by Michele Gillis, Staff Writer
The smell of fresh paint was still in the air last month as Atlantic Shores Realty of Jacksonville LLC in Jacksonville Beach was getting ready to officially open its doors.
The company was formed in October by Rosie Hetman-Clemente and Steve Calta, both formerly of Watson Realty, who are co-brokers/owners of the new agency.
They have been renovating the rented office at 525 Third St. N., Suite 121 in Jacksonville Beach since May.
The less than 1,000-square-foot space used to house a jewelry store and was covered in pink from the ceiling to the floors. They added some walls and painted the office in soft blues and tans, recovered chairs and added beach-themed decorations to give it a real beach vibe.
They held a Jacksonville Beach Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting on Aug. 22 and an open house for Realtors and vendors on Aug. 27.
Why open a new company?
The trend in real estate today seems to be leading toward independence from larger companies and a different way of business helping the agents keep more of their money. Atlantic Shores Realty is following suit.
"I outgrew the Watson model, which is a very good place to start," said Hetman-Clemente. "After being in business for so long, you find out there are so many more uses for your license that the Watson Realty model doesn't support."
With the change in the market, many of Hetman-Clemente's customers wanted to rent their properties but Hetman-Clemente was able to do property management under the Watson model.
"I wanted to utilize my license to its fullest extent," she said. "I'm also an eco-broker, so I have been practicing paperless transactions for years and there was no system at Watson for that when we created Atlantic Shores Realty."
Because Atlantic Shores Realty is a paperless brokerage, there are no filing cabinets in the office. They store all of their files electronically and their agents are able to use their iPad and sites such as docusign.com, ecosign.com or whatever is the best option for the customer to sign their documents.
If a customer doesn't have a computer or isn't comfortable with paperless, they will accommodate those customers.
Another reason to start her own company was to help her agents keep more of the money they make.
"When I worked for a larger brokerage, they have a lot bigger space and a lot larger overheard than we have," she said. "So, the only ability they have to support that system is to put the agents on a broker-heavy commission split verses an agent-heavy commission split. So here, we are like a group of real estate agents who are working together under the supervision of two brokers. We pay the highest commission split possible and everyone shares the office expense. It is similar to a Re/Max, but with no franchise fees."
Agents choose their own compensation plan, according to their abilities and what their needs are. They do hire new agents and will provide training, as necessary.
There is a nominal office fee for services provided by the broker.
The goal would be to get all of their agents on a 95/5 compensation plan. They currently have nine agents and are looking for more.
Agents in the office are Otelia Teate, Rick Filippone, Darby Carson, Jeanie Houle, Cristina Langstaff, Tom Mulligan, Jodie Richards, Michael Ryan and Detlef Soberay.
The company provides residential and commercial listing and sales, property management and tenant procurement, relocation services and real estate investment services.
Since they are a forward-thinking, cost-effective agency, there is no company website, only a Facebook page, Atlantic Shores Realty Jax.
"We will only showcase our agents and direct the consumer to the agent's individual website," said Hetman-Clemente. "We are spending the small amount of money we get from our agents' efforts on things that will benefit them."
Hetman-Clemente said they are looking for agents who have outgrown where they are now.
Hetman-Clemente started her real estate career in 1997 by selling new homes for Monument Homes. She joined Southpoint Watson Realty office in 1999 and Calta was her manager. She was also a trainer/assistant manager at the Southpoint office. In 2006, she moved to the Hodges Boulevard Watson Realty office as an agent.
Calta left Watson Realty three years ago and became Steve Calta, dba Atlantic Shores Realty. When he and Hetman-Clemente joined forces, they opened the business as Atlantic Shores Realty of Jacksonville LLC.