Largest REO company in Oklahoma
With 1,037 transactions in one year, broker/owner of Century 21 All Pro Realty in Oklahoma City, Mary Berry was named Wall Street Journal and REAL Trends’ number two real estate agent in the nation for closed sides. Berry founded her brokerage in 1996 and has since grown to over twenty team members. Berry is well known in Oklahoma, as she handles 70% of all foreclosure properties in the state.
Although her current brokerage was founded in 1996, Berry actually began practicing real estate in 1982 but went to work at General Motors where she was for seven years, “but wasn’t loving it.” In her real estate career, she served on the Board of Realtors for two years, teaches at the Oklahoma City Board, Tulsa Board of Realtors and Lawton Board of Realtors. She says she was the only HUD broker for the first five years and covered the entire state which led to her teaching HUD Internet Bidding for continuing education.
Berry is well known for her expertise in foreclosures and says, “I work for many different lenders and have been doing only this since 1999. I actually started doing REO in the 80’s. When I got my license, interest rates were at 19%. We sold a lot of negative am loans and adjustable rate mortgages. When the oil bust hit and the Savings and Loans went down, you had to learn REO’s in a hurry if you intended to stay in the business. So I learned it and learned it well. I have probably made every mistake known to man in my early days. One thing about it- you only made that mistake once.”
“It is definitely not for the faint of heart.”
While Berry outperforms 99.9999% of the nation’s Realtors, we asked what she believes most agents fail at doing in a down economy that is making her so successful. She says it is their “refusing to get educated on any given market out there. That is why we have lost so many Realtors throughout the state. I don’t sell at all. I just list for numerous companies.”
Success comes with hard work, regardless of industry, but real estate (especially foreclosures) is particularly demanding. “In my world everything is on a time clock and you must meet the requirements or you won’t have the business. It is definitely not for the faint of heart.”
What does Berry advise anyone looking to become licensed in real estate? “Education- you must keep up with what is going on, not only in your market but what is happening in the world because it ultimately effects your market. Take all the classes you can. You can never learn too much. I am an old dog and even I learn something new all the time.”
Despite the demanding task of handling the majority of Oklahoma’s foreclosure properties, Berry continues to educate others and herself. It is no easy task to close 1,037 sides in a year, but Mary Berry is a well respected name for it and continues to be one of the nation’s top producers, year after year.
