President of Greater El Paso Assoc of Realtors

Dan Olivas Greater El Paso Association of Realtors
Story by Ryan Poulos

No, it’s not Danny Olivas the local astronaut, but this guy’s job might be just as stressful.

Dan Olivas is the newly installed president of the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors, and as most people know, the housing market hasn’t exactly been easy money lately.

According to the Multiple Listings Service, which the association uses to track sales, existing home sales in El Paso dropped by more than 16 percent last year.

Olivas says, however, that with the growth El Paso is seeing related to the military and the medical school, now might be the best time to buy a home in El Paso before prices go up.

He also pointed out that there are approximately 4,500 homes on the market in El Paso right now, which is only slightly higher than last year.

“I am telling everybody that it’s a great time to buy,” he said. “All of these great things that are happening right now are going to eventually make the prices go up from here.”

Olivas got into the real estate business when he came from Albuquerque to Santa Teresa, N.M., to landscape a property owned by golfer Lee Trevino.

“I liked the area a lot and when I was done with the project I was ready for a change,” he said. “Consequently I took some courses in real estate and figured I would dabble in it here in El Paso. One thing led to another and now I’m really loving it.”

Olivas is also the owner of RE/MAX Elite in El Paso and has been in real estate for close to 30 years.

Last year, he was awarded the Distinguished Community Service Award for the State of Texas at the state convention, and he was named El Paso Realtor of the Year in 2004. He said he’s excited about recently taking over as president of the Greater El Paso Association of Realtors.

The Greater El Paso Association of Realtors serves more than 2,700 members and has more than doubled its membership since 2002.

Realtors are members of the National Association of Realtors, and do business according to its strict code of ethics and standards of practice, including continuing education in the field. Not all real estate agents are Realtors, so the total number of agents in the market is even higher.

The association had managed to grow at a steady rate over the last five years. But outgoing President Sonja Van Nortwick said the association fell about 20 percent short of the growth it had anticipated by the end of 2007.

Olivas talked to El Paso Inc. about the El Paso housing market and why we shouldn’t pay attention to what the media is saying about the market.

Q: How many homes are on the market in El Paso?
There are approximately 4,500 homes for sale in the El Paso market right now. That’s a little higher than where we were at this time last year, but it’s not the dramatic change that you might expect to see after listening to the national media.

If you listen to the national media you will walk away thinking that the entire country’s market is in a freefall, but that certainly isn’t the case in El Paso.

Q: Why are we bucking the trend?
Because there are some great things taking place in El Paso that aren’t happening across the country. We have the federal government investing billions into Fort Bliss. That’s a huge investment in this community and when you’re seeing that kind of investment in preparation for tens of thousands of troops and families moving into the area, it definitely affects our economy.

We also have the four-year medical school that is just coming into being. This is the first four-year medical school built in many years and it’s the only one on the border.

That is what really causes a lot of excitement. That means more business, which means more people moving into El Paso.

Q: What’s the average price of a home on the market in El Paso?
Two years ago you could have come into El Paso and bought homes under $100,000 all day long. Now the average-priced home is around $135,000.

Two years from now, with everything that is happening, I don’t think you’ll be able to buy a home in El Paso for less than $130,000. That’s why I am telling everybody that it’s a great time to buy. All of these great things that are happening right now are going to eventually make the prices go up.

El Paso has never really experienced a housing bubble. While the rest of the country was seeing all kinds of acceleration El Paso just trudged along and never followed the same trend. It changed about two years ago, though, when BRAC was announced and we found out that El Paso would benefit significantly.

Q: Did that attract outside investors?
You immediately saw a group of investors from places like California trying to position themselves to take advantage of the troop influx. It didn’t happen as quickly as they anticipated, but what they were waiting for is now about to happen.

Q: How long does it take the average home to sell in El Paso?
Right now our average marketing time is around 80 to 85 days. Let me give you an example. Prior to the frenzy we experienced in 2005, there was nothing unusual about a home taking six months or longer to sell.

So in comparison, 80-85 days is a relatively quick marketing time. While it’s significantly longer than a few years ago, it’s still shorter than it was before it.

Q: What types of homes are the hardest to sell right now?
When you’re trying to sell anything above $350,000, you have a smaller pool to draw from and therefore it’s taking longer to sell that price range of homes.
Q: So the easiest then is homes under $150,000?
Anytime you can get into homes that are $150,000 and below, they will sell a lot faster. The pool is so much larger to draw from.

The dynamics of our market are changing, though, with all of the new industries coming in. The discretionary spending income is going to change for buyers. Having said that, the price range of the homes that are going to be selling is obviously going to go up. I don’t think that anybody can disagree that as better paying jobs come into the area you’ll have people buying higher priced homes. That’s not to say that there won’t still be a need for lower income properties.

Q: Did the tightening of mortgage money have a big impact?
Anytime there is a change in mortgage underwriting, an impact will be felt. In El Paso it has been less than in other parts of the country and that shows in our foreclosure rates as they have dropped from last year.

Q: Is El Paso insulated from a potential recession because we haven’t had a huge housing bubble or depression?
I wouldn’t say we are totally safe from recession, but as the country supposedly goes into a recession or close to it, the federal government is lowering interest rates.

As they lower those rates and the El Paso economy continues on an upward swing, it can do nothing but help.

I know the employment rate has dropped and that is an indicator that new jobs are being created in the region, which is very positive for our economy as a whole.

You can’t have the government investing billions in the economy and not have an upward swing. You can’t have a medical school bringing in doctors and nurses and not have an upward swing. There are so many positive things happening in El Paso and we are being stimulated in a positive way.

If the country goes into recession – I’m not an economist – but I think El Paso would be okay. I honestly don’t think there has been a better time than today to be a real estate agent in El Paso.

Q: But aren’t agents leaving the market?
I think there will be a drop off in the number of agents, but I don’t think it will be significant. I think the number will drop between 10 to 15 percent, but by the end of the year I think you’ll see agents coming back into the industry.

Q: What does it take to be a good agent?
What happens when there’s a perception of a good market, a lot of people get into the business looking to make some easy money. What they fail to understand is that it is still a service business. They have to build relationships and find out why El Paso is El Paso and know all the city’s qualities. Those are the agents who are in demand.

You can’t get into the business to make a quick buck.

Those that think everything will be handed to them will probably fail no matter what kind of market we are experiencing.

Q: Are real estate agents cutting fees because of the slow market?
Fees are something that everybody handles on their own. We have no way of tracking the fee structures of each agency. There will always be different business models out there.

Q: What’s your advice for somebody considering becoming an agent?
It’s really simple. First of all, do not pay attention to the national media. This is a great time to be in real estate in El Paso.

You need to understand, though, that you are in business for yourself. You must have written goals as well as a mentor in this business that truly understands how to do business in this city.

The biggest asset in this business is yourself. Get as educated as you possibly can, make sure that you get good mentorship in learning how to do this business. Then go out and make sure you know how to promote yourself so you can build relationships to make sure that you’re successful.












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