Brent Fonner is the broker/co-owner of the office. He owns the office with his wife Barbara Fonner, the administrator/receptionist. They opened the office, located at 4010 U.S. 1 South, in December 2005. “The brokerage was actually created a year before that but we ran it out of our house until the office was built. Both of us work together to support the agents.”
WHAT DOES FONNER DO?
As the broker, he supports all the agents and promotes the Exit Realty name and franchise. “For some reason, in Northeast Florida, we weren’t as well recognized, so my job at first was to get the name out. As we grew, there were more Exit Realty signs around from our listings and now the name is recognized. Now most people in town do know that we exist and are here. I train and mentor each of the agents, both new and experienced. That takes the majority of my time. I’m here for support.”
POSITIVE ATTITUDE?
Where does he get his positive energy? “I don’t care what they say the market is doing. I refuse to give into that. If I’m going to give into that, I might as well give up and go sell cars or something.”
He said it also comes from the top of his organization.
“In fact, Steve Morris, CEO and founder of Exit Realty International, has even written books on it. It’s all about a positive attitude. In fact, if you look around our office, you will see positive motivating signs. It is true that if you have a positive attitude, then you can achieve whatever goals you have set.”
WHY IS YOUR COMPANY UNIQUE?
The company pays the person who sponsors a new agent a bonus equal to 10 percent of the new agent’s gross commissions. That continues on for as long as the new agent stays with Exit and so does the person receiving the sponsorship. If they quit and go to another brokerage, the sponsorship quits as well.
“What that does is create a family team atmosphere automatically. Everyone wants to see the company grow because everyone has an interest in that. That is what is neat about the system. I call our residual income ‘icing on the cake.’”
TEAM MEETINGS
They have a team meeting every Tuesday morning and a contract class every Thursday morning. “Then we have ongoing video conferencing training here in the office.”
WHO IS IN THE OFFICE?
Amy Capo, Ann Dunsford, Anthony Bosco, Barbara Piet, Beth Ruggeri, Blake Brandon, Brian Jordan, Carmel Nadel, Carol Watters, Chris Meyer, David Braun, Edgar Wynne, Evelyn Torres, Jean Macedonia, Jerry Calvin, Jim Faulkner, Joann Avedis, Maday Tiel, Margo Currie, Mark Nadel, Monica Nunchuck, Richard Job, Skeeter Key and Trilawny Fay are agents.
FUTURE PLANS?
When they first came to town, they planned on opening the office they are in as the main office and then having a branch office at St. Augustine Beach and one on the north side of the county. “However, the market did what it did and made everybody tighten up their belt a little bit. So, we are still looking at future expansion. I am already in communication with the possibility of doing something in the Palatka area so I don’t know exactly where we are going to go right now.
“The main office isn’t going anywhere. We continue to slowly grow as the market gets better. And it is getting better every single day. Buyers are finally calling. Buyers are getting off the fence and starting to buy.”
ADVICE TO YOUR FELLOW REALTORS?
Make a very strong commitment to yourself that you are going to make it in this career or that you’re going to find something else to do. “In this business, it takes hard work every day to do that. You need to be disciplined. The discipline comes from dedicating yourself to reach a goal and spending at least two hours a day actively prospecting until you get a prospect. If you don’t do that every single day, instead waiting for it to come to you, you need to find another job because you won’t make it.”
QUALITIES IN AGENTS?
“Anyone with people-person skills can sell real estate. The education and nuts and bolts of the business can come later. Experience is something that you gain, but the key is having people skills. You have to be able to build rapport with your customers so they gain your trust. That’s what I look for. I don’t have cutthroat people. There are none of them in my office.”
WEBSITE
www.exitrealtyexperts.com
BEFORE THE OFFICE?
Fonner retired from the Coast Guard in Miami as a chief warrant officer who inspected passenger vessels. He got his real estate license while in the Coast Guard and became known as the “Coasty Realtor” and selling to everyone he worked with. When he retired, he worked with the Keyes Co. and then Exit Realty Associates. He bought an Exit Realty franchise and opened the Exit Realty Experts office in St. Augustine.
- by Michele Newbern Gillis