An altruistic action by the agents of a Keller Williams office offers the perfect example for why real estate agents rock.

How awesome are real estate agents? A story from the town of Plantation, Florida, a city of 85,000 located just 15 minutes west of Fort Lauderdale, is offering a sterling example.

As the Miami Herald tells it, it’s a perfect tale of community and charity: Laurie Finkelstein Reader, an agent and team leader in the office, was collecting $20 from each of the office’s agents for Powerball tickets; though the upcoming jackpot was a ridiculous $338 million, and though Finkelstein Reader had “a lucky feeling,” as the Herald put it, for that drawing, one member of the office, Jennifer Maldonado, chose not to participate.

Maldonado had only been the administrative assistant at the office for two weeks, and, having not yet received her first paycheck from the office, she was watching her finances and opted to sit the drawing out.

Powerball, Keller Williams Style

And then the office won.

Maldonado showed up for work the following Sunday, and encountered an environment of pandemonium, with agents “screaming, jumping, running, hugging, crying,” the Herald reported.

“I knew I was the only one who hadn’t put in the money, so I thought they were pranking me and going out of their way to make me feel something,” Maldonado said. “I actually realized they weren’t messing with me when my boss sat down and said this was real.”

And the office’s winnings were no small matter. The office’s winning ticket, which had the five matching numbers of 17, 29, 31, 52 and 53, was good for one of 13 $1 million prizes nationwide, an amount that comes out to $83,333.33 per office employee.

“I thought we won like $100 or $1,000,” said Amy Kilcoyne, an agent with the office. “People started freaking out.”

Real Estate Altruism

Amidst all that celebration, though, there was one person sitting on the sidelines – Maldonado, the only person who hadn’t purchased a ticket.

But even though she didn’t contribute to the original tickets, Maldonado’s co-workers are still seeing to it that she receives some of the prize money, and though they won’t specify how much, Finkelstein Reader said that with all the office’s winners contributing some of their share, it’s an ample amount.

“As a team we put together a fat pile of money,” she said. “If we do the right thing and always care about other people, the right thing will happen to us.”

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a shining example of why real estate agents are awesome!

Finkelstein Reader said the office will hold off on any more Powerball tickets until the payout reaches $200 million, but when that day comes, Maldonado said she will definitely pitch in.

“I didn’t realize how lucky they are,” she said.