May 1—GRAND FORKS — You could say that for the Meyers, real estate business is a family tradition.

The mother-daughter duo of Sandy Meyer, broker, and Kim Effta, associate broker, have been working at Remax Realty for nearly 10 years. And Effta's daughter, Wini, 4, is a regular at the office, where she helps out with vacuuming, retrieving photocopies, cleaning floors, washing windows and stamping envelopes.

"We call her our 'unlicensed assistant,' " Meyer said with a laugh. "Wini really thinks she's a realtor. We say she kind of runs the office."

Meyer views her co-workers as family, too. Among the dozen agents associated with Remax, those who have children have always been welcome to bring them to the office, she said.

All four of Sandy and Rod Meyer's children have held real estate licenses at one time or another in their lives, said Sandy Meyer, noting that her father, husband, two sisters and son-in-law also hold, or have held, real estate licenses.

"It was kind of a family thing," she said.

Their son, state Sen. Scott Meyer, who represents Grand Forks, went on to a career in banking, specializing in mortgage lending.

Helping homeowners sell their home quickly at a fair price and helping home-buyers find their perfect dream home "has been my life for more than 30 years," Meyer said.

She got into the real estate business in 1977 after her sister encouraged her to apply for a job, Meyer remembered. "She thought I'd be a good fit."

A Petersburg resident at the time, "I wasn't too excited about it," she said.

After all, "how much real estate do you sell in Petersburg, North Dakota? (My sister) convinced me that I could sell in the full state, and that's kind of what we did."

Meyer started selling farmland, and concentrated on that sector for about 10 years.

As a woman, Meyer was plowing new ground in the male-dominated field.

"There were probably one or two women who were brokers at the time — but not very many — in the state," she recalled. "They called me 'that little girl that sells real estate.' That was always embarrassing."

For more than 30 years, she has earned the certified residential specialist designation, held by only 2% of U.S. Realtors, Effta said. It's the highest credential awarded to residential sales agents, managers and brokers; about half of their co-workers have achieved that certification.

About five years ago, Gov. Doug Burgum appointed Meyer as a North Dakota real estate commissioner. She's one of five members — and the only woman — on the state's Real Estate Commission, currently serving her second term.

In 2014, Sandy and Rod Meyer bought the Remax Realty franchise in Grand Forks. That fall, Effta, who was working in the health care field in Fargo, left her position to join her parents' business, where she is also an owner.

Effta sees several advantages to working with her mother.

"The best part about it is, if I have a showing that comes up really quick, and my daughter's here, I'm like, 'Hey, Mom, can you watch Wini while I run to a showing?' " Kim said. "It's a family effort, and it really helps with scheduling things."

Mother and daughter share a clear vision of their obligation to prospective home-buyers.

"Our job is just to give them the information to help make that decision," Effta said.

"So, whether they want the house or not, we just want to make sure that they have all the data they need. ... I can give them the information about what's going on with the house, but they have to make that decision themselves."

There are a few prerequisites to achieving success in the real estate business, they said.

"You have to like people — you have to enjoy people and all the different personalities you work with," Meyer said.

"I would say you have to be a go-getter," Effta said.

"We couldn't do this without our loyal clients," said Meyer, who also noted, "we're very proud the Remax franchise has been voted as having the most trusted agents in the U.S. and Canada."

"It's really quite nice to work with your family," Meyer said. "Occasionally we might have a disagreement."

Effta said, "I think it's the generational things. I like the cloud and paperless, and Mom likes paper and files."

"I like the cloud, too," Meyer said, "but I feel like I need a backup. So, yeah, we do have a little disagreement on that.

"Because when I started in real estate, the big deal was the fax machine and a pager. Now we have cellphones and the internet, and it's just so much different. People can do so much work at their home."

But at least one thing has never changed.

"We're really focused on getting the best results and the best experience for our clients — and that's been taught by Mom too," Effta said. "Just treat people like family, and you've got to gain their trust. ...

"We're here to make sure you're making the best decision for you and your family. That's part of being in a family business — it's just making people feel comfortable."