David Lawrence, a real estate agent for Century 21 Topsail Realty in Newport, recently was ranked first in Rhode Island for Century 21 and 18th in New England, having closed on more than $23 million in sales in calendar year 2016. His sales came in both commercial and residential properties. He spoke with the Providence Business News about real estate sales.
PBN: Have you always sold both commercial and residential properties?
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LAWRENCE: Real estate is real estate. I’ve always done both. I have enjoyed how properties grow and become more valuable in the future. Since 1984, when I first got my license, I’ve seen properties drop a little bit, but they always end up gaining back.
PBN: Your specialty area is Aquidneck Island. Tell me about that market.
LAWRENCE: A perfect storm, in a good way. You have the Naval War College, which is a city within a city. You have local colleges, Salve Regina and Roger Williams University. And then you have the tourists. It just seems like the right place to [sell] real estate. With that said, we probably have more real estate agents than we have real estate for sale.
PBN: I’m hearing estimates of a drop in real estate listings, of as much as a third. Why are the listings not hitting the market this spring?
LAWRENCE: They’re not moving. People are holding on to them, and holding on to a great investment. It’s easy to rent a house out to a war college [tenant] from $2,000 up to $3,500 [a month.]
PBN: What do you say to the people who want to buy, who are looking for those listings?
LAWRENCE: What I say is that something will come up. If you’re looking for something, it will come up. Guaranteed. Just have patience. I have over $60 million to $70 million in real estate that’s for sale, that’s not listed. Sellers know someone like me is going to sell it for them, even though it’s not listed.
PBN: You won recognition recently for over $23 million in sales volume in a single year. Is that a very high, unusual year, or is that typical in this market?
LAWRENCE: That was a very high year. I sold something, a restaurant, and then they had to … buy some other property for high numbers. … You get lucky once in a while.
Mary MacDonald is a PBN staff writer.
