Lou Sable looks back on 33 years with Realtors

by Bryan Smith

SBJ Staff

When Lou Sable moved to Springfield to serve as executive vice president of the Board of Realtors, he bought a new boat.

"One of the things that brought me down here was Table Rock Lake," Sable said.

Now that he isn't working as much anymore, he might have a chance to use the boat more often.

Sable retired from the Springfield Board of Realtors last month after a 33-year career with the organization.

Sable's path has led him from newspapers to new technology, and brought him success in each aspect.

Sable graduated from Kansas State University with a degree in journalism. After serving in the Army reserves, he worked at newspapers throughout Kansas and Missouri.

In 1960, Sable applied to the Kansas City Real Estate Board to take a job editing the organization's weekly magazine. He became assistant vice president.

"The writing part became one of my many jobs," Sable said.

In 1966, Sable came to Springfield to take over as executive vice president of the local Board of Realtors.

During his tenure, he watched the organization expand from 208 members to around 1,400 members.

He has also witnessed technology's impact on the organization.

During his term, Sable was instrumental in changing the format of listing homes in the Springfield area. Instead of putting each house in a three-ring binder, the organization began doing the entire process on computer. By doing this, the Springfield Board of Realtors was ahead of the rest of the nation.

"To my knowledge, we were the first board in the nation to publish the MLS book by computer," Sable said. "Now it's being done all over."

Yet the thing that stands out in Sable's career is his ability to help people.

"I never did log it, but in the last 10 years, I spent about 25 percent of my time on the phone talking to people," Sable said.

J.T. Brown, who served as president of the board in 1982, said Sable was very knowledgeable about the real estate business outside of Springfield.

"He knew what was going on in the nation ... which allowed him to stay ahead of the curve," Brown said.

The Springfield area has grown, and the Board of Realtors has followed suit. Sable credits a great staff for the success of the board.

Yet he's also proud that he got to be involved.

"Some people have rated Springfield's Board of Realtors as one of the best medium-sized associations in the nation," Sable said. "I'd like to say I had a part of that."

One month into retirement, Sable said he doesn't know yet what his plans are.

"Time will tell," Sable said. "The rest of this year, I'm going to enjoy it."

He already has some ideas. He's currently looking at writing a history of the Springfield Board of Realtors.

And though he's had his real estate license for nearly 30 years, he's never sold a house.

"I might try real estate some, but I'm playing that by heart," Sable said.

And when the weather cools down, Sable is planning on pulling out his boat and going fishing at Table Rock Lake.

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