Vitals: Intracoastal Realty
Years in Business: 42
Size: 9 offices, 345 agents
Regions Served: Southeastern North Carolina
2018 Sales Volume: $1.064 billion
2018 Transactions: 3,138
www.intracoastalrealty.com
Trey Wallace’s father started Intracoastal Realty in 1976 with the goal of being a boutique, high-end sales and marketing firm focused on waterfront properties in Southeastern North Carolina. As president of the company, Wallace is most proud of building fulfilling relationships with sales agents and their clients and leveraging those relationships to help clients move from the life they live to the life they dream about living.
What’s the secret to attracting new agents to your firm and retaining top producers?
Trey Wallace: We’re very fortunate to have built a culture where teamwork and the Golden Rule are our guiding principles. Our mantra is “Experience the Exceptional,” and this permeates through our entire company both with our agents and support staff. Because we’re known for this culture, we attract agents from other firms who are looking for more support for their business, and for the culture of family and community commitment.
What traits do you look for in someone new coming into the company?
TW: Someone who has a good work ethic and integrity—you’ll never realize your full potential in this business without it. A big plus for prospective hires, in our eyes, is if they held other jobs where they were successful and dedicated. We find that these types of people generally have the fervor and drive needed to make it in real estate. Coming into this business or our company with a large sphere of influence can certainly help, but if you don’t have the determination to leverage it, you’ll find yourself treading water.
What was 2018 like for the firm?
TW: 2018 was trending to be the third-best year in the history of our company—our market was strong. Hurricane Florence put a damper on that, but we still were able to finish the year with over $1 billion is closed sales.
Any growth plans on the horizon?
TW: We opened two new offices in 2018 and are well positioned in coverage right now. Our goal for 2019 is to recruit more high-quality agents to our existing offices. We focus on quality over quantity in this area, and, as a result, we have some of the highest production per-agent in our market. We may expand if a strong opportunity presents itself.
What most sets your firm apart in the marketplace?
TW: The Intracoastal Realty brand is recognized as the real estate firm for the area’s most discerning clients. We have a high concentration of our market’s top agents who are all very knowledgeable about the areas they serve, and have the marketshare to back that up. Our reputation and support of the local community is esteemed—something that has taken 42 years to build, but never something that we take for granted.
How are you updating your technology and training to provide the resources agents need to succeed?
TW: We’re heavily invested in this area. We have a technology department led by a very talented CIO, and a training division that’s second to none. Both groups do an outstanding job helping our agents adopt and leverage technology. We’re constantly looking for new opportunities and innovations to make sure we’re on the leading edge. When we’re evaluating technology and training opportunities, we look for things that’ll help our agents save time or win more clients. If it doesn’t lend to one of those primary needs, we usually pass.
What are the biggest opportunities for increasing business right now?
TW: We think our biggest opportunity right now is more investment and development of our existing agents to help them maximize their potential. Training is a top priority for us. We’re working closely with the team at Ninja Selling, which we strongly believe in, and over 200 of our agents have taken the one-week immersion program. Compelling marketing initiatives in digital, print and television will be key to our success, as well.
Keith Loria is a contributing editor to RISMedia.
