A Record Year Against All Odds

Following a year like no other, 2021 proved to be a year of both challenges and tremendous opportunity for Terrie O’Connor Realtors and the entire real estate industry. As buyer demand continued to surge, new listings literally flew off the market. Sellers enjoyed a market tipped in their favor, as most properties enjoyed multiple offers in record time with prices soaring well above asking price. Bank appraisers employed the COVID effect premium, supporting the inflated final purchase prices. Due to the supply demand imbalance, buyers experienced increasing disappointment as they continued to lose bid after bid. Buyer fatigue naturally began to set in, but the savvy Terrie O’Connor Realtors agent persisted, employing creative and strategic negotiation tactics to win contracts. And, win we did. Thanks to the dogged efforts of our nearly 500 real estate professionals, Terrie O’Connor Realtors once again broke records, outpacing the MLS with 32.7% growth over 2020. A year of significant growth, Terrie O’Connor Realtors welcomed 110 new agents to our family. And, once again, Bergen Magazine named TOCR the Best Real Estate Agency in Bergen County. What a momentous way to mark 30 years as Terrie O’Connor Realtors.

To celebrate 30 years as Terrie O’Connor Realtors, we launched “Terrie: The Terrie O’Connor Realtors Magazine,” highlighting momentous occasions from the past three decades, as well as our spectacular agents and our favorite properties, including fabulous homes in each of the markets we serve. We featured communities where we live, work and serve, highlighting amenities that make each town desirable to today’s buyers. The magazine truly reflected the higher standards we hold for our company and the hallmark service we provide our clients. Due to the overwhelming response, we published a second edition in the fall and hope you’ll enjoy reading this spring 2022 issue.

As the infection rates began to dip in the second quarter, we slowly started to gather back together. Several agents, managers and staff safely returned to Las Vegas for the Leading Real Estate Companies of the World Annual Conference. While a much smaller, US-only crowd gathered to “Re-Imagine Real Estate,” the pervasive feeling was one of positivity and renewed energy. We participated in a panel highlighting all our company did to pivot during the pandemic, our website www.tocr. com was recognized with the Website Quality Certification, and we returned supercharged with strategies to continue “Winning at Real Estate.”

While ZOOM fatigue became as pervasive as the pandemic itself, the health and safety of our agents and staff superseded our overwhelming desire to reconnect, at least for the first half of the year. We celebrated our top office and company agents with a ZOOM celebration and hosted legendary real estate coach Tom Ferry at our virtual Agent Appreciation Event in February. Tom Ferry reminded us that the market was BANANAS, and BANANAS still describes the current real estate market.

In June, we gathered the NJ Realtors Circle of Excellence Award winners from both 2019 and 2020 for a celebration at the Tuxedo Park Country Club Boathouse, complete with pontoon boat sunset cruises around Tuxedo Park Lake, cocktails dockside, a raw bar, lobster dinners and good company. It felt so good to be together again to celebrate our award winning agents. In August, 300 agents, employees, family members and friends gathered under the stars at the Barn at Crestwood Lake for the Annual Terrie O’Connor Realtors Family Picnic where we feasted on BBQ chicken, pulled pork and Italian ices and danced to the music of the 52nd Street Band, featuring our very own Matthew O’Connor on sax.

In October, two legendary names in real estate joined forces to launch Terrie O’Connor Realtors - The Gateway Group. Mary Ellen Courtney, co-founder of Gateway Realtors, will lead the company’s newest branch office located in a landmark building on the Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights. We are delighted to welcome Mary Ellen and her outstanding team of sales associates to the Terrie O’Connor Realtors family of companies.

Before the close of the year, we hired Noreen Gratzel to head up our new mortgage joint venture, Partners United (which is funded by America’s third largest lender, NewRez). Noreen brings more than 30 years of lending expertise to our company, and the products available through NewRez will help our clients secure homes at competitive rates. What’s even more important is that having Noreen in house provides us with better control over our clients’ transactions.

The entire month of November was dedicated to expressing gratitude for the people and communities we serve. A company-wide food drive benefited the Center for Food Action, the Hasbrouck Heights Food Pantry and the Kinnelon Food Pantry. A team of 13 agents and staff slept out in the corporate office parking lot as part of the Covenant House Executive Sleep Out, raising more than $26,000 for New Jersey youth facing homelessness. In December, our company “gave back” to those same communities. We collected toys and pajamas for Oasis: A Haven for Women and Children; sponsored entire families through Upper Saddle River’s Church of the Presentation; collected new, unwrapped toys for the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots program; and even collected books to support the “Book for Every Bed” initiative. We are so proud of the community warriors at Terrie O’Connor Realtors who give so generously of their time and treasure during the holiday season and throughout the year. In fact, Allendale’s very own Scott Miller was honored as Citizen of the Year by the Mahwah Chamber of Commerce for his outstanding work on behalf of so many community organizations.

As we closed out the year, Omicron interrupted much of our planned holiday celebrations, but each office gathered in smaller groups to celebrate all that was accomplished in 2021. From a house party for Saddle River, to an ugly sweater party in Allendale, to a mountain top party for the Gateway Group, the celebrations continued safely.

What a year 2021 proved to be. With all that Terrie O’Connor Realtors accomplished last year, we’re optimistic about a safer, healthier and even more successful 2022!