Broker/director of marketing and development Jamie Huggins took over Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty's Fleming Island office at 3168 U.S. 17 in October 2012. Pete Dalton is the CEO, broker and owner of all Coldwell Banker Vanguard offices. The corporate office is in Orange Park. Lisa Smeltzer is the office manager.
Who does what?
Huggins has three parts to his job. "Recruit new agents, train the agents and retain the agents while helping them to build more robust businesses. Tied into that is the financial piece of it. I am also in charge of all the financial pieces of the business."
Smeltzer's job is to run the office. She manages the closing, processes payments and commissions, office supplies and other tasks associated with running the office.
How many agents?
There are 60 agents in the office, but Huggins' goal is to have 75. He is actively recruiting.
Huggins new to Jacksonville?
Huggins and his wife, Angela, moved here from Destin. He's been in the business for 17 years. He started in real estate in Atlanta with Re/Max and then Prudential. He and his family moved to Florida in 2005. He has managed several different Coldwell Bankers since 2006. Huggins is in the Army Reserves and in 2010 he was deployed with the Army to Kuwait for 13 months. When he returned, he met Dalton at a Coldwell Banker convention and they had an instant rapport. Dalton pursued Huggins to move to Jacksonville to run the Fleming Island office and eventually Huggins did just that.
Grand opening?
When he took over the Coldwell Banker Fleming Island office, he did a major remodel, creating a 5,500 square foot office which houses 35 agents with a total of over 60 agents. They held a grand opening event in February with over 150 people in attendance.
What are your goals with your new office?
"My big thing is that I am here to build a culture. I'm here to grow a culture because we already have the Coldwell Banker culture, but now I want to build and grow the Coldwell Banker culture with me. It's about agent-centric. We are here to serve agents. If they don't make the money, we can't survive. So, we are here to serve them. Coldwell Banker Vanguard has a dedicated marketing center to create the brand for the agent and help them set up all of their marketing material."
Other locations?
Coldwell Banker Vanguard Realty has five locations including Avondale, Fleming Island, Midtown, Kingsley and Ponte Vedra. The corporate office is located in Mandarin. There are about 200 agents among the five offices.
Team meetings?
They have a sales meeting once a month at the Fleming Island Plantation Splash Park conference room.
Who is in the office?
Judy Rountree is the closing coordinator and Rhea Castro is the director of property management. Agents are Sharon and Frank Alters, Anne Dunsford Curley, Marilyn Bearss, Stephanie Boccieri, Angela Huggins, Shannon Brangham, Stacey Burkins, Dena Calivas, Kay Chafton, Charlie Chorman, Aimee Davidow, Leslie Dougher, Mona Gardella, Tracy Vitali, Marcia Gierisch, John Gray, Geri Groenert, Lori Gunn, Parveen Hughes, Sherman James, Eden Jordan, Starr Keating, Cindy Kirby, Marilyn Kloehn, Kim Knapp, Cari Knapp, Laci Allen, Katrina Proulx, Heidi Lynch, Glenda Marchbanks, Jim McCullough, Phyllis McKinley, Joyce Mueller, Beth Elrod, Lois Neeld, Marla Newman, Gemma Bressoud, John Nicholls, Krys O'Rourke, Sandra Parker, Denise Russo, Maria Santiago, Shelton Scaife, Patricia Sherman, Karen Valachovic and Sandra Woolley. Dawn Welch, James Welch, Frankie Castro and Brittany Castro are agents and property managers. Many of these agents are part of smaller teams within the office.
Specialize in?
Residential real estate sales and property management.
Current real estate market in Fleming Island?
"Last time we did a quick search of the Multiple Listing Service, the months of inventory at Fleming Island was two-tenths of a month. Inventory is down. If you get spread that out in Clay County, you can get up into the four or five months of inventory. But, it is also price-point based, too. The hot property price right now is between $50,000 and $250,000. If you have a listing in that area, you will have multiple offers on it. Now if the property is $250,000 and up, not so much. It is a buyer's market, still."
Type of agents?
The office only hires experienced full-time agents, unless they come onto a team, where that team leader would be responsible for training them.
Training?
"All of our training is geared towards top agents building their businesses. I try to find topics that Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, CRS or Florida Realtors doesn't teach and I bring in experts on those topics to train the agents," said Huggins.
Area your office covers?
Coverage is spread throughout Fleming Island, Mandarin, Middleburg, OakLeaf Plantation, Avondale, Green Cove Springs and Ortega.
—by Michele Gillis