1998 Real Estate weekly article

Shepherding his flocks of clients
A local Realtor has a dirty wooly past. And he likes it that way. He say’s it comes in handy in his line of work. Geoffrey Maw of Rose and Womble Realty in Chesapeake, immigrated here in 1983 from New Zealand where he was a sheep herder and grain farmer on his family’s 800 acre farm. He still has family there, and travels home as often as time will allow this busy man. New Zealand’s real estate industry is very different from ours, Maw says. Attorney’s handle most of the financing. Real Estate is regulated and involved a lot of auctions. Maw received his license in 1982 while here visiting in-laws. “ I was still chasing sheep at the time, “ he says. He moved his family to Great Bridge and activated his real estate license at the end of 1983. While “ farming of course, will always be my first love, “ he says, “ I don’t know of any other job that I could even think of remotely close to what I’m doing now that could be more pleasing.” He believes real estate is pretty much like farming. “ You’re nurturing things, “ he says. “ When you’re farming, you look after the dirt, you feed it, fertilize it, you don’t abuse it, you take care of it. The same philosophies go with my clients. “ Maw say’s he can not remember the last time he lost a client. “ I don’t want to deal with someone just the one time, I want to cultivate them for life, “ he says. He does not deal in huge volumes of clients. He likens such agents or teams as locusts devouring everything in their path. Maw says that in the real estate business, reputation is everything. And he seems to be reaping his rewards. “ Its working, “ he says. His clients and later their children call him for real estate transactions. “ I’ve got about a 90 percent referral rate, which from what I understand, is very unusual, “ he says. “ I think the industry average is less than 20 percent. “ The only other job he’s had was a six month stint as a clerk for a trucking firm. He was recuperating from surgery at the time and was able to gain some booking experience while mending. “ That’s the only time in my entire life that I worked as a normal person, having to show up at 9, quit at 5 and get paid every two weeks. “ said Maw. Maw also likes the idea of more Realtors becoming involved in charities. He’s been involved with the annual Relay for Life, benefiting the American Cancer Society. Food Drives, and disaster relief are other charities Maw has also been involved with. “ I think it’s a very positive thing that one can do, ‘ he says. “ We live in the community we work in and share in families and lives. I think we should be participants and give something back, “ he says. As far as giving something back, Maw says awards used to be a “ biggy “ for him, but now he doesn’t measure his success by plaques on the wall, but on the response he sees from his buyers and sellers and the people he works with. He says he measures his succes by the invitations he receives from his clients to dinner or whatever, that’s success. The consumer is most important. “ I’m more of a real estate consultant than I am a salesman, “ he says. He likes to sit down and teach his clients. “ I’m a good resource,” he says. “ I’ve been in the business for many years and I know a lot of good service people who we rely on ---- good repairmen, mortgage bankers, attorneys….. I try to get my people to realize that after the closing’s done, it’s more than just I got my check and I’m out of here. Use me as your resource. I feel quite honored when they call me.” Maw says.

• Full time Realtor since 1983.
• Top 10% salesperson in the Hampton Roads area since 1984.
• Member National Association of Realtors.
• Member Tidewater Association of Realtors.
• Expert in Residential Sales and Marketing.
• Expert in New Construction Sales.
• Expert in Land and Lot Sales.