By Carole Hawkins, Staff Writer
Yellowfin Realty may be a new name in Jacksonville, but when the company opens its second local office, people will recognize the broker.
Cole Slate, a former agent at Keller Williams’ Mandarin office, has been hired as the operating partner of Yellowfin St. Johns Realty, to be located near Nocatee.
“It’s an awesome opportunity at my age,” said Slate, who is 26. “The thing that appeals to me about it is building up the reputation of a company that essentially doesn’t have a reputation yet.”
Slate, who earned his broker’s license in 2012, distinguished himself as the NEFBA Sales and Marketing Council’s 2013 Rookie of the Year.
Yellowfin Realty opened its first office in Jacksonville Beach April 3 at 321 10th Ave. N., with Luke Morris as the operating partner. Today, eight agents work there.
The Tampa-based real estate company operates seven offices across the state in Miami, Orlando, Tampa and Jacksonville, Morris said.
Yellowfin was established in 2009 by Morris’ mother, Susan Morris, who previously led a team of agents at a Keller Williams office in the Tampa area. Luke Morris, who entered real estate in 2005 as a member of that team, today is a Yellowfin co-owner. The company has 138 agents in the Tampa region alone, he said.
Yellowfin brands itself a premier bank-owned/short sale property expert, but also handles traditional residential and commercial real estate transactions.
It was Yellowfin’s REO business that first brought the company into the Jacksonville market.
Eighteen months ago, a major Tampa client, Gries Investment, wanted Yellowfin to sell eight foreclosure properties it had purchased here.
“It was a situation where I was either going to have to refer them, or pick up the listings and set up shop,” Morris said.
He moved to Neptune Beach to sell the houses and check out the market. Jacksonville appealed as an area that had growth potential.
The company partnered with other local businesses and soon generated more leads than its agents could handle. That included hundreds of leads in the form of renters in the St. Johns County area who could be converted to homeowners.
Rather than pursue them from Jacksonville Beach, Morris decided to open an office in St. Johns. He hired Slate to anchor it.
“Cole is a dynamite producer and he’s someone who is able to move people,” Morris said. “He can make them want to join our brand. That’s what this job is about.”
It was Slate’s strong 2013 sales postings that first caused Morris to take an interest in him.
“We are very, very similar,” said Morris, who was 28 when he made his own leap from Keller Williams to Yellowfin. “He’s confident, but not cocky. He’s done a phenomenal job branding himself. I’ve heard nothing but rave reviews from the builders we work with.”