Ep 001 – 37 Years in Real Estate with Larry Bergstrom, Managing Broker of Crescent Realty

For the first episode of Agent Stories, I interviewed my very first managing broker, Larry Bergstrom of Crescent Realty in Spanaway, Washington. Larry’s career began in 1978 when his best friend Cody Miller asked him to be a site agent for his dad’s new construction sites. Larry has seen a lot in this business, and we talk about what has changed and what remains the same in this crazy business of ours.

Getting Started in Real Estate

Larry’s sales career started with encyclopedia sales in the 1970’s and then a friend (Crescent Realty owner Cody Miller) finally convinced him to get his real estate license

Surviving the Market Crash of the 1980’s

Interest rates went up 2.5% per month until VA Loans were at 19%

Finding other avenues to make money when a market shifts drastically and quickly

Real Estate Life in “the olden days” 

Cadillac Eldorados and Lincoln Continentals (your car was the client experience!)

What the average real estate day was like

How did real estate got done before email, fax machines, and even voicemail

The early days of the MLS

The original “pre electronic” keyboxes (every lockbox in town had the same key!)

No Agency, everyone worked for the seller

The origins of buyer representation at the national level

MLS books, and the transition to an online database of homes

The merger of a local Realtor and non Realtor MLS in the early 2000’s, and it’s continued effects

Larry’s thoughts on the state of the real estate industry, NAR, and the role of the real estate age.