stated, “My mother, my grandfather and grandmother always believed in me, so I always felt like I could accomplish anything.” Although he felt very blessed to grow up in a wonderful and nourishing small town, the pull of adventure was just too much. Tim wanted a more exciting lifestyle and set his ambitions on studying marketing and advertising at Texas Tech, over 700 miles away from Silsbee

“I felt I had to spread my wings and try to make it on my own. Most kids growing up wanted to doctors, athletes, or astronauts,” Tim recall, “Ironically, I wanted to be Darren Stevens (from Bewitched), and why not? He had a great job in advertising, a beautiful wife, a nice house, and a little girl.”

It wouldn’t be long before he was living his dream; Tim excelled at Texas Tech and graduated to a job working for Pepsi, a company known for its brilliant marketing strategies. He parted with Pepsi and joined Nestle FoodServices, where he worked for 14 years. While at Nestle, Tim would meet the girl of dreams, although their initial meeting was more comical than romantic.

Lori, who at the age of 23 lived 2-doors-down from Tim in the same apartment building, recalls Tim’s persistence and overzealousness.

“We would see each other around and talk briefly, but never more than a few words at first really,” Lori shares, “One day Tim shows up at my door because he says his nieces came over and used all his toilet paper. I’m talking to my father on the phone the whole time and he shows up again an hour or so later to tell me he’s locked out of his apartment this time. My father tells me not to let him in; so I tell him that I don’t let strange men in my apartment and I shut the door on him. Later on, when I get off the phone, I see him out in the hot Texas sun and I bring him a glass of water.”

Tim remembers being excited and determined when he asked about Lori’s boyfriend only to find that she had recently become single.

“I told her ‘Let’s go out,’ and at first she said no,” Tim shares, “but I’ve always believed that if you’re a true sales person when someone responds with the answer ‘no’ it’s just an invitation for more information. I arranged for us to go out with a group and we hit it off.”

Within just 4 months of their first date, Tim and Lori were engaged and soon happily married. Although Tim’s exciting career was on the rise in Los Angeles, Lori began to yearn for a more stable life and missed her family and church back in Houston. It wasn’t long before Lori’s heart led the young couple back to Houston, TX, where they hoped to begin a fresh start.

Although Tim had experienced success during his stint in the corporate ranks, he always felt somewhat like a square peg. He decided to use his expertise in marketing and sales to found his new foray into real estate. Tim, who had an inactive license from years before, was re-licensed by Champions School of Real Estate.

Tim’s first desire to work in the Real Estate industry stemmed from experiences with his mother at a young age.

“When I was young my mother would show me homes in nice neighborhoods and tell me that someday I would live in a house like that. I was close to my mother, and having her believe in me meant a lot,” Tim remembers, “Growing up, I had never lived in a two-story house and I always equated a nice house with success. When Lori and I got married we would visit open house on the weekends for fun and I always knew that when the time was right for me that I would be a natural Realtor.”

Back in Houston, Tim began experiencing success in real estate. Receiving strong mentorship from the likes of Stacy Sutter, Bob Pollard, Beez Homeyer, Wayne Lohmeyer, the Kink Team, and other Keller Williams agents, Tim fused his experience in marketing with lessons from Gary Keller’s The Millionaire Real Estate Agent, and advice from his mentors.

Tim recalls the satisfaction he received during his first listing transaction after helping a troubled client get what she deserved for her home. The house which had been on the market for over 2 years with major listing agents had expired when Tim approached the homeowner and vowed to give her the proper marketing that her home deserved. Tim educated the homeowner on the value of her home, raised the price from the previous listings, doubled the traffic the home received, and sold the house to his client’s amazement in just 5 days, a feat that two other well-known Realtors had not been able to accomplish in 2 years.

“At first, we built our whole business taking on expired homes,” Tim says, “A lot of Realtors will write a listing contract, stick a sign in their client’s yard, and call it a day. When we put our sign in a client’s yard, we work hard to aggressively market the house and we call our clients every single week to update them on our progress.”

Seeing the drive that he brought to each transaction marketing homes and servicing clients, Lori and Tim’s mother approached him with a plan to expand his new business.

