by Miranda G. McLeod
Staff Writer
Ray Rodriguez has a bigger impact on the real estate industry than you think.
In a one-room office on the 13th floor of the 550 Water Street building in downtown Jacksonville, Rodriguez analyzes each housing sector of Jacksonville — that’s monitoring more than 300 developments by more than 200 builders and thousands of pertaining documents that he sifts through daily.
It’s the business that he founded: the Real Estate Strategy Center of North Florida Inc.
He has two computers on his desk using software he designed. The television streams stock reports across the screen next to him, but it’s the stacks of papers labeled with colored dots that correspond to maps which line his walls that makes his work so pertinent to the real estate market.
The stacks of papers are property deeds, crime statistics, maps of communities, drawings of potential parks and a host of other North Florida demographic information. He compiles the information into charts and graphs showing trends in home sales, condos, mobile homes, townhomes and single family homes.
He doesn’t have a degree in market research. He says he received his education by the school of hard knocks. The motto for the Strategy Center is “Preserving the American Dream.”
Rodriguez has an idea of how the land market is going according to his research and his services to the local industry have proven invaluable.
Kevin Cross of Centex Homes has worked with Rodriguez for nearly three years. Rodriguez prices target areas, finds out who is building in which areas and most importantly, said Cross, tracks deed records for the six counties in which Centex builds.
“Ray is very good at what he does,” said Cross. “He’s very accommodating.”
Cross added that Rodriguez will do specialty reports for Centex when needed.
“He shows us the price of every house that closes in our markets as well as the size and location,” said Cross. “That helps determine where the hot areas are and pricing. It lets us know where we need to be.”
Rodriguez gets around in an unconventional manner. The 45-year-old was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 10 years ago, so he zips in and out of meetings in his motorized wheelchair and calls on clients around town.
The fact that Rodriguez is local is a major advantage for appraising firm Broom, Moody, Johnson & Grainger, Inc., according to Vice President James Toro.
“We’ve built a relationship with Ray. He comes to the office and the interaction is easy,” said Toro.
Rodriguez supplies monthly updates of real estate transactions in Duval and Clay counties for Broom, Moody.
“He provides us with leads to finding comparable sales,” said Toro. “There are other ways to do this — we use more than one source. But we feel like his local connection makes the data and the overall service he provides to be very valuable to us.”
Rodriguez also works to educate local consumers. He finds that interest rates are going up, but consumers have yet to see rising costs of building materials such as cement. Rodriguez says that when the Gulf Coast region starts rebuilding homes damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, North Florida will see a shortage of labor and an increase in material cost.
“That’s when the market will slow down,” he said. “The national economy will govern local development.”
Another way Rodriguez gets his information is by his community involvement. He’s the former president of the Arlington Toastmasters. His office is decorated with trophies, plaques and letters of appreciation from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Rodriguez has been a Volunteer Neighbor with the JSO for more than eight years. Rodriguez is able to listen to citizens vocalize concerns about crime, traffic patterns and neighborhood events without the neighbors knowing his profession. But he keeps track of those concerns and incorporates them into his database.
That information often raises rhetorical questions to the construction and real estate industry.
Rodriguez says 50 percent of people buying homes are African-American or Hispanic.
“How are builders going to be in business 20 years from now?”
He notes one developer who built homes near Dunn Avenue worth more than $200,000.
“The homes sold out fast,” said Rodriguez. “There are black people with money.”
Rodriguez points out several other developments that had the same success, even though others wouldn’t build there.
“The market can’t deal with realty. One out of two homebuyers is a minority. How do you sell to them and still make money?” he said. “I am a proponent of preserving life. Don’t put low-income housing with rich people. Segmentation is just asking for social discourse on the resale side.”
Rodriguez points out the Brooklyn neighborhood in downtown Jacksonville that has many historic homes and is threatened by increasing land values.
“There are 181 people that have no plans of moving,” he said, adding that the city should address the issue by redeveloping old areas and offering something better.
“Don’t force them to move,” he said. “Improve the area where they.”
Rodriguez said it is imperative to improve communities because the average consumer shopping for a house is thinking about the best way to get to work. He said because of gas prices and community tones, consumers are eager to come back inside the I-295 loop but he also notes that the choices are limited as to what could match up with the quality of life outside the I-295 loop.
Locally, Rodriguez said, the winner for developments working with the people is the master planned community of Nocatee. “They’ve already started,” he said. “Others are just making their announcements.”
Keeping track of announcements, maps, graphs and all the numbers takes a lot of Rodriguez’ time. But he doesn’t do it alone and he doesn’t use contracts.
“I don’t want a piece of paper to tell me how to do business,” he said, adding, the only contract he has is the one with his wife Maribel, whom he married eight years ago. She works next to him and his oldest son Juan works in an office across from his.
Rodriguez is passing his knowledge onto his other sons as well. He’s created the RMJ Report, named after sons Raymond Jr., Matthew and Juan.
When Rodriguez started the Strategy Center, he took the hunger away for making money.
“That’s what got me in trouble to begin with,” he said.
Rodriguez is the son of immigrants from Puerto Rico and was raised in New York. He joined the Marine Corps, which brought him to Jacksonville. He began locally investing in houses— had $1 million in investment property — but before he knew it, he was “borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.” He filed for bankruptcy, his wife filed for divorce and he was literally living on a dime.
Rodriguez was mad. Years ago, he said, there was no one like himself to talk to about investing in profitable areas.
It was the need to help people and anger at the lack of knowledge within the industry that led Rodriguez to his life today. With no computer knowledge and a desire to pursue his dream, Rodriguez said he paid no attention to anyone else’s opinion, and formed The Strategy Center.
“I do the opposite of what the industry says. Truth and honesty work,” he said.
Rodriguez said there are some people who won’t come to him for information, and they all have different reasons. But it’s no matter to him. Whether it’s a one-man operation or a national company, he treats his clients the same, he said.
“I treat my clients like I treat my family,” he said. “The best thing for me is to be a living testimony and example to my kids, regardless of adversity.”