Rei Mesa is the president and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices (BHHS) Florida Realty, where he manages strategic growth, new business development, profit and loss, as well as acquisitions for the brokerage and its core services, which include mortgage, title and insurance services.
Here, Mesa offers insight into what it means to be an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker—individuals who are recognized for their positive contributions to the real estate industry—as well as how teamwork and adaptability have helped his firm face the challenges of the pandemic and the current housing boom.
You were named in the Achiever category for our 2021 Newsmakers, but you have a long history of achievements in this business. How do you manage to reach new heights and achieve new goals continually?
Rei Mesa: It’s a team effort, so everything we do and every area of recognition goes to the entire team. I’m very fortunate to have a strong and dedicated team of professionals with longstanding experience in this industry that I surround myself with.
How have you adapted to changes in the industry to stay successful?
RM: Â We’re very fortunate to be a part of the HomeServices of America family of companies. There is a great deal of sharing among all the companies and best practices to observe and learn. I also tend to focus and read information from other industries and what they did that assisted them in being successful and what worked.
Once again, it’s a team effort, so the whole credit goes to our team.
Tell me more about the importance of having a team that can execute a game plan, especially during a global pandemic.Â
RM: It’s key to any success. One or two individuals are not going to carry the day, so a team is always going to win over the individual. Whether it’s in real estate or any other profession, it’s important to have a strong and committed team that has the power to push back and share ideas and input and execute when the decisions are made.
From Day 1, our team had the vision that safety would be our first priority. That’s how we approached it back in March 2020 when it was announced that we were in the middle of the pandemic. We took quick action in making sure that we were keeping everyone safe and being responsible about doing business.
I think that is the greatest thing about having team members that have been with you for some time.
What do you think will have a permanent impact at BHHS Florida Realty following 2020?
RM: We’ve always had the technology, and as an industry, we were kind of dragging our feet with it. The pandemic forced the better companies to jump on it and the better sales professionals to adapt and embrace technology and realize you can transact with it.
I think that’s going to be an everlasting impact.
We as a company were also fortunate that we had 14 or 15 branch office leases that were coming up for renewal at that time. We were able to negotiate better terms and reduce the square footage of each office to be more realistic with the fact that you can work virtually today. That large number of square footage of office space wasn’t necessary. We reduced our square footage of those offices that were up for renewal by 35%.
We cover a large geographical footprint, and just like every other company, we did live meetings before the pandemic. It took a toll with travel time and allocating space to do these events. Quite frankly, we find that the attendance now with virtual meetings is much higher than in-person meetings of the past.
At a time when a lot of our interactions are digital, how do you and your agents maintain the human connection with each other and clients?
RM: In addition to the virtual meetings, it’s phone calls. It’s the texting and the handwritten cards. It’s the opportunity to FaceTime one-on-one.
I would argue that the personal connection is stronger now because it doesn’t require a meeting. It doesn’t require any pre-planning. I get FaceTime requests from my sales professionals all the time. I think we are more inclined to interact more often electronically than if I have to schedule an appointment.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the housing market?
RM: The focus has been on inventory and making sure that we are driving and getting our fair share, if not more, of the available inventory. It is a challenging market for buyers from the perspective that you’ve got many folks who want to be homeowners, and there’s just not enough inventory to go around. That is always a challenge because someone is not going to get that bid or that house, and they feel discouraged.
How have you and your team met the challenges it’s been presenting?
RM: Being professional and respectful and responsible.
We are very focused on trying to communicate that can sell their property in this environment in a safe manner. Hopefully, that helps us get our fair share of listings. It’s just focusing on blocking and tackling .
Our sales professionals do a great job in promoting our brand and sharing with sellers that this is one of those times that you can put your property on the market.
Do you have a quote/motto that has helped guide you during your career?
RM: Always stay green and growing, because once you think you know it all, you have already started a decline.
Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jgrice@rismedia.com.
