Finding the right real estate agent often comes down to one thing: trust. In a market where decisions can carry significant financial and emotional weight, having someone you can rely on matters as much as the property itself. This feature brings together real estate professionals across Missouri and Kansas who have earned that confidence over time through consistent work, genuine care, and a willingness to show up when their clients need them.
What connects these professionals is not a single approach to real estate, but a shared commitment to listening. One came to the industry after years in social services and continues to bring that same sense of compassion to her clients. Another avoids a set script, recognizing that even people in similar circumstances can have very different needs. Others understand the uncertainty that can come with buying or selling a home and see helping clients feel informed and at ease as part of their responsibility.
Their experience is equally varied. Some have spent more than two decades in real estate, navigating changing markets and difficult seasons. Others have built teams to ensure clients are supported rather than left waiting for one person to respond. They furnish homes for staging, create video tours for buyers who cannot visit in person, and remain involved when unexpected challenges threaten to derail a transaction.
None of them suggest that real estate is easy. Instead, they bring patience, honesty, communication, and a willingness to handle the work that often goes unseen. The profiles that follow reflect those qualities in a straightforward way, offering a closer look at the people behind the transactions and the trust they have built with their clients.
Randy Davis Brings Two Decades of Steady Work to Missouri and Kansas
Randy Davis has spent twenty years helping people buy and sell their homes across Missouri and Kansas. His name does not lean on noise or self-promotion. He treats his clients like family, and after two decades, that is not a line he uses. It is a habit he has practiced thousands of times. His approach is not flashy. He does not oversell, and he does not pretend the process is simpler than it is. Instead, he listens, paying attention to the small things people say and sometimes to the things they do not.
He believes no two clients are the same, even when their situations look identical on the surface. "Every client has different needs and goals. The subjects might be the same as other clients, but the definitions can be very different," he said. So he begins each relationship without a script, ready to hear what the person is dealing with and build the plan from there. He is also deliberate about pace, since real estate often moves fast enough to leave people dizzy. "My goal isn't rushing through the process; it's taking the time to team up with my clients and guide them to success," he explained.
A meaningful part of his work involves people who are still uncertain about what they want, including couples who are not on the same page and first-time buyers carrying quiet anxiety. "I feel I have a gift of listening and spotting issues, bringing a sense of calm, and creating a team atmosphere," he said. He also speaks with real care about clients in community service careers, from veterans and teachers to nurses and firefighters, though he is quick to note he treats everyone the same.
His recognition includes the RE/MAX Hall of Fame, yearly 100% Club Awards, a 16 Year Five-Star Winner title, and an American Warrior Real Estate Professional designation. The awards reflect long service, but the way he describes the work tells the truer story. Many clients have come back to him for second and third transactions.
Connect with Randy Davis If you are looking to navigate the Missouri or Kansas real estate market with a trusted, experienced professional by your side, reach out to Randy today to discuss your goals.
Three Agents, One Mission: Inside the Coder Haggard Lehr Group
Most clients meet a real estate agent who is juggling everything alone, from listing photos to repair negotiations to closing-day fires. The Coder Haggard Lehr Real Estate Group was built to work the opposite way. Three full-time Realtors, all born and raised in Northwest Missouri, split the work so that no part of a deal gets shortchanged, and clients end up with more support, more preparation, and more hands-on help than a single stretched-thin agent could offer. The group rests on a simple idea: real estate works better when clients are not left to figure things out on their own.
The team is made up of Christian Coder, Brycen Haggard, and Payton Lehr. Each brings a different background and represents a different generation, which has shaped how they connect with clients at various stages of life. Christian holds a bachelor's degree in Finance and Accounting, Brycen in Communications, and Payton in Business. Being from the area is more than a biographical detail, since it shapes how they communicate with people who are often neighbors, friends, or family of someone they already know. For the cost of hiring one agent elsewhere, a client gets three.
