by Fred Seely
Editorial Director
It may have been anticlimactic, but it’s certain: Jacksonville’s Cathy Whatley will be the next president of the National Association of Realtors.
The NAR’s top officers for 2003 were named at the group’s midyear governance meetings in Washington, D.C. last month and the nominating committee affirmed last year’s selection of Whatley as president-elect. She will take office at the conclusion of the association’s annual meeting in New Orleans in November.
Whatley will spend next year heading the nation’s largest trade association: it has over 800,000 members. She’s the first national president from North Florida and the eighth from the state.
“I hope we’ll have a great real estate year,” said Whatley. “I don’t want 800,000 people blaming me for a bad market!”
As the national president, she figures to spend over 200 days on the road and it’s not just in the United States.
“NAR has over 50 bilateral partners,” she said. “Real estate issues are worldwide issues. For instance, we’ll go to Russia and Poland this summer to meet with the leadership there.”
Whatley is president and owner of Buck & Buck Realtors, Inc. She’s a past president of both the local and state real estate associations.
“It’s somewhat like being state president although, of course, a lot larger,” she said. “There’s a lot of congressional work and that will be different. I’ve been involved in Tallahassee lobbying for years. You get to know people and they get to know you.
“In Congress, there’s a whole new group of people. They don’t know me and I don’t know them.”
Whatley’s grandfather, B.C. Buck, started Buck & Buck Realtors, Inc. on St. Johns Bluff Road in 1907. His son, Jim Buck, joined him after he left the military in the mid-forties and became a success in the real estate and development business.
In 1969, Whatley earned her real estate license and, upon her father’s retirement in 1986, she became president and owner of Buck & Buck. The family tradition has continued: her son, Corey Mann, is also with the company.
“I’ve been traveling a lot this year and the people in the office have adjusted well,” she said. “We have a great staff. They really have stepped up and helped.”
Her husband, Fred, is a retired builder. She expects him to accompany her on most trips.
She’ll have to deal with a major internal issue over the next year: NAR has approved a $45 million headquarters building near Capitol Hill, and it will be under construction.
The national president-elect is Walter McDonald of Riverside, Calif. Al Mansell of Salt Lake City is the first vice president and Pat G. Kaplan of Portland, Ore., is the treasurer.
There are numerous pluses. “I have a ton of frequent flier miles now,” she said, “and I’ll get plenty more!”