In Barrington, Illinois, Keller Williams Success Realty (KWSR) has been helping agents and clients navigate the real estate market since 1999. Known for its family-like culture, KWSR has built a reputation as a market center that challenges, educates, and inspires industry professionals to stay ahead of the curve—and serve clients with excellence. With a service area stretching from Chicago to Rockford, the brokerage has helped more than 18,000 families achieve their real estate goals.

At the center of operations is Market Center Administrator Karin Haubold, who keeps the office’s systems running smoothly. With a background in office management and agent support, Karin’s role demands precision and adaptability especially as real estate has grown increasingly digital.

When she first became an MCA in 2011, earnest money management meant paper checks, manual tracking, and daily bank runs. “I’d have to make sure checks cleared before they were returned if a deal fell apart,” Karin explained, “One misplaced check could throw off an entire transaction.” As KWSR’s agent count and transaction volume grew, so did the challenges. Remote agents had to mail or hand-deliver checks, clients experienced delays, and the admin team was buried in manual paperwork.

The move to digital earnest money offered a faster, more reliable process that fit perfectly with the brokerage’s tech-forward approach. Earnnest’s integration directly inside Keller Williams’ Command works just the way admins and agents need it to.

“Just this morning, I had a mutual cancellation,” Karin shared. “The buyers had paid through Earnnest. I just clicked to return their earnest money, recorded it in the accounting program, and I was done. I didn’t have to cut a check or deal with mail delays.”

Keller Williams Success Realty now experiences:

1. Faster refunds: Transactions that once took a week now resolve in minutes.
2. Simplified reconciliation: Remote staff receive automatic receipts and can track deposits directly through Command.
3. Clearer visibility: Karin uses Earnnest’s admin dashboard to instantly confirm where funds are in the process—no more guesswork or back-and-forth.
4. More time for high-impact work: With less manual processing, Karin and her team can focus on supporting agents and improving systems.

Digital earnest money isn’t just convenient—it’s secure, transparent, and aligned with the way the market center’s agents already operate through Command. Now, the office is taking the next step: moving to accept only digital deposits.

“We’re shifting to only accept electronic earnest money,” Karin said. “It’s better for everyone, and it’s the direction the industry is going.”

What once required multiple steps and manual coordination now happens seamlessly. With Earnnest embedded in their daily systems, digital payments have become second nature to both agents and clients. “Our office has a real reputation for everybody helping everybody,” Karin said. “Earnnest is one more way we can support our agents—and make their lives easier.”

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