Jonathan Bowen is the broker of Jonathan Bowen Real Estate working in Boston.
Every week, we ask an Boston real estate professional for their thoughts on the top trends in Boston real estate.
This week, we talked with Jonathan Bowen, broker of Jonathan Bower Real Estate in Boston.
Boston Agent (BA): As a broker, what is it that you’re looking for in a new or transferring agent?
Jonathan Bowen (JB): It’s a more complex question than you might expect. I started out as the managing broker of my company back in 2003 with no real aspirations of growing past anybody else but myself. I didn’t want the headaches that come with recruiting, training and then maintaining a stable of salespeople only to know that they would eventually leave. It seems like a nihilistic point of view but its also reality. I’ve seen other offices get gutted of salespeople by competing brokerages over the years. I was living with my brother in Sharon at the time so I trained him by osmosis. I would give him extraneous tasks that I either couldn’t do or didn’t want to do because I was so busy. That’s how I learned the business. I then had a few agents from my previous office ask me if they could hang their licenses with me and then I had a few clients ask the same and then, before you know it, I had about ten or so agents working underneath me. And then the market crashed in 2007. I had an office located in Hyde Park by that time and I would just sit there by myself because the agents that hung their licenses with me, including my own brother, either left my office or quit the business entirely. I’d be looking for an intelligent person who can grasp concepts and ideas quickly and, at the same time, be motivated to work hard every day whether it’s a new agent or an experienced agent. It’s more of a challenge than you think. I’ve seen that quality in very few agents over the years. And loyalty. I’ve extended my loyalty to the people who have worked under me over the years but that loyalty, for the most part, hasn’t been reciprocated. I know that this answer sounds like I’m jaded and sour but that’s because I am. I prefer to work by myself but I am also willing to dump my advice, experience and knowledge onto salespeople that are good enough to fit the criteria.
BA: You have a diverse background as an engineering officer in the Army National Guard, a homebuilder and a professional proponent of green energy. How has your unique experience shaped the way you do business now as a real estate broker?
JB: I don’t lie because I get caught. I could use big words like ethics, integrity and morality but let’s get just down to the basics. It’s gotten to the point that I disclose to my buyers any deficiencies in a property that I notice at initial showings even if they’re borderline deficienceis because I don’t want them to look at me funny down the road. I think that my training in the military – which included: Navy Boot Camp at Great Lakes, Ill.; Navy Seabee Builder A School at Port Hueneme, Calif.; Army Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Camp Edwards, Mass.; and Engineer Officer Basic Course (EOBC) at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. – has stripped me of the ability to lie convincingly. Those damned instructors always knew when you were trying to lie to them even before you knew that you were going to try. You can’t cut corners when building a property because those lies always come out in the wash. It would be a lie to the community if I didn’t try to make suggestions that would help a building to be as energy efficient as possible.
BA: What is it that Boston needs in 2015 to return to a more balanced market, and do you think the city is heading in that direction? Why or why not?
JB: Boston is heading in the wrong direction. There are too many luxury buildings being put up and there’s only so much demand for that type of product. But I guess it’s always a question of demand and supply, isn’t it? I do feel like there’s a lot of artificial demand being created in downtown Boston and I laugh at the poor souls that are paying $1,000 per square foot in The Fenway when they could be paying $250 per square foot or less in neighborhoods like Roslindale and Roxbury which now have more public transportation options than ever. I saw a lot of buildings that were supposed to be condominiums get turned into rentals after the crash in 2007. It’s going to happen again. Mayor Marty Walsh should really be a proponent of loosening up zoning regulations so that micro units can be more easily built around public transportation. There are more single people than ever before and they shouldn’t require much in terms of square footage. I’d be really happy with 400 square feet and a tiny balcony with some sort of view and a parking spot if I were still single.
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