Leslie Wells runs How To Avoid Foreclosures Seminars
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04/03/08 02:17 PM
Realtor Leslie Wells is here to stay
Manatee River News Feb 8, 2008
JEFF BERLINICKE
Staff Writer
jeff@manateerivernews.com
Leslie Wells has never been a 9-to-5 person. She admits to having an A.D.D.-type personality and doesn’t mind working
around the clock.She is in the unfortunate position of trying to move Manatee County real estate at a time when there is not a lot of action on the real estate market, but she doesn’t mind a bit.
For all the gloom and doom in the East and North Manatee real estate market, both of which were expected two years ago to be big enough boom towns to attract professional hockey, Wells is the county’s head cheerleader.
It seems like she has been here her whole life. Her husband Charlie recently retired as a Manatee County sheriff. And their three children together are Palmetto High graduates. Some might say they are Manatee County’s First Family. But Wells isn’t from Parrish, where she recently opened her new office at Allris Plaza off U.S. 301. She came to Parrish from Chicago when she was 16 and had no idea what she was doing.
Real estate wasn’t a top priority. She hung around for a while and took a job in what was then known as the tax assessor’s office for Manatee County. There were no computers at the time so she spent her days pulling records, eventually growing grew weary of the 9-to-5 routine. That’s when she became interested in selling real estate. Most of the business in the office was related to real estate, so she went after her license. It was 1976, the year of the bicentennial, when Wells started learning how to help Manatee County families achieve the American dream. “I started as a gofer girl,” Wells said. “I didn’t say a word, but I listened to everything people said about real estate. I learned a lot, read every book I could and moved on from there.”
In 1979, long before anyone conceived of Lakewood Ranch, she got her broker’s license and went to work. The 1980s came around, and Wells realized she had a profession, as well as a love life when she met a Manatee County sheriff who became her husband. Charlie pulled her over for a speeding ticket that he never completed filling out, and the two were instantly an item. Things grew from there. She and a partner, Paul Sharff, opened Gold Star Properties, which took off, while Charlie
began what became a more than 20-year legacy of law enforcement before stepping down last spring. In the late 90s, Sharff bought out Wells’ share of the business, and she was ready to set out on her own with a little help from Charlie. “We opened with four agents and that was about it,” Wells said of Fox Brooke. "The market started to get good and we did really well. It was the start of what everybody is calling the boom.”
Here Today, Here Tomorrow
Realtor Leslie Wells is here to stay Local Realtor Leslie Wells and her husband Charlie, former Manatee County sheriff, have
enjoyed their lives together in Manatee County and have no intention of ever leaving.
Back to basics
After the height of the boom in 2006, things have been deteriorating rapidly. There are more than 25,000 homes set to be built in North Manatee and another 9,000 more in Lakewood Ranch, but Wells said this is not a discouraging time at all.
“We are all doing okay. We set this business up without a lot of overhead, and we have never been a corporate business. We don’t have to call California for decisions, because we make them ourselves,” Wells said. Still, while the boom was coming to an end, she knew she had to make some changes. “At the end of the last quarter, we came up with the idea that we had to go back to basics,” Wells said. “We had forgotten the basics.’’ Every Tuesday, she and her staff tour properties. It is a concept she learned more than 30 years ago when she was a gofer girl, and she said the same concept still works today.
Leslie and Charlie have three children together, plus stepson Rick who now works for the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department. Logan, 21, is a student at Hillsborough Community College and a relief pitcher on the baseball team. Twin daughters Madison and Reagan are also college students. Charlie, meanwhile, is busier than ever. He still plays softball twice a week while Leslie attends girl’s nights out. He is also into local politics and is working as a consultant for Republican Vern Buchanan.
It’s been a busy life, but for more than 40 years, Leslie has been one of the most recognized faces in North and East Manatee.“Every time I go shopping a Publix, it is a social event,” Wells said. “People might leave here, but they always come back. There’s something about this part of Florida that makes you want to be here forever.”
