CENTURY 21 New Millennium co-owners, Mary Lynn Stone, president, and Todd Hetherington, founder and CEO
VITALS:
CENTURY 21 New Millennium
Years in business: 25
Size: 21 offices, 950 agents
Regions Served: Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C.
2022 Sales Volume: $3 billion
2022 Transactions: 6,890
Todd Hetherington is founder, CEO and co-owner of NM Management, Inc., a real estate holding company in Virginia. The firm offers in-house residential and commercial services, mortgage, title and insurance through First County Mortgage, Bay County Title and Harbour Insurance.
NM Management is also the parent company of CENTURY 21 New Millennium, which maintains 900 sales associates across 20 locations in Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., garnering annual sales of more than $3 billion.
How did you get into the business?
Todd Hetherington: The Army put me through grad school at George Washington, and I was looking for something to do, so I went to a Principles of Real Estate Course. While out on field exercises with the Army, I would read Robert Allen’s “Creating Wealth” and other real estate books from a personal investing standpoint. I was planning to be a lifer in the Army, but then I met a guy selling townhouse investments in ’88, and he convinced me to hang my license with him. So I did. I sold five homes to other lieutenants and captains my first month, and I made what I was making annually as an Army guy. The bug bit me, and I never looked back.
What is the current state of your markets?
TH: We have about a three-hour geographic footprint, and the markets between Virginia, Maryland and D.C. are drastically different. We’re seeing decent signs, but it’s too soon to make any commitment. Right now, our strong agents are still performing well, but some of the newer agents (and the ones not proactively going after the business) are struggling. Some offices are 19% off year-over-year, while others are 26% off.
How is your firm able to rise to all of these challenges?
TH: I have about 118 employees. On December 27, I pulled the team together, and we looked at the headlines of people being laid off. I told them we weren’t going to do that, but I was expecting everyone to kick it into high gear. In fact, they needed to give me no less than 50 names in their sphere so that we could take on the mission of proactively marketing to them. One person said she didn’t have 50 names and didn’t want to do it, then fought tooth and nail, and at the last minute, she got it in. Two weeks later, she had a double-sided transaction.
How do you educate your employees and keep them up to date on the newest tools?
TH: We do two business meetings a month. Every branch leader is on the call going through a PowerPoint presentation, and we talk about what’s going on in each market area. Then once a month, we do a training meeting and make sure our agents are utilizing the tools we offer.
What’s your philosophy on implementing the latest and greatest tech tools?
TH: Everyone goes after the shiny object, but we try not to be the “leading edge.” The way you know what works is when your top agents are getting benefits from it. We’ve also brought in outside firms to look at our tech stack to make sure we’re competitive.
What’s the best piece of advice you offer your agents?
TH: To be proactive. People who do nothing are going to die on a vine.
What sort of growth opportunities do you see in your future?
TH: There are a lot of companies and top teams we’re talking to right now that complement our footprint. I think we’ll see considerable consolidation in the next few years.
