Stronger together

When leaders of the Realtor associations of Manatee and Sarasota counties took a merger to the vote of the members in September, the common question wasn’t “Why are we doing this?”

Instead, it was “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”

On Jan. 1, the organizations officially joined to become the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee.
Combined, the new group has about 5,000 members and 500 business partners, or real estate-related businesses.

“Sarasota was 4,000 members; Manatee had about 1,400, and there was some overlap,” association CEO Kathy Roberts said, adding the organization usually loses members in January but didn’t see the typical drop.

Roberts says staff and organization leaders have worked hard to keep behind-the-scenes changes from impacting Realtors.

Now, with a combined budget and services in place, the new association is completing outstanding business, such as changing the signs at its headquarters off Cattlemen Road in Sarasota and its satellite center in Lakewood Ranch, off Lakewood Ranch Boulevard. It’s also working to expand offerings.

For example, the group has already identified potential facilities in west Bradenton for a service center, where Realtors could pick up lockboxes and signs.

“Hopefully, within a couple of months, we’ll have that up and running,” board President Stafford Starcher says. “We’re also looking to rent some place to bring education out to that area, as well. It’s tough to go all the way across the county (for these resources).”

“The market changes all the time; the more we can keep Realtors up on what is going on, the better equipped they are to work with their clients,” Starcher says. “We have the wherewithal to offer more education in multiple places to make it easier for that Realtor to get that education.”

Starcher, who was going to assume the helm of the Sarasota Association of Realtors, said his goals for 2015 changed as soon as he learned he would help lead the newly combined group.

At the top of his list was making sure the joint organization was inclusive.

“We can’t think just of what’s good for Lakewood Ranch or Anna Maria Island or downtown Sarasota,” Starcher says. “It has to be inclusive. So far, so good. I’m extremely pleased with the buzz around this whole thing. I think people really want it to work well.”

Starcher also says the organization is looking at developing a disaster plan, so that Realtors can easily volunteer. The system would provide a way to spread the word that volunteers are needed for the American Red Cross or other organizations, for example.

“Our Realtors are really involved in their communities,” Starcher said. “When you think about that, people really don’t know how entrenched a Realtor is in his community. We would like the Realtor brand to be even better than it is today, and this is a way we can help step that up a little.”

Starcher says he’s taking things month by month, but he has plenty of ideas and aspirations.

But, there’s a “but.”

“I only have a year,” he says. “But we do have a great organization.”

TIMELINE
July 2014: Leaders of both groups meet to discuss a merger.

July/August 2014: Associations use members to form task forces to investigate merger-related items, such as facilities and financials.and governing documents.

August 2014: Boards recommend a plan to merge.

Sept. 16, 2014: Membership of both organizations vote almost unanimously to approve the merger.

September to December 2014: The organization appoints new committees, identifies new directors, develops a strategic plan and handles administrative changes.

Jan. 2, 2015: Manatee and Sarasota associations’ membership databases merge.

Jan. 7, 2015: The MLS from both organizations merge.

Jan. 13, 2015: The organization merges systems.

Realtors hit sales record in 2014
The Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee released figures Jan. 23 that show 2014 home sales in Sarasota County surpassed transactions during the real estate peak of 2004, with a total of 11,500 transactions — an all-time record.

In 2004, Sarasota County had 11,482 total sales.

In Manatee County, Realtors missed the record number of sales by just 28 transactions, selling 7,976 homes compared with the 8,004 home sales record set in 2013.

“This is truly historic news and clearly demonstrates our region is experiencing a remarkable success story in real estate,” Association President Stafford Starcher says. “Sarasota and Manatee counties have never seen this level of combined sales activity, which actually surpassed the 2004-05 boom of a decade ago.”

Association CEO Kathy Roberts says the achievement is even more significant considering that during the boom years some sales were counted twice because they were listed in both counties and thus counted by both Manatee and Sarasota Realtor associations.

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].