This week’s HW+ member spotlight features Gary Scott, president at Allen Tate Realtors. With more than 30 years of experience in the real estate industry, Scott has held positions with multiple brokerage firms across the East Coast, which includes B. Gary Scott Realtors, Prudential Preferred Properties and most recently Long and Foster Real Estate, where he served as president of General Brokerage. In his current leadership position, he oversees all residential operations for the company and is responsible for 48 offices and 1,600 agents in six regions of North and South Carolina.
Below, Scott answers questions about the housing industry:
HousingWire: To start off, what is your current favorite HW+ article?
Gary Scott: I don’t have a regular favorite. Each edition provides me with several articles that really resonate at that particular time.
HousingWire: If you had chosen a different career path, what would it be?
Gary Scott: I would be a football coach — no question. I had two passions growing up — real estate and athletics. To this day, I credit the lessons I learned playing sports as keys to my success. There is no doubt the importance of preparation, hard work, teamwork and leadership were molded on the athletic fields.
HousingWire: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
Gary Scott: We are the company we keep. My parents shared this advice with me at an early age, and we passed it along to our children. I’ve been very fortunate in my real estate career to find this advice is true. My mentors — the company I kept — are some of the most iconic names in our industry: B, Gary Scott (my father), Dick Christopher, Pat Riley, Allen Tate, Wes Foster, Jeff Detwiler, Gino Blefari, and now, the Hanna family.
HousingWire: When do you feel like a success at your job?
Gary Scott: I feel successful when those I work with are successful. The primary role of a leader is to develop future leaders and provide the opportunity for those we lead to achieve success. A mentor early in my career shared one of the most impactful lessons in leadership. He said the title on our business cards should read “Farmer” — we grow people.
HousingWire: What do you think will be the big themes for the housing market in 2022?
Gary Scott: Low inventory, rising interest rates and inflation will play a part in our business this coming year. We need to be aware of the changing competitive landscape and the fast-paced changing needs of today’s consumers. One of the great opportunities in front of us this year and in the future is the demographic makeup of our country. The largest generations of Boomers and millennials provide unique and different opportunities. It’s important that we understand and leverage the new home buying generation — Gen Z.
HousingWire: What’s one thing that people aren’t paying attention to that you think they should be paying attention to?
Gary Scott: We must stay laser-focused on the fundamentals. While the world and our industry are changing at a break-neck pace, it is critical that we remain steadfast in the importance of trust and relationships in our business. For 97% of the population, buying a home is their most significant financial and emotional decision. While we need to leverage technology and stay aware of the competitive landscape, I believe the agents and companies that “block and tackle” the best will remain very successful in the years ahead.
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