Mark McKenna has nearly three decades of real estate experience and has never seen anything like the current market.

As the pandemic drives New York City and North Jersey residents south in droves, area realtors drastically changed their approach to accommodate that influx of newcomers.

"The level of intensity from 7:30 a.m. until 9 at night can be equated to preparing for the Super Bowl—except it's every day," McKenna explains.

It's not just meeting increased demand. Handling buyers who are looking to call a new region home means educating them differently than someone intimately familiar with Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties.

"This is the first time we're seeing shifts of people from outside our area playing musical chairs in the South Jersey market," McKenna says. "I saw the writing on the wall around April of last year when we started getting calls from 908, 917 and 201 numbers. We changed all of our social media advertising to target the five boroughs of New York and North Jersey."

Pat McKenna Realtors and its teams operate out of Marlton but have served South Jersey since McKenna's parents Eleanor and the late Pat McKenna founded the agency in the '70s. It's adapted to numerous trends and markets since then, and most recently, McKenna has overseen the growth of his client services team.

"I saw some inefficiencies in our live-answer calls," McKenna explains, adding that the national average of a roughly 44% answer rate "is just not acceptable" when he prefers one closer to 70%. "It makes the customer service so much better in a market where people need information instantaneously."

Part of that meant hiring Karli Cinelli for the new ISA (or inside sales agent) role. She joined a customer outreach team of Transaction Coordinator Lucie Nowicki, Marketing Director Sandy Stern, Digital Content Manager Dalton Lanoza and Director of Client Services Nick Versaggi.

The team also recently introduced an official offer portal directly connected to their website where every agent inputs the same data from standard offer sheets. That data is compiled into a spreadsheet, sorted, and shared with clients to compare and prioritize offer terms. Several outside agents have already responded, noting the favorably streamlined process.

McKenna's sales team already closed on 100 units in the first 99 days of 2021. Those numbers are especially promising when you consider the colder half of the year is traditionally "not at all" when properties are moving quickly.

"We usually do between $65 and $75 million in sales; last year, we did $94 million," he says. "It's usually about 230, 235 units a year; by the end of April, we should hit almost 200 units. We're already looking at about $55 million in four months. I think we're going to hit 400 units this year: Our numbers for January were equal to what we sold in an entire quarter last year. The fourth quarter of 2020 was the best quarter we've ever had in my 29 years, and that's not usually the greatest time for sales."

Houses can have anywhere between three and 30+ offers these days, with many selling for five digits more than the asking price.

"It can get a little overwhelming, so your systems and your back office have to be tight," McKenna says.

Part of the agency's ability to adapt comes from knowing their community well. McKenna's local roots go deep, as indicated by his family's most recent spate of local honors. His wife Shannon is a lifelong Marlton resident who was named Lenape Regional High School District's 2021 Teacher of the Year. McKenna himself has also been recognized twice in recent months. Once as the recipient of the Evesham Township Police Department Civilian Service Award, and again as the Volunteer of the Year for Cherokee High School.

Giving back has been the agency's longstanding business philosophy. It's how McKenna turned a disappointing development into an opportunity for the entire Pat McKenna Realtors team to support local causes in Marlton and South Jersey.

After a lighthearted Facebook post inadvertently led to disqualification from the most recent Circle of Excellence nominations, McKenna had the option to pay a fine or be removed from the competition. He opted to put what would have been a $1,000 fine back into the community, challenging the rest of his office to raise funds for three local organizations, which culminated in December's check-presentation ceremony.

"We ended up donating $34,000 to the Evesham Township Police Department, St. Joan of Arc church and Operation Yellow Ribbon," McKenna says. "I'd rather give back to a charity that's helping the community than have another plaque on my wall."

After all, McKenna says the real reward isn't recognition: It's all about paying it forward. "That day we presented those checks, those are the kind of days that stand out and are really the best days of my career."

Pat McKenna Realtors' Mark McKenna Team
42 E. Main St., Marlton
(856) 983-0704
PatMcKennaRealtors.com
MarkMcKennaTeam.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 21, Issue 8 (April/May 2021). 
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