Barbara Wolcott
Chairman and CEO
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
RW Towne Realty
Virginia Beach, Virginia
https://www.rwtowne.com
Region served: Southeast Virginia and Northeast North Carolina
Years in real estate: 54
Number of offices: 22
Number of agents: 750
Favorite part of your job: Working with the agents.
Describe the current consumer-confidence climate in your area.
For seller confidence, I think they’re quite comfortable that they’re going to be able to maximize the value of their home and market it for a good price. What they don’t have confidence in is their ability to purchase another home when they sell theirs. As far as the buyer is concerned, they’re well qualified and have the money to purchase, but they’re struggling to find a property. Many buyers are finding that they have to make some compromises.
What is one of the challenges your market faces, and what are you doing to overcome it?
It’s a lack of inventory, and that affects everything else. We just don’t have an abundance of properties at that entry-level price point within this market. While there are concerns about rising interest rates, that doesn’t knock buyers out of the market, but rather, increases their monthly premiums. What are we doing to counter that? Education. In real estate, you can never stop educating yourself. Times change and circumstances change. This is a very different market than it was three years ago, so the best practices that we utilized two to three years ago need to be modified. You need to pivot with the market. There’s a constant need for education and reinforcement. We’re educating buyers in regard to the fact that higher interest rates don’t eliminate them from the market. We’re also educating agents on the importance of relationships, for them to get out there and communicate that now is the time to sell your existing home and move up.
In light of Towne Realty and Rose and Womble’s recent joint venture as the newest Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices franchisee, is now the time for brokerages to pursue expansion—in terms of offices and/or number of agents?
I don’t necessarily think it’s about an increase in the number of agents, but more an opportunity to expand into markets that you’re not currently in. It’s a chance to consider mergers for the opportunity to bring together different experiences and areas of expertise. It’s also an opportunity for cost savings by consolidation of offices, consolidation of staff.
How does your company make its agents’ jobs easier?
Training, significant staff support and management support. Those are the things that make the agents’ jobs easier. The more support they have within their offices the better so that they can just hand things off and make it easier for them to do their job.
What attracted you to the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network?
I have always respected the level of service they provide and their intellect. It’s very easy when you’re in a particular marketplace to end up with blinders on, and to look at your marketplace as the end all be all. Even though the National Association of REALTORS® does a wonderful job in representing the larger community, when it gets down to the local community, it’s all your competitors. By being a part of a brand, particularly a brand like Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, you have the opportunity to meet with and learn from other very successful people within the business. And as I said earlier, I never want to stop learning.
For more information, please visit https://www.bhhs.com/.
