Marking PAR’s 100th Anniversary: Past President Sally Heimbrook

Editor’s note: The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. As part of our Member Profile feature, we’ll be highlighting some of the Realtors® who have served as president of the organization.

Name: Sally Heimbrook
Company: Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Beaver
Years in real estate: 65 years as a broker
Local association: Beaver County Association of Realtors®
Year served: 1986 president

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
I would tell my younger self to do what I was doing, but to expand it, to reach out for more knowledge and to maybe have a better consideration for other people and their viewpoints. And above all, remember that we are not a profession, we are an industry, but we do have an obligation to act professionally.

Why should agents get involved in their local, state and national associations?
If they didn’t, they would be like a little fish in a little pond, because there’s much more beyond your local community. There’s much more in the state, which makes up of many different regions, where there is much to learn. On the national level is where things really start to come down, you’ll learn about people with ideas that are far superior to what we’ve ever heard of before and that we will grow into. If you don’t meet with them and learn from them, you’ll always be a little fish in a little pond.

What advice would you give someone who was thinking of moving up through the offices in PAR?
I would tell them to become completely involved and to participate. Maybe investigate to see what areas of interest they have and so on, and then continue on that. They may want to go the extra mile and sit in on other aspects of the association that you aren’t involved in directly through a committee and learn more about it. I’m sure you’ll move ahead then, because you’ll have the knowledge to help lead an association.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the real estate market since you started?
I’ve been in the real estate business as a broker for 64 years. You don’t want me to really tell you all of the changes I’ve seen since then, but I think the biggest change has got to be the internet. It’s got to be the opening to a vast communication and vast areas of knowledge that we never knew about before.

How have real estate associations changed since you started?
Well, when I started, of course, women were not recognized in the real estate industry. But as a woman, I was working in the industry and they would not let me on the board. After a few years, I was able to join the board. After I moved up through the positions and came to a point where they actually wanted me to be their president. However, the first time I ran for president of my local association, during the final vote, one of the good old boys came in and put his name into the race and I was defeated. I did become the president later on.

The first female president of PAR was a lady from Erie [Ed. Note: Jane Theuerkauf]. She did a lot of things that were different, and they weren’t used to them. When the old boys think about the state, they think I’m the first woman president, but I wasn’t. So, I learned then to listen to my elders, because they have much to tell you to learn from the past, as well as looking for the future.

Do you think the environment or technology will have a bigger impact on real estate in the next 100 years?
I think there will be a great impact in the next many years with all of the new innovations, the internet and all the technical things. There is a danger, I do think that with all the technology we gain, you have to have a balance between technology and a personal touch, because that’s what really touches a human being. You can’t go without one, but you can’t go without the other side, so a balance should be considered.