In real estate, more often than not, the harder you work, the better you do. This philosophy was a driving force behind Lance Hanson’s interest in the profession—one that has led him to more than 20 years of success in the industry.
As broker/owner of RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts in Altoona, Iowa, Hanson loves the ongoing challenge of real estate. “The business has evolved over the years, and now, being a broker/owner is more about giving back both to the community and my agents,” explains Hanson. “It’s new every day, and that’s something that really appeals to me.”
Working in Iowa, business has been strong as of late, although the area is seeing the same lack of inventory as much of the nation.
“We’re starting to see pockets where inventory is gaining, mostly in the upper level where new construction is starting to have an effect,” says Hanson. “In our market, that’s $350,000 and up. It’s getting to be more of a buyer’s market at that level. Anything below that, it’s been a seller’s market.”
According to Hanson, one of the biggest challenges in his current market is a hesitancy among owners to list their homes due to uncertainty over what their next living arrangement will be.
“We’ve never really had sellers be frightened of a market before,” says Hanson. “It requires a lot more work in order to make sure they’re protected.”
RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts recently opened two new offices and is in the process of moving one office into a bigger location. The plan is to continue to grow agent count and offices in 2017, though the philosophy is to achieve growth by making existing agents more productive at the same time.
“We try to stay on the leading edge of technology and train our agents on how to make it work for them,” says Hanson. “It’s a challenge to really figure out what that next thing is that will help our agents. One of the things we aim to do is find ways to help our agents better contact their sphere. We need to use technology to enhance that, not circumvent that. We want to expand our world more easily.”
Hanson takes great pride in the fact that the firm takes an “agent-only” approach, focusing on how to make conducting business more effective and efficient for sales associates.
“We want to grow with solid, full-time, productive agents,” he says. “We want good citizens that do good business. Our agents share back and forth, both inter-office and inter-agent. We promote that exchange company-wide because it leads to success.”
Vitals: RE/MAX Real Estate Concepts
Years in Business: 17
Size: 14 offices; 200 agents
Regions Served: Greater Des Moines and Central Iowa
2016 Sales Volume: $832.2 million
2016 Transactions: 45,018
www.realestateconcepts.net
For more information, please visit www.remax.com.
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