Southwest Realtors expands Republic headquarters

“The real estate office had been here originally, with Verl Ormsby … who eventually sold out to ERA Rutherford Realtors,” Horner said.

But when ERA Rutherford closed its doors in early 2004, it set the stage for the opening of Southwest Realtors, located at 1652 U.S. Highway 60 East in the Town East Center.

“Republic is fast-growing, and it has a dedicated group of people at the city who want to see … good, controlled growth here,” Horner said. “We knew we wanted to stay in this area, so the solution was to open back up.”

The company deals in all types of properties, from commercial to residential to farms and undeveloped lots.

One-stop real estate

Southwest Realtors also has an office in Marionville, and it had, until earlier this year, a Springfield location on Sunshine Street just east of Campbell Avenue.

“When we opened (in Republic), we had so many people working in here that we opened that office to have three or four agents working in (Springfield),” Horner said.

But when the company was able to double its space to roughly 3,100 square feet at Town East in Republic, those agents who worked in Springfield were able to join the rest of the team at Southwest’s headquarters.

“We have about 26,000 cars go by here every day, and … everybody in town knows where we’re located,” Horner said.

Southwest Realtors now has 33 agents plus a receptionist. But the company also shares its space with other entities in an effort to give clients everything they need for a real estate transaction under one roof.

Auction services are available through Southwest Realtor Steve Foreman of Foreman Auctions, and pest control through Southwest Realtor Jerry Lesh’s Proactive Pest Management. Cafourek provides free notary services for customers and agents.

Summit Home Mortgage, operated by Ron and Sheila Janeway, also shares office space with Southwest Realtors, offering an on-site financing option for Southwest customers to consider.

“They don’t have to use (Summit Home Mortgage), but they’re here and they’re available,” Horner said.

While a potential built-in customer base appeals to the Janeways, borrowers also can benefit from convenience.

“Ron’s met a truck driver at 3:30 in the morning to do a loan application on his way through Springfield,” Sheila Janeway said. “You have to have the signed documents.”

Horner hopes to add a title company to the service mix – if not under the same roof, perhaps nearby.

“We’ve got pretty much what we need right now,” she said.

Riding the market

While Horner declined to disclose specific numbers, she said Southwest’s sales are about the same compared to 2007, when they were down about 7 percent compared to 2006.

“Most of the properties and the sales in this area have held up very well,” she said. “Right now, we’re running about what we did last year. We’ve had a good year so far.”

Southwest’s Marionville office serves customers in Marionville, Aurora and Lawrence County, and the Republic office’s service area stretches from Willard to Cape Fair.

“We’ve got agents who live in Springfield, and we do some work still in Springfield,” she said.

The market also benefits from a solid supply of residential properties, Horner said.

“We’re pretty well covered in most areas. We have newer rental houses and duplexes, and we also have higher-end houses and (homes) for first-time home buyers,” Horner said, noting that the corridor between the communities of Republic and Brookline, which consolidated in 2005, has opened up possibilities for developable land for retail and commercial uses.

“The city … has earmarked about $12 million for infrastructure,” Horner said of Brookline-area possibilities.

“When the time comes, it’s been laid out very well.”

Residential lender Janeway said first-time home buyers can still qualify for Federal Housing Administration-backed loans, and home loans through the Veterans Administration are available to eligible first-time buyers.

“There are a couple of options left, but the traditional 100 percent financing is gone,” Janeway added.

While Horner declined to disclose client names, she said Southwest represented two property owners whose holdings are now the site of the Republic High School under construction.

Neosho-based Branco Enterprises is the general contractor for the 268,000-square-foot high school, which has a price tag of roughly $31 million and is scheduled for completion in 2010.

Though market conditions may deter some people from launching real estate careers, Horner said Southwest hasn’t had difficulty finding new agents.

Horner said the key to keeping new and existing agents on track lies in providing the right training, which Southwest offers in-house. Some of that expertise comes from her own experience and that of other longtime Realtors with the company.

“When I first got into real estate, it was in the early 1980s, and interest rates were 19 percent. And I made it,” Horner said. “To me, (current market conditions are) not a big deal. It could be worse.”

Co-owner Cefourek, who’s a former Republic City Council member and was chairman of the city charter committee in 2007, is a big fan of the town – but someday, he’d like to explore re-establishing a Springfield presence for Southwest Realtors.

“We’re going to take a really hard look at it in January. That’s when we do a lot of our goal planning,” Cefourek said of re-entering Springfield. “We’ve got some things in mind, but I don’t want to make them known yet.” [[In-content Ad]]