Sellstate Performance Realty Network is located at 13799 Beach Blvd. Tanya Watson is the owner and manager of Sellstate Performance Realty Network. She bought the franchise and opened the office in July.
WHAT DOES SHE DO?
Watson does a little bit of everything as the manager. She trains the new associates, recruits and oversees all the daily functions of the office. “I don’t have another office manager or sales manager, I do it all.”
WHO IS THE BROKER?
Neil Cresswell is the vice president of Sellstate Realty Systems Network, Inc. and brokers most of the offices until the owner can get their broker’s license. The company has franchises in Florida; Atlantic City, N.J.; Austin, Tex. and Las Vegas. “There are about 45 offices in Florida, mainly in southwest Florida. The headquarters is in Fort Myers, so many of the offices are near there.”
WHO IS IN THE OFFICE?
Melanie Pegues is the secretary and David Cool, Trinh Nguyen, Rex Knight, Harvey Girard, Norm Williams, Lisa Wolff, Sean Caffrey, Paige Kruger, Steve Sheffield and Thomas Deems are agents.
WHY DID WATSON OPEN HER OWN OFFICE?
“Ever since I got into real estate I knew I wanted to open my own office. I’ve always wanted to own my own business.” Before opening her own office, she had worked at Watson Realty and Realty Executives. Before that she was a paralegal and gained experience in real estate, foreclosures and bankruptcy.
WHY INTRACOASTAL WEST?
There is a lot of residential and commercial development going on around Beach Boulevard and she wanted to get right in the middle of it. “There are no other real estate offices in this area; they are all over on Atlantic Boulevard. I wanted to be one of the first ones in this area. I know more are going to come to the Beach Boulevard area, but I wanted to be the first established office.”
AREA THE OFFICE FOCUSES ON?
“I have agents as far as Orange Park and Northside. We really don’t specialize in one area. We do have office space here for the agents, but right now all of the agents work from home.”
WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT YOUR OFFICE?
Sellstate offers its agents 100 percent commission. They pay a transaction fee for each transaction and monthly fee to the office. “Our monthly fee is much lower than other franchises.”
WHY DID YOU GO WITH A SELLSTATE FRANCHISE?
“I wanted to be able to hire brand new agents, a bigger commission split for the agents, more corporate involvement than just ‘You’ve give us your money here’s your franchise’ and I wanted training for the agents. I liked that it was new to Jacksonville and the first franchise here. I liked that they grow fast, I mean they have about 45 offices in just under two years, so the growth is pretty phenomenal.”
DO YOU COMPETE?
No, Watson is not out selling property and taking business away from her agents.
TYPE OF AGENTS YOU HIRE?
Watson said she likes to hire a variety of agents. “I hire experienced agents and brand new agents that don’t have any experience. I like to make sure they are going to gel with the management style here. My agents come from all areas and various backgrounds.”
TRAINING?
Watson holds training sessions twice a week for her new agents. “My experienced agents sit in on it, too. I do programs on prospecting, so they will sit in to brush up on their skills. If they come from another company and I’m doing a session on contracts, they will sit in to make sure they are doing everything right.” Sellstate also offers ongoing training sessions for the agents. “They bring in national speakers for them.” They have sales meetings about once a month, but will increase them once they grow larger.
ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A SMALL OFFICE?
“We’ve only been open three months. I have agents who join us because we are small and we are growing. They wanted to get in at the bottom level. It’s great right now with 10 agents because I can have hands-on contact with each agent. I am a hands-on person. Right now I know all of the transactions that are going on and I can be very involved with them and give them the time when they need it.”
HOW LARGE DO YOU ANTICIPATE GETTING?
Watson said Sellstate offices typically grow to about 100 agents: “Within 18 months, they usually have between 100 - 140 agents. They do grow very large.”
- by Michele Newbern Gillis