“I had helped Tim found the business,” Lori says, “but I hadn’t really wanted to get involved in real estate until I realized how much I could help him. We knew Tim had a gift as a salesman, so his mother, Margaret, and I approached him told him we wanted to take all the pressure of the paperwork off him so he could do what he loves, focus 100-percent on service and marketing.”

Tim believes the key to his team’s growth and success can be attributed to the presence of two, passionate owners. He also could not compliment his team members enough.

“After Lori came in to help me, I knew that we would experience an unbelievable growth,” Tim says, “We both have different talents that allow our business to thrive; I have an incredible drive and Lori is very detail-oriented. All of our team members have helped out business grow, but our business really exploded when we added Denise Kingham, our listing manager. She is a rock, you give her something and it is done!”

A great contribution to the “See Tim Sell” Team’s success has been Tim’s original vision in marketing. Using guerilla-marketing tactics, Tim has decorated company vehicles with a colorful background and an easily-recognizable cartoon caricature of himself adorned with the slogan “See Tim Sell!” The caricature and the initial inspiration for the marketing plan can be attributed to Tim and Lori’s daughter Abigail, who had drawn the original, stick-figure image of her father.

“When Abigail drew the stick figure of me I asked Lori, ‘wouldn’t it be funny if I put this on my business card?’” Tim says, “It was such a unique idea that we went with it and developed a whole marketing campaign by expounding on her original image. When people started seeing our cars and advertisements they instantly thought we had been in the business for years. People either tend to love or hate our marketing, but it doesn’t matter because they always recognize us.”

A major source of inspiration for Tim and Lori’s business model has been Gary Keller’s influential book, The Millionaire Real Estate Agent. Tim credits the book for allowing him to achieve much of his success by following the advice of real estate guru Keller.

“Gary’s book was a real watershed moment in my career,” Tim shares, “After I read his book, I came to a turning point in my life where I understood that if did the things in the book then I would achieve the same kind of success.”

In Tim and Lori’s first full-year of business they achieved resounding results while completing 76 transactions. Serving the areas of West Houston, Katy, Sugar Land, and Cypress, the couple took home a slew of awards from their first Keller Williams banquet. Among the accolades the received for their accomplishments were awards for #2 in sold units, #5 in listed units, Office Rookie of the Year, Top-10 in Closed Dollars, and #3 in recruited agents.

Although Tim and Lori’s team has generated much attention for their amazing list of achievements during their first year in business, the humble agents never stray from the task at hand: working hard to offer their clients the best marketing and service. If there is one singular, important figure that speaks for Tim and Lori’s dedication to their clients, it’s the number of listed units they sell. The “See Tim Sell” Team prides themselves in being able to offer their clients the support necessary to move their property.

“I’m proud my team is so developed that we can sell so many of our listings,” Tim says, “We can’t sell them all but we close more often than most the competition. We are so confidant we will sell a client’s home that we write in our contract that they can fire us at any time.”

Tim and Lori’s clients can best attest to the spectacular attention that they put into making each transaction a success for their buyers and sellers. Recent clients Matt and Audrey Markitron were astounded by the service and results they received from Tim and Lori.

“Tim is amazing,” Audrey says, “He sold our house before we could blink! He did for us in six days what another Realtor couldn’t do in 300 days. Lori did a great job with the paperwork. She was even more on top of it than we were.”

“It was a pleasure working with Tim and his team to sell my house in Katy,” clients Bryan and Ora Switzer said, “>From the first time I spoke to Tim on the phone, I knew he was going to sell my house and get the price I needed. I really enjoyed the daily phone calls to let me know what the status of my house was and when a deal was ready to take place. My family feels like a load was lifted from our shoulders.”

Tim and Lori’s colleagues in the real estate business understand what sets their team apart from the pack. Stacy Sutter of Keller Williams-Cinco Ranch, a mentor to Tim and Lori during the first days in the business, recognizes several characteristics in the couple that have allowed them to achieve rapid success.

“Tim’s marketing skills are as good as any I’ve seen in our industry,” Sutter says, “With his background in marketing, Tim came into the business with a set plan, followed his plan, and was never afraid to take constructive criticism. Tim’s work ethic, coupled with his ability to market, has made him one of the finest real estate agents in the city today.”

Wayne Lohmeyer, Keller Williams-West Houston’s Team Leader, respects Tim and Lori’s contributions to their market center and to the community.

