A Conversation With ... Scott Myer

We have 14 agents. We work with a flat, or fixed, fee. Instead of doing the traditional 6 percent, we give people … multiple options that will fit their needs, whether we do in-house listings or Multilist or whatever they need. Our base fee is $1,995 (per property). We give them the flexibility to choose the best program for them.

Right now, we have about 250 listings. We do residential and commercial real estate. We do virtual tours of all of our homes on our Web site, www.scottmyerrealty.com.

How did you decide to open your own firm?

Basically, I wanted to do my own fixed-fee company. I was working with Carol Jones’ traditional office. I believe in fixed-fee. I think it’s the future, so with my daughter’s help we opened a couple of years ago. I’ve been in real estate about seven years.

What attracted you to real estate in the Ozarks?

Opportunity. The whole time we’ve lived in Springfield, the housing market’s been great.

We moved to Branson from Kansas in 1991, and we started and owned Scotty’s Trout Dock on Lake Taneycomo. I wanted to fish. We moved to Springfield in 1998, and (the market) has just been so strong.

What trends do you see in local real estate right now?

New construction’s unbelievable. I’m a builder, too, and I’ve never seen as much new construction going up as we have right now. Of course, as mild a winter as we had, it never slowed. Unquestionably, this is one of the strongest residential markets. … This is a wonderful part of the world to be in. I think more and more people are discovering it by the day – a lot of folks (are) moving in. Fee-based (real estate) is getting stronger. More people are becoming more aware of it, and in a hot market, they just don’t want to give out big commissions. The Internet is making smarter buyers and sellers.

What are some challenges in the local market?

Especially in the Branson market, and that area, it’s affordable housing. In Branson, you can hardly find houses for less than $100,000. They’re just gone. Here (in Springfield), we’re doing a little better with it. But new construction … costs keep going up, so we may see that the first-time homebuyer may be going back to buying pre-owned real estate. Costs are going up so much that (new construction) is going out of their price range.

What growth plans or goals do you have for your company?

We do a lot of business in Branson, and we’re getting ready to open an office there. We’re the only fee-based company going into the commercial real estate market, and that’s an area we really want to grow in.

What do you like to do in your free time?

Family and fishing. That’s really it. We enjoy the outdoors. But truly this (business) is seven days a week. But I’m not complaining.

I’m a workaholic. We don’t have a lot of free time, but if we did, I’d probably be whining and wondering where the business was.

Tell us about your family.

My daughter, Joanna Myer, is a Realtor, and also, she’s our office manager. My wife, Karen, is a letter carrier with the U.S. Postal Service here in Springfield, and we have three other children, who are all married. We’ve got eight grandkids.