Realtors Get ‘Back to Basics’ During Tough 2007 Market

(For a list of the top real estate firms, click here. To see a list of the top agents, click here (a list of team sales is featured beginning on page 3.)

There are 313 Realtors on the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s Top Grossing Real Estate Agents list, linked above. That number is a decrease of 6.2 percent from in 2006 and down from a total of 412 in 2005.

To qualify, agents had to have sales volume of $2 million or more during calendar 2007.

The number of firms on the Top Grossing Real Estate Firms list grew to 36, up three from 2006.

Year-over-year changes in sales volume told the story for 2007. Of the 313 Realtors, only 201 agents submitted both their 2006 and 2007 sales numbers. Of that group, 73 agents had a positive year-over-year percent change.

Residential real estate firms didn’t fare much better. Only three of the 22 firms that reported both 2006 and 2007 sales figures experienced an increase in sales.

Many in the industry said low consumer confidence, spurred by constant news of tightening lending standards and continuing foreclosures, made finding interested buyers and closing deals difficult for most of 2007.

“We had to overcome a lot of bad news last year,” said Cameron Torabi, owner and executive broker of Exit Pinnacle Realty. “The average person was so overwhelmed by what was in the headlines that they assumed they couldn’t do anything in the real estate market. People were just really hesitant to do anything.”

Total sales volume for all 313 agents was $1.62 billion, a $53 million slide from 2006’s total sales of $2.15 billion. Total sales for all firms for 2007 was $2.31 billion, down more than $754 million from 2006.

Due to variances in participation by the firms and the agents, year-over-year comparisons are not apples to apples. But the dip in sales is indicative of the slowdown that 66 percent of individuals and 92 percent of firms experienced in 2007 when compared to 2006.

The number of agents with $10 million or more in sales dropped from 49 in 2006 to 31 in 2007.

Only six agents in last year’s top 10 remained in the top 10 on the 2007 list.

Mary Basset, owner and executive broker of Bassett Mix & Associates Inc. in Fayetteville, propelled herself from the No. 12 spot on 2006’s list to the top of the 2007 list with $38.36 million in sales.

“I was extremely blessed the whole year,” Bassett said. “I had the opportunity to work with a group of investors that purchased many million-dollar-plus properties in the area and a developer that bought a large subdivision. I also sold several $1 million-plus properties.”

Bassett had a nearly 105 percent increase in volume.

One of Bassett’s associates, Jackson Williams, climbed 218 rankings from No. 229 on last year’s list to No. 11 this year.

Williams’ 343 percent year-over-year increase in sales was more than enough to make him this year’s fastest mover.

Williams, who sold $14.69 million last year, was the exclusive listing and selling agent for homes in the Lakewood Homes subdivision on Zion Road in Fayetteville. He said the position helped him sell an average of three homes per month.

Back to Basics

Bassett said she drew a couple of lucky breaks in 2007 but it was her return to the basics that pushed her to the top of the list.

“That meant working your sphere of influence and your listings, marketing your properties, whether that be in print or online, holding open houses and even adding giveaways for potential buyers,” she said.

Bassett said the same mindset helped many of her agents improve their sales and underlined her firm’s move to No. 6 on this year’s list with $116.9 million in sales.

Sean Morris of Walker & Associates Realtors Inc. said he remembers many cold, dark nights standing in the streets – flashlight in hand – showing homes to potential buyers.

It was that type of customer service and willingness to go the extra mile to help the client that helped him close the deal on many properties, Morris said.

Morris was No. 3 on this year’s list with $30.1 million in sales, up from $27.14 million and a No. 7 showing in 2006, and a No. 16 placing in 2005.

Morris attributes his steadily increasing sales volume to real estate 101: hard work and dedication to the client.

Leslie Miller, executive broker for Keller Williams Realty of Northwest Arkansas, said simple hard work helped many of her agents boost their sales in 2007.

The firm had 17 million-dollar producers and seven individual entries this year.

“The area’s market had been so good in the past that if you had a license you sold houses,” Miller said. “Right now you have to get back to the basics and really hone your selling skills. The Keller Williams courses have helped many of our agents do that.”

Three out of the 22 real estate firms that reported 2006 and 2007 sales volumes had positive year-over-year change in sales.

Exit Pinnacle Realty took this year’s largest leap on the firm’s list with a 220 percent increase with 2007 volume of $102.37 million.

Torabi attributes his firm’s major sales increase to “thinking outside of the box” and finding new and innovative ways to attract new people to the area’s real estate market.

Movers

At least five Northwest Arkansas real estate firms merged with larger companies in 2007.

Jerri Jenkins & Associates LLC, Sienna Group Realtors and Crossroads Realty all merged with this year’s No. 9 firm, Crye-Leike Realtors, in 2007. Element Realty joined forces with Coldwell Banker Faucette Realty. And Abercrombie Real Estate merged with Benchmark Real Estate Inc. but was later sold and became an ERA Real Estate branch.

Harold Crye, owner of Crye-Leike Realtors, said area firms have continued to show interest in joining Crye-Leike because it can provide agents a variety of services many small firms can’t afford.

Crye-Leike Realtors was the top newcomer to this year’s firm list.

Last year was the company’s first full-year of doing business in Northwest Arkansas and so far, things are on track, Crye said.

The firm finished 2007 with 95 agents, almost half of them producing $1 million or more in sales volume.

Other local firms affiliated themselves with national real estate companies in 2007.

Clark Long & Associates, became a Weichert Realty franchisee in late 2007 and Downum Realty Group Inc. became a Weichert franchisee in early 2008. Northwest Arkansas Real Estate LLC became a Prudential Real Estate affiliate, the second in the market.

Brandon Long, principal broker of Weichert Realty-Clark Long & Associates and No. 73 on this year’s top grossing agent list, said he hoped to use Weichert’s national reputation as a leading relocation firm to attract some of the area’s corporate newcomers.

LandQuest Realty LLC and ERA Vision Realty both made the 2006 top grossing firm list but are no longer operational. David Dallas, owner of Dallas Real Estate Services Inc. said his firm is still operational but has moved out of the residential market.