FROM STAFF REPORTS

PELHAM – With Lake Homes Realty’s brokerage operations rapidly expanding across the U.S., the company’s market footprint isn’t the only thing that has grown. Because of growth on their corporate and brokerage operations teams, the company recently relocated from Pelham to Hoover.

The company added brokerage operations in seven more states in 2017 and added more members to the corporate and brokerage operations teams. This growth prompted the move from their Pelham office to a multi-tenant building in nearby Hoover.

“Growth is never a problem, but there can be challenges along the way,” said Lake Homes Realty’s CEO, Glenn Phillips. “We built our Pelham office in 2008 for other business ventures. We really enjoyed the time we operated there, but we were just flat out of room and out of parking. Lake Homes Realty is growing so fast, we really needed room immediately and to expand. We’ll add staff to all the different teams in this new headquarters.”

The corporate and central brokerage operations offices for Lake Homes Realty are now at Hoover’s Southlake Plaza.

Currently the brokerage occupies space on two floors of the three-story office complex. The firm’s marketing and technology teams are located on the first floor of the building, and the brokerage operations team occupies much of the second floor.

Southlake Plaza is owned and managed by The Barber Companies, Inc. of Birmingham. Weyman Prater represented The Barber Companies in the lease negotiations, and Anita Turner of Colliers International provided tenant representation.

“Candidly, our goal each year will be to grow enough that we acquire more office space within the building. And this will be needed as we enter more markets across the U.S. and grow our staff,” Phillips said.

The Lake Homes Realty CEO added that availability of office space and increasing business demands also means opportunities for employment within the operations, marketing, and engineering departments are on the horizon.

“We are working on brokerage licensing in 10 more states for 2018, bringing us to operations in 27 states,” Phillips said. “There’s a lot of work to be done, and we will be looking to hire people who understand the power of our business model, and who are dedicated to providing exceptional service to our clients and agents alike.”

Near of the end of 2017, Lake Homes Realty hired Birmingham resident Karen Davis as its new national director of brokerage operations. In her role, Davis oversees both existing and new real estate brokerages in each state the company operates in. This includes assisting brokers and agents, managing the compliance team and refining brokerage back-office operations.

“I have been watching the growth of Lake Homes Realty since the beginning and was very impressed with what had been accomplished and the plans for the future,” Davis said. “When they approached me about coming to work here, I saw it as an opportunity to be a part of something exciting that had really never been done before in real estate.”

Davis has more than 20 years of experience in the real estate industry, having worked as both a licensed real estate agent and managing broker. She is currently a licensed broker in Alabama and Georgia.

“Karen is a fantastic addition to our management team,” Phillips said. “We’ve known her for several years and have seen her be an incredible professional, as well as a genuine and caring person. As we grow the company, adding the right leadership to our team is imperative, and we are excited Karen has joined us.”

The company’s unique and highly virtual operations model starts with a focus on a one-stop website for lake homes and land, via the company website, LakeHomes.com.

The technology is paired with the brokerage’s own select group of lake market agents. The company has rejected a focus on traditional brick-and-mortar locations, opting to focus more spending on marketing properties and bringing new convenience to buyers and sellers.

“Before us, there was no large multi-state real estate company focused on lake real estate,” Phillips said. “Our success in the last five years shows there is a need for the type of niche real estate service we are providing. We are excited to see where it takes us.”

The Birmingham Business Journal has named the company one of the 30 fastest growing businesses in Birmingham for the past three years. The real estate company was also named No. 927 on Inc. Magazine’s 2017 list of the top 5,000 fastest-growing companies in an annual ranking. Lake Homes was the only Birmingham-area company to make the top 1,000, and was the eighth-highest ranked of the 59 Alabama companies on the Top 5,000 list. The company has also been featured in Realtor Magazine.