A Conversation With ... Charlie Gerken

Gerken & Associates has been a constant real estate service provider to Branson and the surrounding communities since 1975, the same year I was born. My parents, Duane and Kay Gerken, the firm’s founding brokers, along with their team, operated under the Century 21 franchise for more than 25 years. In 2002, the firm returned to being an independent and to date has been in the same office location for over 32 years. We provide residential and commercial brokerage, property management, auctioneering and marketing services, and we currently have 10 agents.

You entered the real estate field in January 2006. What is your background and why did you decide to switch careers?

After graduating from Missouri State University with a degree in marketing, I joined Butler, Rosenbury & Partners and served as marketing coordinator for more than five years. Both founding partners, Geoff Butler and Tim Rosenbury, played a large part in molding me into the business professional I am today – I will always be forever grateful to them.

In 2005, my parents asked my brother, Jeff, and I if we had interest in continuing the firm’s local real estate legacy. As best friends, we gave it considerable thought, took the leap of faith and joined on as brokers and managing partners.

You were named Rookie of the Year by the Tri-Lakes Board of Realtors in December 2006. What have you learned about the job so far?

The learning curve continues to be tremendous because each buyer and seller and every property and transaction is different. In that aspect, you can’t assume anything. When I went into real estate, I just assumed that there were some basic laws that would work for everything – and there are, to an extent – but for the most part, you have to treat every (transaction) as its own animal. Documents are certainly a guideline for what we need to do to get (clients) to the closing table, but even inspection reports show up different. It really takes having a good broker to keep you in line. … We have one closing broker, and that’s my mom, Kay. She … kind of has a magnifying glass that’s over everything, (and) what’s nice for our agents is that we can go out and do what we do best – sell properties, list or help our buyers.

You have earned the e-PRO and Graduate Realtor Institute designations. How do those help your business and your clients?

E-commerce isn’t just for Amazon and eBay anymore. As an e-PRO agent, I’m able to streamline the entire transaction, from showing to closing, through a number of online tools and advanced software. As a GRI, I’ve (completed) advanced training from negotiations (and) new home construction to license law and contract preparation.

Does Gerken & Associates have a Web site? Do you have many customers from outside the Branson area?

We do have a Web site at www.gerkenandassociates.com, and my personal Web site is www.charliegerken.com. We devote a lot of effort and expense to our Web sites. We do have a lot of customers from other places. I never thought that you could sell a property without people seeing the property, (but) we have California buyers buying our listings sight-unseen. But that’s why you’ve got to have a good Web site with all the tools – people want the map, the maximum photos, virtual tours.

So a lot of Californians are seeing the value of relocating to the Ozarks?

We are seeing so many people from California come in not only to Branson, but Nixa, Ozark, Springfield. The housing out there is so outrageous … I’ve sold to California buyers who come down here and can buy a home on 75 acres and, (using) the money from their home in California, buy it with cash and have another $200,000 to $300,000 left over to retire or put in the bank or whatever. It’s amazing, and it’s going to change the demographics here, too, because they think differently than us.

What are some of the best things about Branson real estate?

Branson is booming – again. Real estate in the tri-lakes area has not been affected by the booms and busts of the coasts. Our buyers tend to be people who have vacationed here for years and are now able to retire or buy a second home. The (Branson Lakes Area) chamber, and businesses in general, do an excellent job in promoting Branson, bringing continuous vacationers who dream of living in the Ozarks.

What are challenges in Branson real estate?

The cost of development. The city of Branson does not have the infrastructure available to developers as do larger cities. Building on ridges and in rock creates tremendous challenges for developers to remain cost-effective and still meet the demand.

Interview by Features Editor Maria Hoover. You can e-mail her with suggestions for future installments of this feature at mhoover@sbj.net.