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Women are Advancing in Real Estate

Posted March 15, 2010 by Matthew Denton

Say hello to the growing powerful breed of successful professionals.

They all refuse to acknowledge that real estate is a boy’s club. Women have since gained ground in real estate as more and more are finding their niche in the highly competitive industry. Sure, it’s tough world but there’s no denying that these select crop is on its way to taking the industry by storm. How have they evolved in the property market?

A lot.

Think of all the women’s real estate clubs in the country and you’ll be amazed at how women have established their presence in the industry. In 1986, the Commercial Real Estate Women-National was formed after several women professionals in different cities decided to unite their local groups into one. Today, CREW Network is already composed of 65 chapters with almost 8,000 members. Another successful organization, the New York-basedAssociation of Real Estate Women (AREW is the longest-running supporter of female real estate professionals. Aside from providing trainings, luncheons and other educational activities to members, the organization also supports charitable causes.

Then you have the individual achievers in the pack. Last year, 36 women were awarded with the Northern California’s Real Estate Woman of Influence for achieving high sales in commercial real estate in the area. Just a week ago, realtor Debbie Shagnea was featured in The Florida Times Union for her unrelenting attitude towards the recession. The article states, “In 2009, a year which by most accounts was abysmal for the real estate industry, Shagnea sold 118 homes and closed more than $35 million worth of transactions to cement her spot as the top selling agent for Watson Realty, Jacksonville’s largest real estate company.” Pretty impressive for a realtor in California in this period, right?

And what about their contributions to fellow realtors? Of course, they’ve turned things for the better. In 2007, Sellsius Real Estate cited the top 12 female real estate bloggers in the country. They’re quite a few interesting bloggers in the list with but my favorite is Jessica Edward’s video blog that has no boring entry since she began posting her insights.

And finally, you get the entrepreneurs. Patty Gray and her husband, Everett – a general contractor, have purchased a DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen franchise in 2003 to start their business in Bakersfield, CA. Even with the decline in the economy, Patty remains optimistic. The Bakersfield Californian writes, “DreamMaker Bath and Kitchen of Bakersfield has won several Cody awards, which are national awards for bathroom design. They were recently published in some national remodeling magazines and have won top remodeler awards, ranked in the nation’s top 500 remodelers.”

Indeed, more and more women are feeling at home in the industry (pun intended).

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