by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
(This is one of a series on the leading producers in this area.)
For a Realtor to stay in the same office at the same company for 22 years is almost unheard of in the real estate business today.
Jan Shields of Watson Realty’s Atlantic Beach office has done it and it has paid off in the long run. Shields, who never wanted to be a Realtor in the first place, has been the top producer of Watson Realty for six years in a row.
As a housewife and mother, she was content to stay at home and take care of the children.
But then, her husband had to get his real estate license for his job so she decided to join him for the class and a much needed break from her home and children.
“I had never thought about working,” said Shields. “When my husband had to take the real estate class I asked him if I could go because I just needed to get out of the house. It was expensive and we didn’t have a lot of money. So I said I’d better sell at least one house to pay for all this. Wow, I loved it!”
How does she continue to stay on top?
“Basically, I work seven days a week,” said Shields. “I think, to be honest, that I was just in the right place at the right time. I started in real estate years and years ago and it was still kind of a sleepy market. I was able to do it with my kids and it was not a big deal. I didn’t work at night and didn’t often work on the weekends, but I established myself. When the market here took off, it was great for me because I was established and I worked for a great company.”
Though the market has slowed down a bit, Shields has relied on her established presence to continue to thrive.
“I’m doing more listing and really doing more education with sellers,” said she said. “It’s painful. I try to be extremely honest. I tell them if you really want to sell, this is the reality and these are the facts.”
Shields said she is being more careful and aggressive with the pricing of her listings.
“When the market was so hot, if you were off a little bit, it didn’t matter,” she said. “If you overpriced it a little bit, which a lot of times sellers wanted, it would sell anyway. Now, you really just have to spend a lot more time researching and figuring out what the right price is. As far as aggressive, when sellers wanted to price it higher, we would just say ok and see what happens. Now, I say no, that is not going work. It would be a complete waste of everyone’s time. I’ve always been honest with them, but before if they priced it higher it wasn’t as harmful to them, but now it is harmful to do that.”
Shields said her main priority right now is to keep in contact with her buyer’s and sellers. She has an assistant, Kathy Ritter, to help her, which allows her more time to have face-to-face contact with all of her clients.
Shields is in the Watson office that formerly housed property management. Her office is in the front and used to be a manager’s office, so it is roomy and fitting for a 22-year veteran.
“I focus on listing all the beaches and Intracoastal,” she said. “I focus on waterfront, but I sell everywhere.”
Shields said the prices at the beach are still very high even though the market has slowed a bit.
“There is definitely a lot more on the market and it is definitely a buyer’s market right now,” she said. “I think in January the activity really picked up. I’m not sure how many sales followed, but it was definitely better.”
Though the market has gone up and down over the years, Shields feels that she has sustained a good business because she stayed put.
“I think it pays for someone to stay in one spot if they can,” she said. “My customers know I’m here. I’ve been through the bad and the good and you just have to adjust. I did fine in the 1980s when the market was bad. A certain amount of people still have to buy and sell.”
New Realtors listen up. Shields has some advice for you to find your footing since the market has changed.
“You have to use your sphere of influence,” she said. “They used to be able to sit on floor duty and make money. I don’t know what the young kids are going to do. It’s going to be hard.
“I also don’t know that the real estate market can support that many Realtors. They have to go back to basics, which would be to do open houses. They need to go to other Realtors who have a lot of listings and get out there. There are agents in this office who religiously come to me for my listings and do open houses.
“If you are going to stay in real estate try to stay steady. Go in to the office every day. If you don’t go in the office, you get unfocused. You really have to work harder in different ways and find creative ways to find business. Also, keep your name and face out there.”
Shields has handled the downturn by focusing on her listings. She has a lot of listings, so she sends “Just Listed” cards out and has a Web Site with all of her listings on it.