NEFAR: Millie Kanyar
by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Millie Kanyar, the incoming president of the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, is optimistic if anything. While she understands the industry is struggling, those who work hard will be rewarded.
“There’s one thing about real estate,” said Kanyar, manager of Watson’s Fort Caroline office. “If you want to make money, you can. Yes, the market has created a situation where we may need to work a little harder. You have to find the cheese because it’s moved a bit.
“But, I think there is plenty of it out there. When you look at the number of new agents coming into the business that are doing well because they don’t know any better it makes you ask the question, ‘Why are the seasoned agents complaining and buying into the thought that it is a tough market?’”
Kanyar said complacency can be a problem.
“If you do the same thing over and over again, you get the same results,” she said. “So you have to get out of that and try something different. If you knock on enough doors you are going to step into business. It may take a few more calls than in past years, but that’s ok.”
Kanyar said everyone keeps saying to get back to basics. However, the basics have changed. Consumers are more technologically savvy and realtors are finding a more educated buyer. This has forced realtors to find creative ways to find new and keep existing customers.
“They’ve learned to adapt and have modified their approach,” she said. “Obviously, short sales have caused a lot of headaches for people, but people get smarter in doing these things. They find a way.”
Kanyar was a stay-at-home mom until a postcard in 1995 changed her life.
“I got a card from the manager at this office who was recruiting agents in the area,” she said. “I thought, ‘Hey, there’s an idea.’ About the same time, the law school was coming to town.”
So, she did both. She got her real estate license and started on her law degree, which she got from the Florida Coastal School of Law in 2000.
She also has a bachelor’s degree in advertising from Penn State University then worked at Oscar Mayer in sales for five years.
Kanyar came to Jacksonville when her husband was transferred with Vistakon. She has owned several businesses over the years including a swim and tennis club, a mini-mart and a truck stop in Louisiana.
She has two partners who work with her at her firm, Affinity Law Firm, so she can focus on her management duties, real estate and now holding the office of president of NEFAR. She has been the manager of her real estate office for two years.
“It’s been interesting,” she said. “When I took on the manager position, I already had my law office, so I do the real estate and they do the law. I have listings, but I do not compete with my agents. I don’t approve of that. I do service my past customers because they are my past customers. I’ve even given some of them away, if I wasn’t able to do it.”
She has plans to do something that NEFAR hasn’t done since 2001.
“We are going to do a visioning for the board,” she said. “Presidents before wanted to do it, but we just didn’t get to it. The last visioning in 2001 was called ‘Mission Possible.’ Many of the objectives have been met. Many pertained to the operations of NEFAR internally and others pertained to the board itself.
“But, it’s been a while. We are overdue for one. I want to see one done this year. We are going to do it. We will do it and it will then need to be reviewed on a yearly basis.”
NEFBA: Glenn Layton
by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
Glenn Layton grew up with a hammer in his hand.
“I am the son of a developer,” said Layton, division president of Woodside Homes and the incoming president of the Northeast Florida Builders Association. “I have been on construction sites since I was in my early teens. I spent a lot of time on commercial and residential job sites.
“I just loved it. I loved being outdoors. I loved getting my hands in the middle of all that stuff. So, I worked all my summers on construction sites and decided that’s what I wanted to do.”
Layton is a 1984 graduate of the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in construction management. He worked for a couple of homebuilding companies, including Summerhomes and First Coast Builders, from 1984 until 1990 during which he did estimating, purchasing and was the superintendent in the field.
In 1990, Layton was laid off so he started his own company, Glenn Layton General Contracting to do renovations and additions, build homes and churches, and some commercial work.
In 1997, he went to work for North Florida Builders and that’s where he is today, going through a buyout by Woodside Homes. He’s now the division president.
“Right now I wear a lot of hats,” he said. “I’m really responsible for the overall day-to-day operations here at Woodside. That would be sales, marketing, construction and anything that has to do with purchasing.
“We have managers for each of them, but overall that is my responsibility. My number one responsibility is to put a product in the ground that meets the market conditions with price, product and location and produces a profit for us at the end of the day.”
Layton first became involved in NEFBA in 1997.
“I was asked to be on the board and got involved in some of the different committees and councils,” he said. “I really felt that there was a lot that we could get out of it, so I stayed involved. I was asked to think about getting into the leadership chairs.”
So he went through the chairs — secretary/treasurer, first vice president and president-elect — until he reached the top.
“(Holding offices) keeps you involved in all of the issues that the industry is facing,” said Layton. “It gives you a learning period of how things work and how the whole organization comes together.”
It comes together, he says, because of the staff.
“The behind-the-scenes effort that the staff makes really makes the job of president a figurehead position,” he said. “They have a wonderful group of people over there that have been led to serve. They are great servants to our industry and provide great support to me and the rest of the leadership team.”
The NEFBA president provides leadership and it’s crucial in these times, he said.
“This year there has been a tremendous focus on the industry as a whole. There have been a lot of changes,” he said. “There have been bank changes, market changes and all kinds of things that have affected our industry. The economy has changed.”
Layton said the amount of time devoted to his NEFBA duties depends on the week and time of year.
“There are a lot of weeks that there isn’t a whole lot going on,” he said. “You can handle it with a visit or two for an hour or two over at the association office. Then there are weeks you may spend 20 or 30 hours a week on NEFBA issues depending on the level of the things that are going on.”
Though the future is not as bright as when Layton signed up to get in line to be president, he isn’t letting that get him down.
“I think 2009 is really going to be an extension of a lot of the stuff that has happened in 2008,” said Layton. “We are really going to work on supporting our industry. We are going to be supporting our members by focusing on getting everyone’s business back on track.”
Educating the members is the key to that goal.
“Many times people do not understand all the things that are going on in our industry,” he said.