NAPLES, FL, July 28 – REALTOR Magazine, in its annual report of the nation’s top 100 companies, today announced that John R. Wood Realtors ranked 14th in closed sales per agent. Compiled for the year 2009, the report gave the company an overall ranking of 89th in the nation with $942 million in sales, regardless of company size, number of agents, or geographic location.
“And that number is only for closed sales,” noted Phil Wood, president. “When we include those sales not yet closed at year end, our 2009 total was $1.1 billion, just shy of a three percent increase over last year.” (see Fact Sheet)
Wood cited their award-winning sales and administrative staff for the firm’s “excellent performance in a tough market,” but also credited the company’s ongoing enhancements to its numerous websites and its presence on social media sites such as Facebook and YouTube.
“Buyers need to be able to search all properties, see all open houses, and set up automatic notifications when a hot property comes on the market.”
Founded in 1957, John R. Wood Realtors is Southwest Florida’s oldest real estate firm. The company represents over 2,000 clients annually through its 250 agents and its 100 staff in eight offices, which allow them to serve the areas from Marco Island to Sanibel/Captiva. In addition, the company’s Research Department delivers current market statistics, analysis and projections through its monthly statistical reports to interested parties throughout the nation. Reports are public and are available on request by Emailing customer service at jrw@JohnRWood.com.
JOHN R. WOOD REALTORS
FACT SHEET
FOUNDED: 1958 in Naples, FL by John R. Wood
SALES: $1.103 billion (2009)
$1.074 billion (2008)
$1.25 billion (2007)
$1.2 billion (2006)
$ 2.67 billion (2005)
$ 1.8 billion (2004)
$ 1.035 billion (2003)
EMPLOYEES: Total: 250 Sales Associates; 100 Administrative Staff
PERFORMANCE: $2.67 billion (2005) or nearly $9.9 million per agent (270 agents in 2005), almost nine times the national average of $1.12 million. This ranked John R. Wood agents as #1 in North America in sales per agent for 2005.
For 2009, the company achieved its seventh of $1+ billion in sales, ranking 14th in sales per agent in the nation while achieving an overall ranking of 89th with $942 million in closed sales.
OFFICES: John R. Wood Realtors has six offices in southwest Florida serving over __ clients per year from Sanibel/Captiva to Marco Island. Its Administrative Center is located at the corner of Goodlette Road and Immokalee Road in Naples.
SERVICES/
AFFILIATIONS: Comprehensive Residential and Commercial Real Estate Services, marketing through closing.
Affiliation with Who’s Who in Luxury Real Estate – a worldwide group of luxury brokers, allowing JRW to attract luxury buyers worldwide.
Exclusive southwest Florida member of Leading Estates, an international network of brokers specializing in luxury properties throughout the U.S.
Realty Alliance – 61 of the largest brokers in the nation. Almost all of the Realty Alliance companies, including JRW, have annual sales in excess of $1 billion.
Member, Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (formerly RELO) – world’s largest independent referral network with 5,000 offices, 145,000 agents, and annual sales over $400 billion.
Affiliated with Element Funding, a regional mortgage company with access to hundreds of lenders throughout the nation.
Apprenticeship Program: A John R. Wood exclusive designed to assist new sales agents with ongoing training and mentoring by one of the company’s veteran agents.
Publisher, Estate Lifestyles of SW Florida, a quarterly magazine aimed at the million dollar plus market, with appropriate feature stories and properties.
Publisher, HomeLook - a monthly tabloid , featuring news and trends in the Southwest Florida real estate market.
SALES AGENT
REQUIREMENTS: To become a realtor with John R. Wood, an person must demonstrate a track record of success in residential sales or score well in aptitude tests. This helps maintain a veteran sales force that is particularly experienced in the legal, valuation, and negotiation aspects of the real estate business. On occasion, an experienced person moving to southwest Florida from another state, or even a novice who appears to have outstanding potential, may be offered a sales position. John R. Wood Realtors has a two person training department that works extensively with candidates to help them achieve the same level of knowledge as their veteran colleagues.
COMMITMENT: Realtors from the Wood firm are actively involved in their communities, working for and financially supporting over 75 charities, youth programs, and community organizations throughout the southwest Florida area.
DISTINCTION: Service: One of the oldest residential real estate firms in southwest Florida, John R. Wood Realtors consistently earns a customer satisfaction index of 99 percent, among the highest in the industry nationwide.
Marketing Innovation: John R. Wood Realtors is responsible for numerous innovations in the marketing and sale of southwest Florida properties, including its ownership of dozens of websites, e.g., PortRoyal.net, to promote upscale Naples area properties over the Internet – in addition to its primary company website. They also have specialized web sites, such as one designed to help purchasers locate the ten best values in a given neighborhood on in the entire market, based on price per square foot, www.10MostWanted.com .
In 1982, the company was among the first brokerages in the nation to recognize the strategic value of market specialization, as they focused on the luxury market, using the famous marketing book Positioning, The Battle for your Mind as a guide and role model.
While some companies have property catalogs, the Wood firm took the concept to a whole new level, publishing a full scale magazine devoted to the luxury market. Estate Lifestyles of SW Florida is the only publication of its type in the area and perhaps in the entire U.S.
Technology Innovation: The Wood firm remains on the cutting edge of real estate technology with its IT team focused on training and support as it also explores numerous efficiency methods to make the purchase and sale processes most efficient and effective.
An example is the company telephone system which allows a seamless call transfer environment. For instance, a receptionist at any John R. Wood office can transfer a call to another office, a home, or a cell phone, as if they were using the intercom to send the call to someone sitting 50 feet away in the same building.
The company is in the process of implementing new on-line community software, internal and accessible only for John R. Wood personnel. The new software (from Telligent) will allow agents and staff to share a variety of information, have on-line forum discussions, and help increase professionalism via education and resource consolidation on the system.
The company is already one of the few in the area to offer on-line training for the agents, accessible for them to view at any hour of the night or day.
Leadership: John R. Wood Realtors urges its management and staff to become involved in their community as well as in Realtor leadership organizations with its personnel serving in key leadership positions such as President of the National Association of Realtors, President of the Florida Association of Realtors, President of the local Boards of Realtors, and President of the Women’s Council of Realtors.
SOURCES: National Association of Realtors: www.nar.realtor.com\research
United States Census Bureau: www.census.gov/acsd/www/sub_h.htm
WEBSITE: www.JohnRWood.com