They study what Realtors in larger markets do well and bring those standards home. "Where there is competition, there is generally a better product or service being brought to the market," the group explained. Preparation sets them apart. They have built tailored guides for buyers and sellers, use real professional photography and online marketing, and keep a licensed contractor in-house for repairs and inspection issues.
"Our ideal client is someone who values guidance and expertise," they said. "Their problems usually come down to uncertainty, overwhelm, and fear of making the wrong move." In early 2025, the group purchased an office building and has since added agents, with more planned through 2026. They also support local schools, especially Savannah High School, funding after-school sports and activities, which is the achievement they point to with the most pride.
Dawn Griffin: Leading a Real Estate Team Clients Can Count On
Twenty-two years in residential real estate teach you things no training course can. Dawn Griffin has watched the market move through every kind of cycle, from the years when sellers waited months for a single showing to the pandemic years when buyers lined up for anything with four walls. That time in the business has shaped almost everything about how her group operates today, from the people she hires to the way she structures each transaction. She has learned what works, what does not, and what clients actually remember years after the sale closes.
The Dawn Griffin Group serves buyers and sellers across the St. Louis area, and what sets it apart is that it works like a real team. The group includes a designer, a marketing manager, a transaction coordinator, two buyer agents, and Dawn herself. "Every client gets the benefit of multiple full-time professionals versus a solo agent wearing six different hats," she explained. Buyers who cannot find exactly what they want get help visualizing what a home could become, while sellers get a focus on the final price and low days on market.
She builds on long relationships, and she calls them her forever clients. She has helped many of her clients buy and sell several times, finding them new spaces as their needs change. The Minces are an example she returns to often. Fifteen years ago, she helped them buy their first home for $170,000. Years later, in a tighter market with limited inventory, they came back, and she helped them land a new home without losing out in a bidding war, moving directly in and selling the old one afterward. "That is the kind of outcome we try to build for every client," she said.
With AI handling much of the behind-the-scenes work, Dawn has returned to sitting across from clients directly. "Today I bring my full experience and insight directly to each relationship," she said. The group has been named an A-List Realtor by St. Louis Magazine for two years running, an award based entirely on client votes, with a third result coming in August.
Twelve Years of Treating Homes Like Her Own
Christina Southard has worked as a Realtor in St. Louis for twelve years, and her path to the job was anything but direct. A North County native and the youngest of four, she was the first in her family to graduate from college, later earning a Master's in Professional Counseling from Lindenwood University.
She grew up in her family's asphalt business, which her father started in their basement. As a teenager, she handled office work, and by twenty one she was in outside sales at a time when few women in that industry worked in the field. From there she sold cell phones, managed a tile design studio, and spent twelve years in social services helping homeless families find permanent homes. She raised her daughter as a single parent, worked in the family restaurant, then earned her real estate license in 2014 and went full time in 2016.
Her social work years shaped how she treats clients. "What I learned in social services was to sit beside my clients and listen," she said. That care shows in practical ways. She cleans, paints, stages homes with her own furnishings, and manages repairs for out of town clients so they never have to come back.
Now with Keller Williams Realty West, serving five counties, she capped out in two months. Her Coldwell Banker team once ranked in the top three percent of its market. Outside work, she fosters and transports rescue dogs. For Christina, every home is a family's investment, not just a transaction.
Built on the Lake, Built to Last
Matthew Schrimpf was born and raised at the Lake of the Ozarks, and he is now raising his own family in the same community. He owns Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Lake Ozark Realty, has 23 years in the industry, and is a second generation agent. He leads one of the top performing offices in the region while still selling homes himself.
Real estate at Lake of the Ozarks is always evolving, but he does not claim to be changing the business. "Actually, I'm not too much of a disruptor. I am more a fan of hard work, consistency, experience, and relationship building," he said. He and his wife invest in real estate themselves, which keeps him close to what his clients experience.
There are several unique obstacles in selling Real Estate at Lake of the Ozarks. Many of his buyers are looking for second homes, and they cannot always tour properties in person. So Matthew tours homes for them, recording videos, taking pictures, and pointing out what stands out, good and bad, including details like how a cove or the slope of a yard affects daily use. He is not rushing anyone either. "I'd rather find my client the perfect property than try to sell them on one," he said.
