The office is located at 1543 Kingsley Ave. in Orange Park. Susie Kent is the broker.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
“I work with the agents and help manage the office.” Rachel Rogers is co-owner and Marcia Gierisch is the director of education and development.
HOW LONG HAS THE OFFICE BEEN OPEN?
The office recently celebrated its one year anniversary.
WHAT DOES THE OFFICE SPECIALIZE IN?
“Our office is very aggressive in buyer representation,” said Kent. “The majority of our production is on the selling side rather than the listing side of the business, although we do try to keep a healthy inventory of listings. We are also an approved Housing and Urban Development and Veterans Administrations brokerage firm and work with a number of investors.”
WHO ARE THE AGENTS?
Jean Louden, Lee Loudin, Tom Merritt, Star Williams, Tammy Blumhagen, Shawn Gihl, Kelly Hicks, Teechee Bunerkemper, Hank Kent, Robert Russo, Karmen Wegner, Ginnie Smith, Todd Arnold, Jackie Hendricks and Jeff Craig.
ADVANTAGES OF BEING A SMALL OFFICE ?
“We enjoy not being a franchise organization because as busy as our office is, we still have that family feel to what we do. We all share in the excitement of a big sale or the emotion of the first home being purchased.”
HOW MANY OFFICE LOCATIONS IN JACKSONVILLE?
“We plan to open a second office some time next year and have not decided exactly where quite yet. Several areas are under consideration in the Jacksonville area and we will narrow them down before the end of the year.”
WHAT MAKES YOUR OFFICE STAND OUT FROM THE REST?
“We offer several different programs for our agents that are attractive because we do not charge desk fees. More experienced agents are rewarded for that experience with 90 percent commission rates while newer agents are on a commission scale that grows as quickly as they do. It has been very rewarding to see the young agents flourish under these programs.”
SHARING KNOWLEDGE
“We have a number of experienced agents that have taken the newer ones under their wings and shared ideas with them. Jean Loudin has become the ‘mother’ of the office and has shared a great deal of wisdom gained from her years of experience with them. The results of that type of atmosphere is growth and very little turnover. That is our goal — to build a family of real estate agents working together toward the same goal of success and customer satisfaction.”
TRAINING?
They have a mentoring program that involves field training for newer agents.
WHAT AREA DO THEY SELL IN THE MOST?
Duval and Clay counties.
How does everyone get along?
“It is very much a team atmosphere, when one agent does well, we all do well. It is a much more intimate business setting and I think that our customers feel that personal touch to our service.”
DO YOU PLAN ON GROWING THE OFFICE?
“Absolutely.”
RELOCATION?
About 30 percent of their business consists of relocation.
Professional associations
Northeast Florida Associations of REALTORS® and Florida Association of REALTORS®.
WEBSITE
www.kentrealtyservices.com
—by Michele Newbern Gillis