COVER FEATURE: The Power of One Million

The New Breed

BY JIM HATFIELD

The REALTOR® family is growing. From coast to coast, brokers and REALTOR® associations report an influx of new members who are infusing the organization with youth, diversity, and corporate experience.

“Our membership was up about 18 percent in 2003,” says Bett McCarthy, executive director of the Greater Boston Association of REALTORS® and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board. “We’re getting people in their 20s and 30s who are determined to make real estate a full-time career, not a pastime,” she says.

In addition, downsizing has issued a legion of tech and business-savvy professionals into real estate, industry observers say. “Many of the people we’re seeing have been heavily trained in another field, and now they’re happy to start controlling their future. That’s been a big a-ha for us,” says Steve Kon, director of career development for Century 21 New Millennium in Kingstown, Va., which has added 100 new salespeople in the past year.

Mary-Claire Havas, director of education and training at Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New Jersey and Rockland County, N.Y., based in Parsippany, N.J. agrees: “We’re seeing new practitioners who are sharp and eager to learn more. We offer 75 hours of new-salesperson training, and they can hardly wait to put it to use,” she says.

Naturally, many rookies also are drawn to the business because of its earnings potential. “If you have a good business plan, you can close 15 or 20 transactions a year, and depending on your market, earn $100,000 a year or more,” says Matt Williams, CRS®, broker-owner of Realty Executives Williams-Sykes Realty in East Fishkill, N.Y. Williams teaches new-salesperson classes for three different boards.

What’s more, nearly a quarter of the new members since 1999 have been minorities, NAR says. Industry observers point to demographics to help explain the trend. The population of foreign-born residents in the United States jumped from 22.6 million in 1994 to 32.5 million in 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. A significant number of those foreign-born residents are minorities: In 2002, for instance, 11.6 million of them, or more than 36 percent, were from Central America. Efforts by the REALTOR® organization—such as the HOPE Awards, the public awareness campaign, and the At Home with Diversity course—have likely helped attract minorities into real estate.

Regardless of age, gender, or ethnic background, company and association executives say many new practitioners share important qualities with successful veterans. “Our newest salespeople are disciplined, focused, and determined to succeed,” says Janen L. Sosnovik, senior vice president with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in New Jersey and Rockland County, N.Y., which has added more than 1,500 new practitioners in the past two years. “They’re truly the best and brightest.”

MICHELE KLUG
Age: 39
Previous career: Account manager
Years in real estate: 1
2003 sales volume: $3.5 million (8 months)

Her customers deserve the best
As a single mother of two daughters, Michele Klug found herself in search of a career that would let her use her two bachelor of science degrees—in computer science and business management—and give her the flexibility and income she needed to provide for herself and her family.

Her previous job as a national account manager for AT&T, where she worked for more than a decade, filled the income requirement but didn’t provide enough time for her 6- and 9-year-old daughters.

Real estate was the remedy, says Klug, who’s been a sales associate with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Basking Ridge, N.J., since March 2003. Her computer skills and familiarity with telecommunications were ideal preparation for the demands of her new job, she says. “I do all my presentations on my laptop, and my customers say, ‘Why isn’t everyone doing it this way?’”

And thanks to her networking efforts—through community groups, a winemaking club, and the Brownies and Girl Scouts—Klug’s built enough business to win company awards, including the Circle of Excellence, for transaction and sales volume. By her third year in the business, she hopes to have a team in place to handle all the referrals she’s receiving.

“I wish I had more time because my clients deserve so much,” she says. “A home is the biggest purchase of their lives, and they deserve every moment I can give them.”

BOB MITTON, e-PRO®
Age: 44
Previous career: Marketing
Years in real estate: 3
2003 sales volume: $3.25 million

The technologist
After 20 years working in the world of servers, computers, and product marketing, Bob Mitton became a salesperson in 2001 because he wanted to be his own boss, spend more time with his family, travel less, and earn more money. Now a real estate investment specialist with RE/MAX Dolphin Real Estate in San Mateo, Calif., he’s aiming high: “I plan to own my own brokerage within 10 years,” says Mitton, who has an engineering degree from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. “I’m used to being the boss. It’s been an awakening to do it all myself.”