The results have added up quietly. He has closed roughly 750 million dollars in sales and is working toward 1 billion. He has earned the Legacy award and the Chairman's Circle Diamond award, and his office ranked number two by total GCI in the US Midwest Region in 2024. Still, what he values most is his stability and longevity. He and his wife Kristi have three children they are very proud of. Most of his days revolve around work, kids' sports, the boat and enjoying Lake of the Ozarks.
The Boutique Model That Broke Records
Raelenna Ferguson has spent 22 years in real estate in Southeast Missouri, where she was born and raised. In 2023, she founded EPM Real Estate, a boutique brokerage, and with her husband Jeremy, she also oversees Executive Property Management, which they have owned since 2010.
She entered the industry at 27 with no degree and no experience, only what she calls the "College of Life." She earned Rookie of the Year in her first full year and has stayed at the top of her market since. Her drive came partly from necessity. She became a single mom at 18. "I didn't have a choice to fail, and work was necessary to survive," she said. Today she describes herself as thriving, focused on leading the eight agents licensed under her, who closed over $83 million in sales in 2025.
Her approach is deliberate. "I am very strategic; I think and overthink almost all things," she explained. She plans marketing first, leans into the emotional side of a home, and uses her own crew of painters and cleaners to prepare each listing. Whether a client is buying a $75,000 home or a $1.5 million property, she treats them the same. "People are people," she said.
She is a mother of five, on the Board of Directors for Grace Recovery and SEMO Pets, loves fostering homeless cats, and has broken her MLS individual sales record several times, most recently with over $28 million in 2025. Executive Property Management now handles over 1,000 properties. What stands out is her consistency.
The Agent Who Knows the Dirt
A contract was signed, and the deal was moving forward when a drunk driver crashed directly into the property. For most agents, a structural crisis right before a sale would end the deal. Charlie stayed in it, working alongside the homeowners and repair teams until the closing went through months later. That same client was buying a new property at the same time, a deal held up by a seven month survey delay. On signing day, a Missouri blizzard shut down travel, and Charlie coordinated a signature in the city to keep the timeline alive. To him, these are not war stories. They are proof of a people first approach that does not walk away when things get complicated.
Charlie serves clients across Southeast Missouri, where he has built his reputation handling the region's tricky property issues, from rural septic systems to complex land surveys. Before moving into real estate four years ago, he spent over two decades in the landscaping and property industry. While other agents notice the interior finishes, Charlie looks at the grading of the land, the septic system, and the structure itself.
He doubled his client close rate in each of his first three years, and he is now bringing that hands on knowledge to commercial and investor clients. For short term rentals, he uses AirDNA data to identify high-yield short-term rental opportunities for investor clients. Through his own property flips, he has learned the mechanics of hard money loans and what actually makes or breaks a deal. He shows up and stays until the keys are in hand.
Summary
Some homes are remembered for their architecture. Others are remembered for the people who helped make them possible. In Missouri and Kansas, the agents in this collection have built their reputations by being the kind of professionals clients can turn to when the process becomes uncertain, complicated, or simply overwhelming.
Their stories are different, but a clear pattern runs through them. One learned the value of listening while helping homeless families find permanent housing before entering real estate. Another has treated clients like family for more than twenty years, not as a marketing line, but as a way of working. Some built teams to make sure details are handled and clients are never left to figure things out alone. One remained committed to a transaction even after a drunk driver crashed into the property, working alongside the owners until closing day.
Kindness often appears in practical ways: cleaning and staging homes personally, creating video tours for buyers who cannot travel, refusing to pressure someone into a decision they are not ready to make, and giving a modest home the same attention as a more expensive one because every client deserves to be treated with care.
Their experience spans decades and changing markets. What they share is simpler: sincerity, patience, and a willingness to keep showing up. In real estate, where trust is earned one interaction at a time, that kind of consistency can mean everything.
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