Vitals: Nationwide Real Estate Executives
Years in Business: 7
Size: 7 offices, 764 agents
Regions Served: Orange and Los Angeles counties, Calif.; marginally service Riverside and San Bernardino counties
2017 Sales Volume: $641,374,623
2017 Transactions: 1,235
www.nreliving.com
At just 21, Daryl Owen acquired his first rental property, fulfilling a dream he had as a youngster to become a real estate investor. He then went for his real estate license and officially started selling in 2006.
In 2011, he founded Nationwide Real Estate Executives in Buena Park, Calif., where he leads a team that works to create life-changing events for its clients.
“In my opinion, this is the best career opportunity to create any life you want as a real estate professional,” says Owen. “The trajectory is limitless, and real estate is a vehicle that can take you anywhere you want to go. I love not having a glass ceiling.”
What sets your firm apart in the marketplace?
Daryl Owen: We own a licensing school with a little over 4,000 students, and we have one of the best environments and training platforms that cultivates and develops newer and budding agents. This also provides a huge advantage to our top agents, since we can grow their businesses and teams by giving them agents and training them on their behalf, alleviating two huge burdens team leaders often face. We also have a very talented marketing team that creates incredible collateral and brand identities for our agents, in addition to custom, in-house web development on their behalf.
How has your market fared so far this year?
DO: It’s been a really good year for us. We acquired a new location in November 2017, which put our sides and GCC growth to over 51 percent year-over-year; however, even without the new addition, we would still be up 28 percent in both sides and GCC. While the affordability factor is playing a role in slowing sales slightly, we’re still in a market that’s equitable for both buyers and sellers—and it’s a great time for both. This is the type of market I tell my agents they can get rich in. Inventory is still historically low, though rising slightly, and interest rates are still historically low, as well. We anticipate a market shift in the next two to three years; however, we also anticipate a normalization of our market and not a drastic shift like we saw in 2008.
Are there any other plans in place for growth in the months ahead?
DO: Absolutely. We spent 2018 refining our systems and processes and strengthening our foundation; however, we’re actively looking for acquisition opportunities to propel our growth. We have a recipe for success, and it’s worked for us.
What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing?
DO: I’m not entirely sure whether this would be labeled a challenge or frustration; however, the constant need to recruit has put most brokers in the commodity position with only one value proposition: cheaper commissions and fees. If we only compete on price, and not true value, we all become the result of the lowest common denominator.This practice doesn’t yield true professionalism and higher standards, nor does it ensure that our agent population is well trained with high-level professionalism. And it also brings our industry down as a whole. As a company, we don’t really care nor worry about the new discount brokers, as there’ll always be clients who prioritize cost over value, and those who prioritize value over cost.
What are the biggest opportunities for increasing business right now?
DO: Client experience is on the top of my list, and although this will be valuable for years to come, it won’t increase our business overnight. The largest opportunity for growth today is two-fold: invest further into our corporate inside sales department and acquisition opportunities with struggling brokers who don’t have a system and recipe for success. We can all win much faster and go much farther together, and we have a proven system that works.
How are you updating your technology and training to provide the resources agents need to succeed?
DO: We built a full technology suite of tools with SSO so that our agents can run their businesses completely mobile and improve the client experience. Not only do we train our agents on how to source business, but also on how to develop great relationships and service the business, which is a big distinction. Our marketing systems for listings have been improved upon and innovated drastically, and our communication processes have changed as a result of client preferences. Additionally, we’re integrating and building some of our own proprietary technology that’ll improve the client experience during showings, as well as the overall transaction experience.
Keith Loria is a contributing editor to RISMedia.
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