Art Fisher is a co-owner of Fisher Realty, Brevard, North Carolina’s premier residential and commercial company. He is also a land owner in the region. Furthermore, he has been involved with several ventures outside of realty that have been very successful. Below is a recent interview I conducted with Art.
1) Your family owns Fisher Realty, can you tell me a little about the company’s history?
My mom and dad started the company35 years ago in 1977. My dad originally started in real estate in 1972. Before that he had been a teacher and a football coach at a local high school. He needed some extra money so he decided to apply for a job at a Connestee Falls Realty. The Connestee Falls development was just starting out and almost all of its roads (approximately 54 miles) were not paved. He was interviewed and was told that they would like to hire him but due to the lack of him having a four wheeled vehicle that they would not (Connestee Falls is located in the mountains of North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Parkway). My dad left the interview drove down the mountain, pulled into the local Jeep dealership and bought a Jeep. He then turned back around and asked for the job. He was hired. He made more in the first weekend working as a realtor than he did the previous year working as a teacher and football coach.
2) Why did your parents start their own company?
My dad wanted to be his own boss and make his own decisions. He attained his broker license and then went out on his own with my mom in 1975. He felt it was the best way to provide for his family and truly believed it was the best way to be in control of his own destiny. He had the entrepreneurial mindset that if he wanted it badly enough then he could make it work.
3) The economy in 1975 was not the best it has ever been in the United States and the years following that the interest rate climbed drastically preventing a lot of people from buying homes, were they not apprehensive about starting up a new company?
Indeed they were. Even with all the economic turmoil of the mid 1970s and high interest rates that followed even into the 1980s they felt better being in control of everything. My father said one of the biggest decisions he ever made was taking the leap into the market place. Taking the riskier path worked out for my parents, not everybody is comfortable making that choice.
4) Why did you decide to enter into real estate with your family?
Half way through college at the College of Charleston I realized I had a great opportunity back home. I never intended to go back to Brevard, NC. In fact when I started college I wanted to go anywhere but there. But I grew up and really wanted to give it a try. I doubled majored in Business and Communications and both of those have helped me in my profession.
5) Many people these days have four or five professions, what has made you stick with real estate?
I don’t think of it as work. I love what I do and to me it’s not a job. It’s fun. I get to help people make one of their biggest choices in life. Buying a house isn’t something most people do very often and I feel like I can help people make a wise decision based off their individual needs and situations.
6) Many businesses have target customers; does your realty have a group of people that they try to go after?
Sure, everybody who needs or wants to buy a house or other real estate property. If you treat people right and you are honest with them then you will get clients. Many of my clients today are repeat customers. I try to forge relationships with them and many have actually become lifelong friends.
7) Fisher realty currently has two offices, one in Brevard and one in Lake Toxaway, NC. Have you thought about going further outside the region and expanding your current operation?
Of course, but we don’t want to be spread too thin. Right now we can provide great customer service and we are comfortable where we are now. Who knows what might be available to us in a few years but for the foreseeable future we will be staying in Brevard and Lake Toxaway.
8) You have been working with your family now for over 15 years, what is one thing you value most about your job and what is one thing you wish you could change about it?
Like I said, I don’t see it as a job. I see it as a way to help people and forge relationships with those individuals who are trying to purchase a house. I have worked with a lot of wonderful people over the years and to me it’s just about the transaction. Often times I dislike the closing day because the fun I have had with a family or an individual looking at real estate is over.
The answer to what I dislike most about what I do is pretty easy. I hate the paperwork. When I first started, contracts might only be one page long. Now they are extremely long and it is sometimes cumbersome. But it can’t all be fun I suppose.
