As president of HomeSmart International, Ashley Bowers spearheads operations of all departments at the company and its enterprise departments, keeping them all in sync as they meet growth, retention and systematic goals.
In addition to her leadership role at the company, Bowers also became an educator and friend at the start of the pandemic, prioritizing communication and creating a sense of transparency, support and community through the unprecedented times brought on by COVID-19.
Here, she discusses the leadership practices that led her to become an RISMedia Real Estate Newsmaker—individuals recognized for their positive contributions to the real estate industry—and how she is preparing HomeSmart agents for the 2022 market.
Jordan Grice: What does it mean to you to be named an RISMedia Newsmaker within the Luminaries category?
Ashley Bowers: We love everything that RISMedia puts out there and what they stand for in the industry, so to be recognized by you guys definitely does mean a lot, especially coming from outside of the industry, having the recognition inside the industry now as a leader is great.
JG: Considering the year that real estate has had in 2021, what are your market expectations for 2022?
AB: We think 2022 is going to continue to be fast and furious as it relates to the industry. Even if interest rates go up a little bit, we think the transactions-signed count is going to stay up there for this next year. Will something correct upward in 2023? Yes. I don’t know if we’re as optimistic as some of the stats out there, but we definitely think it’s going to be above average for sure.
JG: What approach should real estate professionals be paying attention to as they are forming their game plans for next year?
AB: It’s making sure that they are adding value to their clients throughout the process while creating transparency for the consumer and making sure they feel empowered throughout the entire transaction. It’s also making sure that they are showing that they are a partner and they are guiding them through that emotional part of the process as well as the legal aspects of the process to solidify their value as a real estate agent.
JG: What’s your priority as you look ahead?
AB: We are focusing a lot on our Real Smart Client, which is our consumer app, and connecting mortgage and title in the real estate transaction in one place. So again, empowering that consumer to be focused on the pieces of the process that they can control and then relying on the professional for the pieces of the process that are necessary to do so, which I think is showing tremendous value for the agent in keeping their commission rates intact.
JG: How has your approach to leadership changed as a result of the uncanny behavior of 2021’s housing market?
AB: We are making sure that we are present in all of our interactions with our staff and that we understand the pressures that they are feeling day-to-day to keep up with service metrics. The transaction count is probably heavier than it has been in the past, so we try not to let our big leadership projects get in the way of that. It’s the day-to-day operation that really makes the organization successful and allows us to continue to do things like acquisitions and new offerings like that because we have a great team providing customer service for all of our agents.
JG: What are the most valuable ways for a brokerage to support its agents to be successful in the coming year?
AB: Timely support on transaction reviews and getting them paid on time. Getting the transaction to close and not holding anything up is obviously key, and at the end of the day, that’s what we’re really all in for agents and consumers, getting transactions to close on time.
It also is great to offer support and encourage agents to call and ask a question to keep them out of legal trouble and things like that. We’ll do 30,000 transactions in our Phoenix brokerage, and we had seven claims last year. You only get there through technology and through the right kind of education, training and support. It really takes a three-pronged approach, and that’s going to be valuable for agents moving forward.
Jordan Grice is RISMedia’s associate online editor. Email him your real estate news ideas to jgrice@rismedia.com.