“I’ve never seen a husband and wife team work together so well,” Lohmeyer says, “Tim is a visionary in our business and Lori is extremely detail-oriented and diligent. Tim and Lori are not your average Realtors; they are community-minded, fair with their clients, and they give back so much to the community and their peers. Last year they raised $4,000 for our KW Cares charity. Tim also supports his market center here at Keller Williams; he takes the time out of his schedule every week to teach new and veteran agents classes on his unique techniques in guerilla marketing.”

Carlos Fernandez of Ameripoint Title values the effort Tim puts into making each transaction a success.

“If Tim and Lori are selling your house, start packing,” Fernandez says, “They do whatever it takes to market a house, get it to standards, and they never fail to close. I’ve dealt with a lot of Realtors and mortgage companies and nobody comes close to Tim and Lori. Recently, we had a buyer who would not close until the home’s garage was cleared of junk. Tim rushed to the house, took off his shirt, and worked with family members to clear everything. We closed the transaction by 1 o’clock the same day!”

When Tim and Lori are not working hard to surpass their client’s expectation, family time is #1 on their list. The couple enjoys spending quality time with their daughter, Abigail, who they adopted from China in 1999.

“You don’t realize how much you can love something until you have a child,” Tim says of his strong marriage, “When I see Lori with Abigail, I love her more and more every day.”

Lori believes the secrets to their strong marriage are their communication, faith, and family time.

“We communicate with each other and never hold back,” she says, “We can talk for hours every day. If we spend two hours talking and it never seems like long enough.”

“A great marriage is a long conversation that seems too short,” Tim adds.

Every Sunday Tim cooks a breakfast of blueberry pancakes or summer sausage and fried eggs for his girls. Tim, Lori, and Abigail make the best of their time together taking walks, swimming, and sleeping in late on their Sundays together.

“Our clients expect a lot from us,” Tim says, “but we try to keep Sundays excluded for family. On Sunday morning I love to cuddle up with my two girls in bed, wake up beside them, and cook them breakfast; it’s the best thing in the world.”

If agents want to achieve the kind of success that his team has generated, Tim advises them to read Gary Keller’s book, learn the Top Producer software, Arch Telecom, and strive to make their clients feel special.

“I really think we did some of the right things early,” Tim says, “I came in with a marketing plan, I found some great business partners through a West Houston BNI Chapter (Business Networking International) I helped to launch. I also found great mentors outside Keller Williams like Al Menconi of Statewide Financial Group, Ed Wiesner of Wiesner Custom Homes, and Renee Beilue and Rob Stewart of the law firm Bielue and Stewart. There are also hundreds of other people who have helped us that I cannot even begin to thank.”

Tim also contributes his success again and again to Gary Keller’s amazing book.

“Gary’s book will teach you how to generate leads, surround yourself with capable people, and have a good spending model,” Tim says, “However, most important of all, you have to make your clients’ needs your top priority always. If they come to you with a problem, it’s your job to take that away from them.”

Lori believes that keeping your word is an important aspect of a Realtor’s reputation.

“Picking up the phone will get you clients,” she says, “but what it really comes down to is keeping your promises; if you tell somebody you’re going to do something, you better do it.”

The future looks bright for Tim, Lori and their diligent team at Keller Williams. Tim is only two classes away from receiving his broker’s license and Lori is diligently studying real estate law at Champion’s in an attempt to learn every aspect of the business. The “See Tim Sell” Team has thrived in the real estate business because of their unique, aggressive marketing and superlative client-service ethics. However, it has always been Tim and Lori’s innate desire to work hard to surpass their client’s expectations.

“Lori and I both love real estate; however, we know, first, we must focus on clients’ needs. Second, we will market our clients’ homes as hard as we can. The fact that we are realtors come last,” Tim jokes.

At the core of their business, Tim and Lori’s rock-solid marriage and ability to communicate so well has allowed them to offer their clients a level of service that goes above and beyond the call of duty. Although they have accomplished an amazing list of achievements during their short tenure in the business, the Sojkas always remain humble and focused on what’s most important to them.

“The most important award in the world to me,” Tim shares, “is to come home and have my family be proud of what I’ve accomplished.”