Positive real estate trends in West Michigan mean growth for one Grand Rapids-based real estate firm, prompting the company to add two new office locations and to seek administrators for those offices and new real estate agents for all its locations.
Five Star Real Estate now has some 170 agents and expects to hire and train 30 new agents in 2013, says owner and broker Greg Carlson. In addition to the firm's four Grand Rapids locations, the company added its first Detroit-area office in 2012 and plans to add another location this year near Knapp St. NE and East Beltline Avenue NE, Grand Rapids.
In anticipation of the influx of salespeople, Carlson says the company hired a director of career development to facilitate the training the agents will need. He still seeks to fill office manager positions for the two new locations.
"For the last five years, real estate has been collapsing throughout the country," Carlson says. "Now it appears there's been a turn in the industry, and as I look at the trends, I'm confident in thinking that we hit bottom in about 2009. We began building our infrastructure in 2012 so we could grow in 2013."
Carlson says real estate is a way for young entrepreneurs to launch businesses for little money. "An online class is about $250 and the state test is about $70. Someone can take the class and get their real estate license for under $400. But they have to be licensed under a broker. They can choose a broker before taking the test, and if they pass, they are automatically licensed under that broker."
Five Star Real Estate recently revamped its signage and visual branding with a cleaner look that Carlson says reflects the company's vision for growth.
To contact Five Star Real Estate about the jobs or becoming an agent,
click here.
Source: Greg Carlson, Five Star Real Estate; Kim Bode,
834 Design & Marketing
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor
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