David Romero wants to dance in the rain. And the economic downturn of the past two years has offered him plenty of precipitation.
Dwindling housing sales and an upswing in foreclosures has dampened the real estate market around the country, including the Southern California footprint covered by the agents of Century 21 Award, where Romero is the president and CEO.
“The quote I like is, ‘We have to stop waiting for the storm to end and learn how to dance in the rain,’” says Romero, who oversees 1,500 agents and employees positioned from Anaheim to the Mexico border. “That is the truth. Nobody is under the desk waiting for something good to happen, waiting for everything to fall into place and be like it was before. That’s not happening. What we have to do is get people to work well in this current environment and enjoy it when possible.”
With so many outside forces affecting the real estate market, it has been up to Romero and his leadership team to figure out the best way to operate the firm in the challenging environment presented to them. But making the best of a bad situation can be easier in concept than it is in practice.
Romero has needed to keep his agents and employees informed on current market events and engaged in providing outstanding service to clients. It is a process that has required him to be a relentless communicator and creative thinker.
“It’s just really getting our people to understand the complexities in today’s environment, getting our agents up to speed with changes in the market and the record change that we’ve had in the past few years,” Romero says. “We need to get people to thrive in what has now become the ‘new normal.’”
