A Conversation With: Douglas Frederick of Howard Hanna the Frederick Group in Allentown

Douglas Frederick has been in the real estate business for 38 yrs.  His father started the company in 1969 and he purchased it from him in 2006.  His personal involvement over the last 38 years has included managing, coaching, training but he still enjoys working directly with customers.

A significant part of the business has been appraisal work. The Frederick Group has had a large appraisal department for over 30 yrs.

LVB: What attracted you to the real estate industry?

Frederick: I’ve found my experience in working with people as a natural contributor for success in real estate.  In my youth I held various jobs in sales, restaurants and construction.  I spent some early career days flying airplanes but everything involved working with people and serving a need so I found real estate to be a comfortable fit helping people solve their needs.

I really enjoy the feeling of accomplishment with getting all transactions to closing.

LVB: What are the particular skills a residential real estate agent needs as compared to a commercial real estate agent?

Frederick: Actually, I think the skills of a residential agent and a commercial real estate agent are very similar.  The ability to work with people, problem solve, good communication and follow up apply to both focuses of the business.  Prospecting, maintaining and servicing clientele and working to fulfill your clients’ needs are all closely related as well.  Some of the practices of marketing, showing properties, information sharing can differ a bit, but no more than real estate practices can be different from one area to another.  I find that people who enjoy and have experience working with people tend to relate to the real estate business the best in both residential and commercial focuses.

LVB: What were the highs and lows of the residential real estate market in 2019?

Frederick: The year of 2019 has primarily been a high as the last handful of years has been with few exceptions.  The new construction business has gone through a tough recovery from the recession and increasing municipal controls, but has great consumer demand and is trending upward. The highest price ranges of homes have had some challenges in recovery from recession as well but have consistently been improving.

Some of the changes in the real estate business are that we’ve realized that as the largest group of buyers, Millennials are entering the marketplace in significant numbers. They tend to desire homes somewhat different then the Baby Boomer homes that are the largest group of sellers.  We have many well-funded companies and venture capital sources trying to get into the real estate business with varying degrees of success but the industry tends to demand relationship based service as a cornerstone of our past present and future.  Of course technology continues to develop more efficiencies of how we provide our service.

LVB: What kind of year do you think 2020 will be for residential real estate?

Frederick: It appears 2020 will be more of the same.  Continued strength from the economy, availability of low cost mortgages, ever-growing demand of consumers that want to own homes and changing needs of people to find homes to best fit their lifestyles.  There is no indication that it won’t continue to be a seller’s market but maybe with a slight trend toward balanced with a modest increase in pricing. We will continue to stay at the cutting edge of how we deliver our services and maintain relationships to assure we grow our market share.

-By Stacy Wescoe