02/15/08 05:16 PM
Realtors Cope With Slump
Wells said the only way to handle the pressure is to smile and sell.
Jeff Berlinicke, Staff Writer
Was it really that long ago that real estate licenses were being distributed just as freely as driver’s license in Florida?
That’s what many local Realtors are pondering as the local and state real estate market enters the third year of its ongoing slump that has some Realtors baffled and some starting to worry.
Leslie Wells, of Leslie Wells Realty is one of those who is still positive that the market is going to take a turn for the better any day now, and she said that it isn’t quite as bad as people think. For one, after the licenses started being issued, and everybody seemed to have a realtor’s license, it seemed obvious that there would be a serious attrition rate once the joy ride of the 2002-2005 years was over.Instead, Wells said most local Realtors are hanging in and not joining in on the panic.
At the end of every year, Realtors must reapply for their license with the state and, in this area, the Manatee Association of Realtors. The cost is about $600 and that’s when a lot of agents tend to drop out of the often tough business. Even with the slump, the number of Manatee Realtors hasn’t dropped off by a large margin. “We thought we might lose some agents but we haven’t,’’ Wells said. “A lot of agents take time to reassess because it’s a tough business, but the number doesn’t seem to be as high as we might have thought.’’
Wells said her agents are maintaining a positive attitude since tomorrow is another day and things could be looking up. Despite the negative forecast, Wells said the only way to handle the pressure is to smile and sell. “Agents can’t be focused on gloom and doom right now,’’ Wells said. “We have to be optimistic. The transactions are tougher now, but we have to look to the future.’’
With the decline in sales, agents are taking a slightly different approach than they used during the boom years. Not as many buyers are showing up to look at property, so it makes for a harder sell, and agents are having to take more time on each transaction. With financing also suffering, that is another part of the sale that the agents are having to cope with.
Still, there may be some surprises as 2008 rolls around. “I see some bright things ahead,’’ Wells said. “There are new subdivisions coming up and the prices are different. People who bought in 2002 and 2003 are making a lot of money right now. The prices are right for anyone who is looking.’’ For Wells, she’s been through it all and said that, while there will never be a boom like in the recent past, things should level off soon. “I’ve seen all of this before,’’ Wells said. “A lot of people got into the business back in the boom years and it was a crazy time. We have lost some Realtors, but there’s still a lot to be made for a good Realtor.The cream always rises to the top.’’
01/02/08 01:17 PM
Leslie Wells Elected 3 Year Director, Board of REALTORS
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Realtors elect new board
The Manatee Association of Realtors recently inducted its new board at a banquet held at the El Conquistador Country Club.
The 2008 officers are: Debbie Roth, of RoseBay Real Estate, president; Barry Grooms, of RE/MAX Gulfstream, president-elect; Cindy Greco, of Wagner Realty, vice president; Deeana Atkinson, of Coldwell Banker, secretary and Angie Cegnar, of Keller Williams Realty, treasurer.
The board of directors are: Leslie Wells, of Leslie Wells Realty, three-year director; Bob Grant, of All Brokers Realty, three-year director; Geri Kenyon, of Kenyon Real Estate, two-year director; Barbara Edwards, of Scholfield Realty, one-year director and Lee Forbes, of Premier Team, Inc., one-year director.
President Debbie Roth said she is looking forward to a better market in 2008 and stresses that buyers should be out looking and buying now before prices start appreciating again.
"We see the market picking up," Roth said.
12/10/07 09:04 AM
Leslie Wells Realty Group continues to grow
• Despite the more sluggish market, Leslie Wells Realty Group continues to grow. In September, the company launched two new offices, the relocated Parrish facility at 8338 U.S. 301 N. and a new location at 1720 Manatee Ave. W., Bradenton. The Parrish location has 25 agents. Former Freedom Realty agents Donna Holmes and Valerie Skilton are at the helm of the new Manatee Avenue office. Freedom Realty broker Harry Blenker joined with Leslie Wells to open the new location.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Bradenton Herald
Melissa Followell, Herald reporter