Realtor Derek English knows how to pile his plate high.
In 2013, English was doing renovations and remodels as an independent carpenter when he and his wife, Realtor Becky Cope English, assumed guardianship of their nephews, who were 13 and 11.
Fortunately, English also knows how to adjust to carrying a heavier load.
When it became evident to English and his wife that one of them would need to gravitate toward the others career, for example, he became a Realtor.
Eager to serve his new profession, English soon found himself sitting on Greater Chattanooga Realtors’ Governmental Affairs Committee, where he helped the association advocate for private property rights.
His feet firmly placed on the path of volunteerism, English served on additional committees, became a graduate of GCR’s Leadership Academy and eventually won a seat on the association’s board.
In 2021, someone suggested English run for president of GCR.
As eager as ever to serve, this is the position in which English now finds himself – and in which he will labor throughout 2022.
Assuming the role at a time when his chosen industry is facing several challenges, English’s plate is piled higher than ever. But he’s been preparing for this moment – and he says he believes he’s ready.
Here, English takes a few moments to sit down at Scout Realtor Group (the brokerage he and his wife launched in 2019 with two other partners) to describe his vision for the association in 2022 and share his thoughts about some of the tougher issues he and his fellow GCR Realtor members will be tackling this year.
Let’s start with your vision for 2022.
“Throughout 2021, people would ask me, ‘What’s your agenda?’ But I don’t like the word ‘agenda.’ There’s nothing wrong with an agenda when it establishes a plan for moving forward, but there’s something wrong with having an agenda when it’s one-sided or coming from a position of manipulation. So I don’t use the word.
“Yes, I’m president of Greater Chattanooga Realtors, but it’s a group effort. I have a great board. I was fortunate that every person I approached about chairing a committee accepted without hesitation. So, there are people who are willing to be engaged and are excited about the direction in which the association is moving.”
How severely has the pandemic impacted member engagement with the association?
“My vision for 2022 was initially about engagement – about getting our members back to the building and our events. And somebody much smarter than me said, ‘How much of your membership is engaged and how much more of it do you want to engage?’ And the more I thought about it, the more I realized we’re where we’ve always been.
“Nationally, about 10% of Realtor association members are active in after hours events; they’re at their building for education and they participate in community asks such as the Snack Packs program we have here. And we’ve maintained that level of engagement throughout the pandemic. But I still want us to increase that number.”
How will the board attempt to do that?
“Through education and getting members back to our Amnicola building for in-person classes and events. Something is lost in a committee meeting when everyone is on Zoom. You’re looking at 12 squares on a screen and someone is fiddling with their phone over to the side. I’ve never been a fan of not being able to engage in person.”
And in-person events are still difficult.
“We want to be mindful of and respectful of people’s comfort level with being in-person for meetings. At the same time, we need to get people to the building, which we re-opened about six weeks prior to the shutdown in 2020. We have a beautifully renovated building, we’re fully staffed and we have great amenities for our members, so we’re going to begin building on what we’ve had to table for the last 20 months.”
Will you be doing anything new to encourage engagement?
“We’re considering launching an ambassador program through which each brokerage will have an agent member who will build buzz about what’s happening at the building.
“We’re really trying to reach the agents who might not understand the services and amenities the association offers them. You can do more than pay your dues and sell real estate. We understand being too busy to go to the building to do X, Y or Z, whether it’s an after-hours event or a membership breakfast or a code of ethics class, but we hope to offer more education and events.
“We also might survey our members on where they think their dues dollars would be best spent.”
What else is the association hoping to accomplish this year?
“We want to add more members. During the downturn of 2008 and 2009, membership decreased because it was a tough market. But even though our housing inventory is lower than it was in 2008 and 2009, our membership is on the rise. Our new member orientation classes are full.”
Despite the limited number of houses on the market.
“Yes. We have 690 houses on the market, which means roughly nine homes are going under contract every day. And we have 2,428 active members. So it’s a tough time to get into real estate, but it’s also a good time to get into real estate because we’re finding innovative new ways to represent our clients.”
For example?
“Through integrity and professional standards. When you do things right, business comes to you. I intend to advocate for Realtors who are trained to do the right things. So, I hope to raise the bar through professional standards and the code of ethics.”
Let’s shift to the annual Day on the Hill, which is coming Feb. 10. What are the association’s plans?
“We’re taking a bus, which will be a free ride for any member. It’s usually a fun time. We’ll play games and have trivia contests and then pull into downtown Nashville.”
What are your talking points this year?
“We’re still firming those up as we monitor the bills that affect private property rights. I’m on the governmental affairs committee for the state and we’ve met twice to discuss the bills we know will be presented. But we don’t know if any other legislation has been proposed.”
What’s are some of the bills that might affect private property rights?
“There’s an act that deals with how property is conveyed through deaths in the family and the selling of property in which multiple family members have an interest.
“We’re also talking about deeds from properties that have not been transferred in a number of years – or even decades – that contain discriminatory language that prohibits a certain class of people from purchasing or living on the property.
“Fair housing laws already prohibit any of that language from being enforced, but a lot of people simply don’t want that language in their deeds. So there’s legislation that will allow title attorneys to remove that language from the deed and create a new deed with a cleaner history moving forward.
“If someone has an issue, we want to lend them an ear and then be at the forefront of supporting it.”
Tennessee is currently one of the largest migratory states in the country. What does this mean for Realtors?
“Tennessee was No. 1 in 2020 based on a U-Haul stat for do-it-yourself movers. There were more one-way destinations to Tennessee in 2020 than any other state. Last year, we were third behind Florida and Texas. So, a lot of people are gravitating to Chattanooga.
