2021 was a challenging year all around, but plenty of real estate professionals stepped up. To commemorate them, we recently announced our more than 300 2022 Real Estate Newsmakers.
RISMedia’s Newsmakers are chosen within eight different categories. The Achievers category recognizes those who reached new levels of accomplishment in 2021. “You should continually strive to do better” is the model of an Achiever, and it’s an ethos that guided the honorees to robust growth, prestigious awards and multi-tiered success.
Success isn’t the whole story, though. We also honored Crusaders, or the “Champions of a Better Way.” Crusaders are the real estate professionals who are set on rebuilding the industry to be more inclusive, directing industry efforts towards community building and more.
Here is a spotlight on just a few of this year’s Achievers and Crusaders:
Sarah Drennan – Achiever
Executive Vice President | Terrie O’Connor REALTORSⓇ
“It’s an honor to be recognized as a RISMedia Newsmaker and to be in the company of so many well-respected, successful real estate professionals, many of whom I look up to and aspire to emulate.
“While the past two years have been marked by record sales, double-digit price increases and an unquenchable buyer demand, the first quarter of 2022 has already proven to be a drastically different real estate market. Buyer demand continues to outpace inventory, but the total available new inventory has dropped dramatically (down 14.4% in January) causing total homes sold in February to decrease 28.1% year over year (according to the NJMLS). Interest rates continue to rise, squeezing first-time homebuyers out of the market. And sellers without a second home are hesitant to list for fear of being homeless following closing.
“For our business in 2022, we will be focusing on generating listings, educating potential sellers on the benefits of selling now while prices continue to be strong, and keeping our agents motivated to persevere.”
Dan Forsman – Achiever
President and CEO | Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Georgia Properties
“It is a great honor to be included as a Newsmaker. I focus on telling the story of our agents and Core Services team. Times keep changing and so does the news. My main focus for the balance of 2022 is to keep the enterprise focused on executing the lead indicators that drive revenue, agent productivity, retention and profit. The” plan, execute, measure then correct” mental discipline has never been more important.”
Lori Muller – Achiever
President, US Division | EXIT Realty Corp. International
“It was a complete honor to be included among some of the real estate industry’s finest leaders by RISMedia. The journey I have been on over the last 20 years has been filled with passion and sometimes burnout. I have experienced the cycles of the industry and have grown up in it from my beginnings as an agent, to a team leader, to a broker owner, to owning multiple brokerages, to an executive. The one thing that stayed consistent throughout my entire journey is that I always put people first, whether they be a client, an agent, staff or a respected leader. When you learn to listen, to respect opinions, to collaborate and to lead with love you can accomplish anything. I cannot wait to see what the next 20 years will bring to the industry and to the consumer experience of working with a REALTOR®.
“The beginning of the year has continued to show a decrease in listed properties. It also appears that off-market sales continue to increase and that rates will slowly continue to climb. These factors make it difficult for buyers to find a home, and when they do, they are including an escalation clause, waiving inspections and appraisal, and even closing on properties sight unseen. We are now seeing buyers who purchased during 2020-2021 with buyer’s remorse, and some are looking to put their properties back on the market. My advice to anyone is, if you want to sell, there is no better time than the present.”
Larry Flick V – Crusader
CEO | Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, REALTORS® and The Trident Group
“Four years ago, when I stepped into the role of CEO, I had big shoes to fill, so I am grateful that my leadership is being recognized as a tribute to my team and all of the employees and sales professionals in our company. My main focus for 2022 is to continue to elevate our company to be better tomorrow than we are today, and to do this by providing our sales professionals with everything they need. This year’s priority will be bundling our individual services to create a comprehensive concierge that includes transaction management, marketing assistance and listing concierge so our agents can make more efficient use of their time to grow their business, better enjoy their personal lives and focus on what they do best: selling real estate.”
Tom George – Crusader
President & Managing Partner | Constellation Real Estate Group
“It’s an honor to be named alongside some of real estate’s most innovative chargers. I’m proud to have been a part of moving the industry forward in the last year through the acquisitions of Top Producer and ReverseVision, and by developing resources that empower business owners and technologists to strengthen their businesses, make calculated decisions that increase their bottom line, and cultivate valuable relationships in the industry. It’s truly a privilege.
“We have seen massive activity across the real estate and mortgage spaces in the last year. My primary focus in 2022 is growing our M&A presence in new markets, globally. We recently launched a European expansion and have taken a new portfolio, Romulus, to market to expand our M&A presence in ancillary verticals like mortgage and finance. “In addition to expanding our breadth, we recently launched two game-changing initiatives to pursue both multi-hundred-million-dollar acquisitions and early-stage ventures. While we’ll continue to invest in VMS markets as we traditionally have, I’m excited to expand our M&A presence in new ways this year.”
Rei Mesa – Crusader
President & CEO | Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Florida Realty
“It’s an honor and privilege to be recognized on behalf of our BHHS Florida team. Any success is a team effort. Five things we’re focused on are our wildly important goals—we call them WIGs: Staying diligent on building inventory making sure we’re getting more than our fair share of listings; Identifying and executing on opportunities for strategic growth, both organic and acquisitions; Providing value to our sales professionals; Maintaining responsibility when it comes to expenses and investment; Increasing the usage of our core services, mortgage title and insurance, which is in benefit to our customers and our sales professionals.”
Devin Meenan is RISMedia’s editorial assistant. He can be reached at dmeenan@rismedia.com.
