Vitals: John Daugherty, REALTORS®
Years in Business: 52
Size: 2 offices, 163 agents
Regions Served: Texas counties of Harris, Montgomery, Fort Bend, Galveston, Waller and Brazoria
2018 Sales Volume: $1,115,155,510
2018 Transactions: 1,419
www.johndaugherty.com
With 52 years of experience in the real estate industry, John Daugherty, who founded John Daugherty, REALTORS® (No. 234 in sales volume in RISMedia’s 2019 Power Broker Report) in 1967 and serves as its CEO, prides himself on delivering top-notch service and professionalism. A third-generation Houstonian, Daugherty’s luxury real estate brokerage has served more than 100,000 clients through the years, and he still gets a thrill at matching a home to a new homeowner.
How did your market fare in 2018? What factors contributed to this?
John Daugherty: 2018 was a great year. The Greater Houston market fared well in 2018 as areas continued to rebound positively while still recovering from Hurricane Harvey. As land values rose, we saw vertical living spaces increase dramatically, both in rental and newly constructed for-sale buildings. New construction in master-planned suburban communities increased, as well as aggressive redevelopment in older, centrally located neighborhoods.
What growth plan do you have in place for 2019?
JD: We see an increasing marketshare in our current markets, as well as luxury suburban communities. As such, we’re adding more experienced sales associates in the year ahead.
What sets your firm apart in the marketplace?
JD: Our 52 years of professionalism and excellence in real estate, in addition to the fact that we have more national and international affiliates than any luxury real estate company in Houston.
What are the biggest challenges you’re currently facing?
JD: It seems that all major metropolitan areas are experiencing the arrival or growth of new players with new business models. The good part about this is that it has propelled us all to sharpen our skills to be strong competitors.
What are the biggest opportunities for increasing business right now?
JD: We’re utilizing more digital avenues to give our agents and our properties a much broader range of exposure. Our goal is to be competitive and contemporary.
How are you preparing your salesforce to meet the expectations of today’s consumer, especially first-time homebuyers and millennials?
JD: We’re streamlining many functions in our offices to allow our agents to manage their time more efficiently. Our company also strives to maintain tried-and-true core values that will always be the foundation of our business.
How are you updating your technology and training to provide the resources agents need to succeed?
JD: We implemented the SkySlope platform to create a paperless office environment, facilitate online transaction management and provide transparency for clients, agents, title providers and lenders.
What do you look for when bringing someone new into the company?
JD: John Daugherty, REALTORS® paints a very realistic picture of what it takes to succeed when interviewing prospective talent. We know it takes a can-do attitude coupled with a strong backbone. We’ve been extremely successful in identifying individuals who have been in the workplace for several years, but have an interest in real estate. We expertly re-train their skillsets, and they have very lucrative real estate careers.
Keith Loria is a contributing editor to RISMedia.