“It’s the mid-size city where people want to be. It’s a beautiful place and we have great outdoor amenities. A lot of people say our growth over the past five to eight years has been unprecedented, but I see the forecast for Chattanooga over the next 10 years as being even greater.”
Where are all of those people going to live? As you mentioned, the housing inventory is still low.
“As real estate professionals, we’d like to have a seat at the table in building Chattanooga’s future, but to increase our housing inventory, our city and county leadership will have to figure out the infrastructure.
“I’m not trying to get in trouble or place the blame on anyone but we need infrastructure solutions in Chattanooga.”
Where would be good places to begin?
“We need a sewer treatment plant built somewhere in the county that no one opposes and that’s a good fit for the community. We have to offer city and county services to the developments that are being built and not try to saddle the residents with paying for them.
“Also, there are a lot of infill areas all across Chattanooga, as well as the county, and we should consider developing them before we continue to move out into the county and create more infrastructure.
“The infrastructure we have right now is suffering. All of the county’s wastewater is loaded onto [the City of Chattanooga] Moccasin Bend [Wastewater Treatment Facility]. And certain areas of Chattanooga are combined sewer. So, when it rains, Moccasin can’t manage the flow because we’re combining the sanitary sewer with the stormwater sewer. And when you increase the flow of stormwater, you decrease the ability to regulate and treat wastewater.
“I don’t know what I don’t know, but I think someone should create a task force to identify the properties in the city and county that are on the system that we could utilize. We could even incentivize development there instead of continuing to move out into the county.”
So increasing the housing inventory is not as simple as building more houses as soon as more lumber is available.
“You could sit there and recommend that builders do more, but it’s not that easy with lumber costs where they are and the supply chain issues we’re experiencing.
“Also, in 2008, banks were freely lending money and a lot of builders became top heavy on inventory. No one is allowed to do that anymore. The banks are limiting the number of builders who have a line of credit.
“The good thing about the line of credit most builders are carrying is they free up their line as soon as they build a home. So the sooner they build a home, the sooner they can borrow against their line of credit.
“There are developers and builders in Chattanooga that don’t have lines of credit and are simply building smart because they don’t want to be stuck with inventory if the market crashes again.”
Affordable housing is another challenge Chattanooga is facing as housing costs outpace increases in wages. As a Realtor, do you see any solutions to this problem?
“You get affordable housing by increasing inventory. It’s a supply and demand issue. When there’s more supply, affordability is more feasible. Without new development – without thousands of homes coming online – it can’t happen.
“If you build new houses and create new developments, then the people who would sell their homes if they had somewhere to go would have a place to go, which then creates a chain of purchases.”
What do you consider to be affordable in terms of housing?
“For the most part, people’s idea about what is affordable doesn’t match what Chattanooga, and the large majority of markets, can offer.
“So, you then have to start talking about programs. I’d love to see Tennessee offer a first-time homebuyer savings account that’s tax-free, or even allow for a deduction on their taxes. This would allow them to start building wealth for the purpose of purchasing a home and incentivize them to put money into savings so it could used for a down payment.”
Would that be possible without an income tax in Tennessee?
“I’ve talked with a few bankers and people who are smarter than me about how we can incentivize first-time homebuyers or people who need to save for a down payment. People mistakenly believe they need to put 15 to 20% down on a house, but as little as 3% or 6% can get people into a house.”
With most houses selling above list price, that could still be a hefty sum.
“Plus interest rates are ticking up, and as interest rates increase, affordability goes down.”
And yet the National Association of Realtors says there are more Realtors than there have ever been – 1.5 million nationwide. Is this the case with Greater Chattanooga Realtors as well?
“We’re right at where we were in 2008. It’s taken us 14 years to get back to where we were – 2,428 Realtor members. But we’re increasing that on a monthly basis. Eighteen to 20 Realtors a month retire their license or don’t renew their membership, but another 40 plus or minus come on board each month.
“This is down from where we were about four years ago, when we were getting almost 70 a month.”
Why are people becoming Realtors given the issues the industry is facing?
“That’s a question I have yet to pose. I would like to be part of a new member orientation and talk with them about the benefits of being a member and finding out what in the world they’re thinking.
“But regardless of which market you’re in, you need to be a self motivator, you’re going to have to work your sphere of influence and you need to have a sphere of influence with people who are able to buy a house.
“That being said, I don’t know the answer to that question.”
If someone asked you if they should become a Realtor right now, what would you say?
“I’d say that’s a question only you can answer. You have to be comfortable with approaching people and connecting with them. You can’t work from behind a desk or a monitor. You have to get out in public.
“Realtors do more than help people buy a house and then collect a paycheck. We’re ambassadors of the city, especially now. We’re selling a lifestyle to people who are leaning on us to tell them what they’re getting for their money.
“I have an idea about what some of my predecessors have said to people about becoming real estate agents, and it usually revolves around something like, ‘Are you crazy?’ But it’s an exciting time.
“It’s challenging because of the low inventory but it’s also exciting because of the innovations. And it’s an exciting time to be in Chattanooga selling real estate because we’re where people want to be.”
So the current market is not discouraging, it’s exciting.
“It’s not for the faint of heart. That might be the advice I would give. No new adventure is for the faint of heart.”
Your plate is piled high this year.
“I’m in a good position. I’m excited about the leadership at the association and have all the faith in the world in the board. We’re in this together. If things go miserably, then that will be on me. I’ll take the heat. But ultimately, I’m looking forward to working together for the benefit of our members.”