Murney closure spawns real estate startup

Real estate broker Frank Lorenz has joined forces with three other Murney Associates, Realtors agents to start Southwest Missouri Realty after Murney closed its Ozark office in November.  

Partners Lorenz, Barry Dickemann, Shannon Todd and Tonya Murfin opened a 3,000-square-foot office in January at 757 N. 20th St. in the Diamond Shopping Center, and they’ve hired seven agents to serve Christian County and southwest Missouri.

The 16-agent Ozark office is the second Murney branch shuttered within six months. In August, Murney consolidated a West Republic Road office when a 10,000-square-foot building next to the company’s 1625 E. Primrose St. headquarters became available early last year.

“The Ozark office only accounted for about 3 percent of our sales,” said Murney Associates Managing Broker Jeff Parker, noting Murney officials felt the roughly 55-agent office in Nixa together with the new digs on East Primrose in southeast Springfield, was enough to support real estate in Christian County. “We made a prudent business decision.”

The building at 1615 E. Primrose St., owned by Wehr Properties, was home to a MetLife office and the Great American Title Co. Murney finished renovations in July, and moved agents into the building with sliding glass office doors and a cafe-style kitchen in August.

“It was an opportunity for us. We’ve always wanted to put both offices together on the same campus,” Parker said, declining to disclose lease terms or remodeling costs.

Murney retained nine of the 16 agents who worked out of the Ozark office, Parker said.

The partners at Southwest Missouri Realty say they’ve talked off and on since before the recession about starting their own firm, but the economic downtown had squelched the entrepreneurial mood. Then Murney made its move.

Each of the partners is a broker except Murfin, who is working toward earning her broker’s license. Combined, the co-owners bring more than 40 years of real estate experience to the startup.

“We’re seeing two things: a good amount of people looking for new property, and a good amount of people trying to list properties. It’s always good when you get both of those things happening,” Lorenz said of the market.  

According to the Greater Springfield Board of Realtors, a home’s average number of days on the market was 94 last year, down from 98 days in 2011. Home selling prices across Greene, Christian and Webster counties in 2012 averaged $128,801, a 5 percent increase compared to $122,922 in 2011.

Dickemann described Southwest as a full-service real estate firm, selling both residential and commercial properties primarily in the Ozark and Springfield area, though he said the partners are licensed to sell properties across the state.

While Dickemann and Lorenz declined to disclose startup costs or revenue projections, they said they’ve targeted hiring at least 18 agents by year’s end. Southwest holds a two-year lease on the property, which they said could house up to 20 agents. Both Lorenz and Dickemann said they are not targeting Murney agents for hire.

“Business was starting to grow, and we thought it was a great opportunity to go out and do something on our own,” Lorenz said. “I can’t say anything bad about Murney or how they treated us. Even when we decided to do this, they were gracious about it.”

Parker said Murney officials expected a reaction in the Ozark market.

“We hate to see anybody leave the company. However, we knew that when we decided to leave Ozark, someone would do that,” Parker said. “They were at home there, and we wish them the best.”

While Murney has consolidated offices, its annual sales have returned to prerecession levels and last year grew by 29 percent, compared to 2011. Parker said 2012 sales were $639 million, compared to 2007 sales of $631 million. He cited local Multilist Service data that showed Murney held 35 percent of the Springfield market at the end of the year, compared to 32 percent at the end of 2007. The company’s next closest competitor is Coldwell Banker Vanguard, which controls roughly 10 percent of the residential market in Greene, Christian and Webster counties and outlying areas.

On the agents side, Murney had nearly 600 agents before the recession and roughly 450 today. Murney also operates an office in Strafford and one at Highland Springs Country Club for agent Sherrie Loveland.