Candace Adams
President and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services New England Properties
Age: 58
Experience: 33 years
One lousy experience with a real estate agent may have been the spur that got Candace Adams into the industry, but it’s been her own drive and ambition that have carried her to the top. Recently named one of the top 200 most powerful people in the industry in the Swanepoel Power200 rankings, she spoke to The Commercial Record about what she looks for in an agent.
Q: How did you become an agent?
A: I started almost 30 years ago, like a lot of people did, because it was supposed to be a great, flexible career. Or so I thought. And that’s what I tell agents now – you can work any 80 hours a week you want. [Laughs.] It’s very flexible, as long as you have 80 hours. So I sold real estate for a couple of years, and then I opened a company with a partner. We did that in Northern Connecticut, in Tolland, with Century 21 Manor House. And then we sold that to Prudential, eventually. So now I’ve been here for almost 20 years, I think.
Q: It’s interesting – you said you only worked as an agent for a couple years before deciding to break out on your own. What made you take that leap?
A: Well, I think I’m basically entrepreneurial. I wanted a little bit more control over my destiny, and to be able to do the things I wanted to do in the business that were a little more creative. Just provide a different level of service, and have control.
Q: So how did you decide to switch over to a more executive role, after selling your own company?
A: Initially when I sold my [brokerage to Prudential], I was on an earn-out, so I sold real estate under Prudential for a while. When Peter Healy bought the Prudential company, in 1998, I think it was, I had been here for a year or two. I ended up becoming a regional manager under him, then chief operating officer, then president, and finally CEO, two years ago.
Q: I wondered about it, because talking to a few agents who’ve had a brokerage and then sold to a larger firm, a lot of them enjoy getting back to selling, and don’t necessarily want to take on even more responsibility.
A: Well, I was very young when we sold our company. If it had been up to me, I would not have chosen to do that, but I wasn’t in a position to buy out my partners, and they were older, and were looking to slow down. But I certainly wasn’t ready at 28 or 30 years old to pack it in. I was maybe a little ahead of my time in owning a company – though I had a wonderful experience in the trenches, as it were.
Q: Did you find you enjoyed the management aspects more than the sales? They’re such different mindsets.
A: I like it all. Sometimes I miss selling real estate, miss having that client contact. I still get it occasionally now – but it’s usually when there’s a problem! But it’s all about taking care of people who are selling their homes. You know, truly the reason I got into real estate [30 years ago], I was selling my house, I had an infant and a two-year-old, and the real estate agent I had was a nightmare. I said, "I can’t believe I have to pay this person." And that’s what drove me into the business – people have to be taken care of. When you’re buying or selling a home, it’s usually because your family is getting larger, or smaller, or [there has been] a death or a divorce, or a new job – it’s always something that intensely impacts you emotionally. And if you don’t have an agent who can really walk you through that process and take care of you and your family, then you are in a bad situation. And unfortunately, that’s not always the case – the threshold for entrance into this business is very low.
Q: You lead one of the largest brokerages in the state – in some ways, larger brokers seem to have more advantages even in relation to the rest of the industry. So what keeps you up at night?
A: I’ve been doing this for a long time, so not as much keeps me up as it used to. But if there’s one thing, I’d say it’s trying to see around corners. Trying to figure out, okay, what’s going to be happening in April or May or June that we need to be getting ready for right now. And I do think that’s become more difficult in recent years. Now more than ever, events in the larger world affect people’s confidence and consumer behavior, because we’re so connected.
Adams’s Top Five Qualities In An Agent:
1. Caring and compassionate.
2. Knowledgeable – keeps up with the constantly changes regulations and requirements in the industry.
3. Good communicator.
4. Organized.
5. Shares BHHS’ values.
