by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Since the Amelia Island/Nassau County Board of Realtors only has so many brokers, it was bound to happen.
They made their way through all of the available and willing brokers and agents to be president and eventually had to ask the same man for the second time.
Presley Hollingsworth, broker of Watson Realty in Fernandina Beach, is that man and he doesn’t seem to mind a bit.
“We have 320 members and maybe 40 brokers,” said Hollingsworth. “After you get through [all the available brokers,] what do you do? You have to start over. It’s hard to get sales people in this position because they sell for a living.
“Last year, Grace Lipman of Century 21 John T. Ferreira and Son was president and she still had a good selling year. No telling what she would have done if she hadn’t spent the time with this [presidency]. After a broker has had it once, it’s hard to get them to do it again.”
Presley who was president before in 1998, will be the first to serve twice. He says now the other past presidents have no excuse to not serve again - he’s an example.
He was very pleased with his installation ceremony, which was held last month at an evening event held at the Ritz-Carlton.
“It was one of the best that we’ve had,” he said. “A lot of people showed up, the Ritz was nice, the food was good and the service was good.”
In past few years, they got away from evening installations and had been holding them during the day.
“People dress up with the women in their gowns and the men in their suits,” he said. “It was an awards presentation and I think they just wanted it to be a little more formal this year.”
As he starts his year, he has five main goals he is hoping to achieve. They are to promote professionalism, code of ethics, community involvement, wearing the Realtor pin and building a business plan for the board.
“I sort of thought that that would be enough,” said Hollingsworth. “In this business, they hire us. So you work and you give them the best possible service you can give. When you come to a Realtor, do you get good service? Many times people form an opinion of Realtors based upon someone they’ve had a negative experience with.”
He said he wants to improve the Realtor image and get a positive image.
“Our Code of Ethics is divided into three sections,” said Hollingsworth. “Serving your customer, serving your public and serving other Realtors. If you deal with a Realtor and you can honestly say when you get through that’d you would do business with that Realtor again, that’s one of the best compliments you could give.”
He said he wants to make Realtors stand out causing them to explain the reasons behind wearing the pin, which are that they operate with a code of ethics, they stress education and they stress serving the customer well.
Involvement in the community will come in the form of giving more to charitable organizations in the community.
“We are having a golf tournament in April and the proceeds will go strictly to organizations within the community and to scholarships,” said Hollingsworth.
He said involvement in the community also comes from individuals being involved in their children’s soccer teams, schools or other local organizations to get out there and be seen.
“What we are going to do with community involvement is to take a step further,” he said. “Companies could do it, organizations could do it, but it also takes individuals to do it. We are finding today that people do business with people they know. You are increasing your profile because of your exposure. People look to people who are doing things.
“The idea is not to get more business, but to give back to the community and to improve the perception of Realtors. A true professional is shown by the service they give.”
The final goal, a business plan for the board, was set in place about five years ago and now they are slowly but surely making their way to completing their strategic plan.
“We gained 75 new members last year,” said Hollingsworth. “We will plan to pick up about 50 or 60 this year. As the board begins to grow rapidly, then education becomes more important. How do you teach them in a short period of time what they need to know to sell you a house?”
With the growth, their needs might change. Hollingsworth said they are working on a five-year building plan right now.
“We own the lots on both sides of the building and they are being cleared for parking,” he said. “We either need to move and build a new building or expand the building we are in. Probably the consensus is to expand the building and renovate, but sometimes there is a limit as to just how big you can expand and still have parking. Right now, we have plenty of parking.”
Hollingsworth spent the last year attending national, state and local meetings and training sessions to prepare for his role.
He said the monthly meetings are very important for agents to attend because there is a lot of valuable information and updates given at the meetings that they just can’t get if they don’t attend.
“Not everyone reads their e-mail,” said Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth has been the broker of Watson Realty in Fernandina Beach, which has 30 agents, for 10 years.
“The more associates you have, the more opportunities that you have,” he said. “No one sale is the same as the last sale you had. There’s always something that comes up and usually I am expected to know the answers. Most of the Watson brokers don’t list property, we just manage our people and keep them selling. In this business, you do more coaching then leading. You have to give them the opportunity to say ‘Can do’ and show them ways to do it.”
After high school, Hollingsworth joined the Marine Corps for four years. After the Marines, he earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Florida State University and entered the management-training program with Sears Roebuck & Co. where he spent the next 26 years.
“When I retired from Sears, I had to do something, so I looked around at several things, but I said I liked real estate so I thought I’d try it,” he said. “I was just going to sell, I wasn’t going to get back into management, but somehow I ended up back in management.”
He got into real estate with Prudential Network Realty in Jacksonville 15 years ago.
Hollingsworth has been married to Kitty, who is a nurse at the Mayo Clinic, for 40 years. They live in East Hampton in Jacksonville, but he commutes to Fernandina Beach every day. They have three children, Jeff, Beth and Jason and six grandchildren.
When he is not working, he enjoys watching sports and being involved in his church, Kernan Boulevard Baptist Church.