George Stephens takes charge

New chairman’s background and experience make him a dynamic leader

by Marty Kramer  It’s hard to accurately describe George Stephens without a slash—the kind of thing you see in titles for entertainment-industry types, like singer/songwriter or actor/director. In Stephens’s case, it might be something like broker/compliance director/columnist/technology expert/educator. Even that wouldn’t cover it all for the Texas Association of REALTORS® 2003 chairman of the board.

George Stephens says he tends to accomplish more by accident than by design, but don’t think that means he sits around waiting for luck to fall his way. No, Stephens has a powerful work ethic fueled by a lifelong entrepreneurial drive, and he can boast a list of accomplishments longer than most. What he’s suggesting is that many of his achievements come by being ready to capitalize on circumstance and opportunities. A case in point: Despite never intending to pursue real estate as a profession, he has built quite an impressive career in the business.

The phone call that started it all

Stephens had been working as vice president of engineering and manufacturing for a Houston-based company, Interstate Commercial Equipment Inc., when a proxy fight in December 1975 led to new ownership and management changes … including a new vice president of engineering and manufacturing.

Stephens wasn’t idle long. Two days after leaving the company, he got a call from an attorney friend who thought Stephens would be the ideal person to help him evaluate income-producing properties for possible joint-venture enterprises. Stephens remembers saying, "You want me to go into real estate? That’s a step down from used-car salesman, isn’t it?" His friend reminded him that Stephens had previously owned a Chevrolet dealership in Cameron, Texas. "Touché," Stephens replied, and he signed on to appraise and manage apartments, warehouses, and other properties for joint ventures put together by the attorney.

Stephens was joined by Paul deRaat, who had worked in the land division for Exxon. "After a year and a half, Paul and I realized we were doing 90% of the work and getting 10% of the profits," he says. When negotiations to improve their compensation failed, the two left to form their own commercial real estate and property-management firm, deRaat Stephens Inc. The following year, Stephens bought out deRaat. The unorthodox deal called for Stephens to pay deRaat $10 and promise to send deRaat misspellings and mispronunciations of deRaat’s name once a year. The two remain good friends today.

Stephens soon found himself getting stretched thin by his duties, so he persuaded his wife, Judy, to quit teaching and take over bookkeeping and clerical tasks of the property-management business. The firm branched out into residential real estate in 1982 at the suggestion of a friend, Vicki Lara, who joined the company to work that aspect of the business. The residential division, consisting of Lara and Judy Stephens, became quite profitable.

After Lara moved to California, Judy and George Stephens realized they didn’t have the resources to continue both commercial and residential realty. So, they shut down the commercial operations. The residential practice, known today as ERA Stephens Properties, continues to thrive, and Judy Stephens is not only a top producer, but also shares in making decisions for the firm. Another family member, Judy Stephens’s sister, Jerry Farneti, is indispensible to the company in her dual role as sales manager and office manager.

When you’re interested and able, people notice

The company prospered, and, not surprisingly, experienced growing pains. Stephens knew he needed help in the public relations and advertising arena. He sought advice from his local association, and before he knew it was volunteered onto the Houston Association of REALTORS® Public Relations Committee. One suggestion later, Stephens found himself chairing a subcommittee charged with organizing a reference resource that firms and agents could use to see how others handled advertising and publicity.

Most of Stephens’s numerous volunteer experiences follow that same script. Someone recognizes that he has an interest in an area or particular skills or knowledge that could be useful, and they ask him to participate. "Every time I turned around, there was another need," Stephens says. And he has been willing to serve. Stephens has been a member of a lengthy list of committees at all levels of the REALTOR® organization. Whether dealing with strategic planning, forms, budgeting, professional standards, business issues, or a host of other topics, he has lent his time and talents. He even volunteered to coordinate the production of HAR’s magazine for several issues when the association was between communications directors.

Stephens’s talents earned him an appointment to the Texas Real Estate Commission’s Broker/Lawyer Committee, the group that makes recommendations to the commission concerning contracts and forms. His six years on the committee, Stephens says, were an excellent learning experience that gave him a thorough familiarity with the contracts.

Standing on the cutting edge without getting nicked

Judy Stephens jokes that her husband is the kind of man who, if you ask him what time it is, will build you a watch. Indeed, anyone who knows him even casually knows he is on top of technology issues. As a testament to this fact, the technology center at the Houston Association of REALTORS® bears his name.

An early adopter, Stephens was the first broker in Harris County to connect his PC (an Apple II) to the Houston Association of REALTORS® MLS. He has served on and chaired several technology task forces for HAR and TAR. He also shared his technology know-how with other real estate professionals through a regular column published by Inman News Features and Realty Times called "Realty Tech Talk."

Stephens thinks the state association is uniquely positioned to bring certain types of technologies to its members, like the forms software currently included as a member benefit. But if you think the 2003 chairman has a technology-at-any-cost attitude, consider the following quote: "If the consumer decides to communicate in smoke signals, the REALTOR® organization better stock up on wet blankets and firewood," he says.

Keeping tabs on agents across the U.S.

