Chattanooga was the seventh stop for Crye-Leike President Harold Crye’s annual tour of the South to stoke a fire in the bellies of the company’s agents for the coming year.
During the yearly gathering, which took place at The Chattanoogan on Jan. 21, Crye praised the crowd for helping Crye-Leike achieve its highest sales volume in its history: $6.5 billion on 29,925 units closed.
The number represents a 1% increase from 2018, which fell short of the company’s call for a 5% increase.
Chattanooga agents contributed $424 million to the tally on 1,950 units closed, an increase of 11.35% in the region.
Crye said his goal for the Chattanooga area – which includes offices downtown and in Signal Mountain, Ooltewah, Hixson, East Brainerd, Cleveland and Fort Oglethorpe – in 2020 is $445 million.
“If every one of you does 5% better in 2020, we’ll reach that goal,” Crye said during his presentation. “Of course, some of you want to do 20, 30 and even 40% better this year.”
During the event, Crye-Leike honored the agents who contributed the most sales in 2019. The company’s top producing agent in the Chattanooga area last year was Liz Reinsel of the Ooltewah office. The Cleveland office duo of Jannis Sams and Tim Sams was named the region’s top producing team in 2019.
Downtown agent Christian Chacon is Crye-Leike’s 2019 rookie of the year in Chattanooga. A U.S. Army veteran and Denver native, Chacon closed $2.8 million in sales during his inaugural run in real estate.
Chattanooga delivered its numbers during a busy year that included front-to-back remodels of the East Brainerd and Hixson offices.
The company also added 42 new agents in Chattanooga in 2019.
These and other Crye-Leike agents focused on furthering their real estate education during the year, with 10 local agents earning the esteemed Graduate, Realtor Institute (GRI) designation. These included Gil Milton, Beth Price, Jennifer Catlett, Josh Wheelus, Mollie Majors, Michell Miller, Louis Cowart, Mirna Rodriguez, Linda Jones and Debbie Godfrey. Erik Palmer earned the Master GRI designation.
Crye-Leike agents also served their profession and community in 2019.
Fort Oglethorpe agent Ian O’Shea honored Crye-Leike’s Hall of Distinction, which includes the agents who served the real estate association at the local, state or national level. This included:
Lora Dawson, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Professional Standards Committee
John Christian and Agnes Hellmann, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Grievance Committee
Jennifer Grayson, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Budget and Finance Committee MLS co-chair
Susan Barnette, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Grievance Committee, Tennessee Real Estate Education Foundation, National Association of Realtors Professional Development Committee
Ron Tucker, Greater Chattanooga Realtors board of directors
Kathy Tucker, Tennessee Realtors president, National Association of Realtors board of directors
Jo Organ, MLS board of directors, MLS advisory council
Debbie Patterson, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Community Involvement Committee co-chair
Linda Driscoll, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Community Involvement Committee co-chair
Jay Young, Greater Chattanooga Realtors Community Involvement Committee co-chair
Rachael Henderson, Greater Chattanooga Realtors board of directors
In their service to the local community, Crye-Leike agents donated $78,000 to United Way in 2019.
O’Shea also recognized Hixson agent Ron Tucker for being named Greater Chattanooga Realtors’ Realtor of the Year for 2019 and for receiving the Tennessee Realtors’ Presidents Award.
Finally, O’Shea honored Cleveland agent Max Phillips for achieving Emeritus Status with Greater Chattanooga Realtors after completing his 40th year in real estate.
In addition to delivering more sales, Crye-Leike is committed to adding more agents in 2020. Ooltewah managing broker Dan Griess pointed out that the company is not looking to add “just any agents, but agents who are committed to providing quality service.”
As Crye closed the meeting, he added his hope that all Crye-Leike agents would continue to serve with distinction and reach greater heights of success in 2020.