To practice real estate, he draws heavily on his tech background and experience as a marketing manager. He’s created a contact database using county records, MLS sales records, and addresses, which he mines to target small- to mid-sized investors in San Mateo County. “They’re one of the hardest markets to reach, because they don’t live in one place. You can’t door-knock. So they’re underserved. You have to dig out the data.”

Mitton’s biggest challenge? “I know the myriad things I’d like to get done from a technology point of view, such as optimizing my search engine placement and building new sites to appeal to specific audiences. So I have to keep pulling myself back to dollar-generating activities,” he says.

Mitton’s taken advantage of the benefits the REALTOR® organization provides. “I really value the opportunity to network with other good salespeople, and I like the publications that keep me up to date on issues that are important to REALTORS®,” he says. “Add the group buying power and the fact that NAR represents us, and you have a pretty powerful array of benefits.”

GILBERTO PEREZ
Age: 29
Previous career: Graphic designer
Years in real estate: 1.5
2003 sales volume: $2 million

Helping others and himself
Following the advice of family and friends, 29-year-old Gilberto Perez decided to leave his job as a graphic designer for an ad agency in 2002 and plunge into real estate, “because they thought I’d be good at it.”

They were right. Perez says he averaged one transaction a month in 2003 and has a good start on an even better record for 2004 as a sales associate for Realty Executives in Phoenix.

Like other professionals who’ve come to real estate from other fields, he leverages what he knows. “I’ve used my art background to design marketing materials, and I rely on my Spanish-language skills to help non-English speaking customers realize their dream of homeownership,” says Perez, who’s married and has a 2-year-old son, Antonio.

Plus, he’s used sales insight gained from family members who own a retail store. Case in point: It pays to advertise. “Many new salespeople are afraid of making the financial commitment of paying for marketing,” he says. But Perez began seeing results from his ads after just three months in the business.

Perez has taken courses in real estate investing and has already put them to good use. With a family member, he’s purchased, remodeled, and listed a home. “That’s what I like about real estate,” says Perez. “There are so many opportunities to help others and help yourself at the same time.”

PAMELA PUSEY ABR®, GRI
Age: 53
Previous career: U.S. Army wife and Army family services coordinator
Years in real estate: 1.5
2003 sales volume: More than $6 million

Going gangbusters for real estate
After years of moving around the world as a U.S. Army wife, Pam Pusey settled with her newly retired husband in Northern Virginia. In late 2002, she joined Century 21 New Millennium in Alexandria, Va. “I spent most of my life working or volunteering for the Army in the family services area—helping military families move, helping them with finances, setting up childcare, organizing networking groups—so I can’t think of a career better suited for me than real estate,” she says.

The proof’s in her results. Pusey made more than $6 million in gross sales serving mostly military families in 2003, her first year in the business, and has won several company awards. She credits her agency’s extensive training programs and outstanding help from fellow salespeople. Not to mention the confidence that comes from maturity and many years of working. Pusey says she “came into this business like gangbusters. I earned my ABR® and GRI designations right away because I knew I’d get busy pretty quickly.”

She believes the resources of the REALTOR® organization have been instrumental in her success, too. Besides her designations, she frequently turns to REALTOR.org for fast access to information. “Recently, a customer wanted to know how much remodeling her kitchen would add to the value of her home. I went to REALTOR.org and found the answer at REALTOR® Magazine Online in minutes,” she says.

Her real estate knowledge is growing, but Pusey believes what drives her business isn’t just what she knows. It’s that “people can trust me to look after their best interests.” After all, she understands the experience of being in a military family firsthand.

Who are NAR’s newest members?