Technology plays a key role in another of Stephens’s professional endeavors: his involvement with eRealty.com. About six months after eRealty.com was organized, the management asked for a meeting with Stephens. They were trying to decide whether to join the REALTOR® association and were interested in Stephens’s input. He thought the eRealty business model was the kind of thing that was needed in the REALTOR® community. "I had been noodling around that concept—not as refined as their model—for some time," he says. "I had heard rumblings from the consumer, and I’m always looking to see if there’s a better way." Stephens signed on as a consultant, was elected to the board of directors, and performed both duties for about a year.

After resigning from the board and scaling back his consulting practice, Stephens was employed by eRealty as its director of compliance, his current position with the firm. (Stephens also maintains an active role in ERA Stephens Properties.) He is responsible for making sure that all eRealty employees are compliant with state licensing laws, federal regulations like fair housing and RESPA, various MLS rules, and the Code of Ethics. This is no small task for a company that currently operates in 14 markets in nine states and has plans to expand. Particularly sticky consumer issues often wind up on his plate, too, as do details such as determining the need to apply for local authorizations and operational licenses.

Stephens knows that some REALTORS® feel threatened by eRealty’s business model or have a negative opinion of the business. He enjoys turning those opinions around. At last year’s NAR meetings in New Orleans, a REALTOR® who had seen Stephens give a technology presentation stopped him in the hall to thank him for showing him that eRealty is a "good company with good people." Stephens finds moments like that gratifying. "We take the REALTOR® code and state and federal laws very seriously," says Stephens. "I think in a couple of years, even the most staunch traditionalist will employ the Internet to deliver interactive content, which is what we do."

Sharing his knowledge in print and the classroom

Stephens is not one to keep his knowledge and experiences to himself. He has penned articles for several magazines (including this one). In addition to his "Realty Tech Talk" column, Stephens wrote a consumer column called "Ask George" for almost five years. He developed it as a question-and-answer forum for the Houston Chronicle real estate section during his year as HAR chairman. Rather than write a column solely from his point of view, he decided to answer in print some of the e-mail and phone queries he received from consumers. The feature was so popular his editor asked him to continue it the following year as a paid columnist. The editor then unexpectedly doubled Stephens’s fee. Inman News Features and Realty Times picked up the column, as did TAR for its consumer Web site, TexasRealEstate.com. "I learned more from ‘Ask George’ than I ever learned on the street … just by researching the questions people asked," Stephens says. "It kept my fingers on the pulse of the consumer—what they needed and wanted and were afraid of."

Many brokers and agents have sat in a classroom where George Stephens stood at the front of the room. He is a TREC-approved instructor for more than a dozen core and MCE classes. Stephens also has developed and taught several courses on contracts, technology, and fair housing. TAR recognized his educational efforts by honoring him with the association’s first-ever Educator of the Year award in 1997.

Ready to tackle the big issues with 60,000 REALTORS® by his side

Two major issues slated for the 78th legislature—insurance and the state budget shortfall—are certain to play a central role for TAR during Stephens’s tenure as chairman. Noting that either of those issues alone would be a huge task, Stephens jokes that it would be nice if we could space state crises out a bit more. Still, he is confident that the association is prepared to tackle those topics—and others. "Our paid staff has an excellent handle on things, and we have some great volunteers who I plan to fully utilize," he says.

Commenting further on volunteers, Stephens states, "I believe we’re going to obtain a more significant percentage of our membership that will want to be involved in the entire political process. I’d like to dial up the commitment a notch." He says that while he plans to increase the number of involved members, current participation is nothing to be ashamed of. Stephens points out that writing a check to TREPAC is important, and that there are numerous additional ways REALTORS® can get involved.

Promoting diversity—with consumers and within the association’s membership—is another item on Stephens’s agenda. He believes the topic encompasses not only different cultures but the wide range of ages as well. "When have we had to take four, possibly five, generations into account?" he asks. "Probably never. It’s a considerable challenge. We must look at the needs of all consumers and all our members in a way that includes everyone."

The ends to the means: partners and consumers

Stephens funnels all his experiences and expertise toward two overarching aims: serving the consumer and building strong partnerships.

Throughout the bulk of his real estate activities, he keeps consumer interests top of mind. He is fond of saying, "Deliver that which the consumer wants and needs at a price and on terms the consumer is willing and able to pay. If we do that as REALTORS®, we’re always going to be around."

He believes in the importance of rock-solid relationships, whether with his wife and business partner, his REALTOR® associations, or his business associates. And members of the Texas Association of REALTORS® can be assured that their new chairman is a partner they can count on in 2003.

Photo © Jerry Jones/JonesImages.com.

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George Stephens believes solid partnerships lead to outstanding results. Whether teaming up with his wife when making important decisions for ERA Stephens Realty or working with his local, state, and national associations to forward REALTOR® causes, Stephens has used that philosophy to produce a long string of accomplishments, with plans for more to come. He is pictured here (second from right) with three of those partners: his wife and business partner, Judy Stephens; Houston Association of REALTORS® CEO Bob Hale (left); and Texas Association of REALTORS® CEO Benny McMahan.