Marking PAR’s 100th Anniversary: Past President Bob Fleck

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: Robert “Bob” Fleck
Company: Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Hodrick Realty, Danville
Years in real estate: 45 years
Local association: Central Susquehanna Valley Board of Realtors®
Year served: 2001 president

Bob Fleck served as president of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® during one the largest acts of terrorism to hit the United States, September 11, 2001.

Fleck recalls he was traveling to Fayette County Board of Realtors® and stopped in Williamsport for a meeting. “That’s when I learned that planes had hit the World Trade Center in New York City,” Fleck recalled. “It’s a meeting I’ll never forget. I called the National Association of Realtors® to learn how many Realtors® were in the World Trade Center and talked with NAR President Richard Mendenhall, to see how many Realtor® offices were in that building. We found out that there were none located in the Trade Center, but within hours, Richard started the Realtors® Relief Fund to help Realtors® who had lost family members in that tragedy.”

Within a few hours, Realtors® were able to raise $1 million for the fund. Ultimately, the fund raised more than $8.4 million to provide assistance so that surviving family members could stay in their homes. Since then, more than $32 million has been collected and distributed to provide aid for some 80 disasters in 39 states and territories, helping more than 13,000 families.

PAR’s leadership team at the time, along with the leadership teams of the New Jersey Realtors® and the New York State Association of Realtors® volunteered to review the applications from those Realtors® who had lost family members to help pay their mortgages during that time. “There were a great many Realtors® in Pennsylvania who had family members who commuted to New York and were affected by this tragedy. I was very proud to be a Realtor® at that time and to be part of that group,” Fleck said. “We ended up processing all of the applications and in many cases, delivering them in person.”

“It’s really an indelible memory for me. I decided to continue traveling to Fayette County after I learned of the initial crashes and then heard that a plane crashed near Pittsburgh, so I detoured and bypassed Pittsburgh, only to discover that the plane crashed in Shanksville, and traffic was stopped and I was rerouted again. But, I eventually got to my destination,” he added.

What was the most significant achievement during your presidency?
In 2001, George W. Bush became president and within his first 100 days in office, he was able to push through tax cuts that significantly helped the real estate industry. At the time, I served vice chair of NAR’s Federal Taxation Committee, and we had been advocating for these tax cuts, so we were ecstatic that these were implemented. I wish I could take credit for those tax cuts, but I really can’t.

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
When I first started in real estate, in the 1960s, I was a schoolteacher. I was selling real estate part time, and teaching school full time. Then my part-time real estate pretty much became my full-time job, and it was decision time. It was a bit scary, but I quit teaching and went into the real estate business. I moved; I sold my house in Bucks County, where I started my real estate career and joined in an office with my father, who was in the insurance business. It was frightening to give up that guaranteed salary. To ensure that I could continue to make a living, I got my real estate license, an insurance license, a security license and an appraiser license and have been involved in all types of activities. For the first 10 years in Danville with my full-time real estate and insurance licenses and my other investment background, I was meeting folks at all hours. It took me at least 10 years to learn, maybe even 20 years, that basically you can’t do it all. You have learn when to say “no.” I would say the last 15 or 20 years of my career, I haven’t shown any real estate or met clients at night, because I just choose not to do it. You should learn to work smarter not harder and that’s the advice I would give to myself.

Why should agents get involved in their local, state and national associations?
Absolutely Realtors® should get involved in their local, state and national associations. The real estate industry depends on honesty and integrity and other agents being successful. We want the cooperation, respect and friendship of other agents. We all have listings that we really hope they might sell for us, as quickly as possible. Over the years, I have encouraged my agents to be involved at all levels, because I want them to get to know other agents. I want them to have the other agents know them. I want them to cooperate and I want them to be the ones who are thought of when someone needs a referral.

What advice would you give someone who was thinking of moving up through the offices in PAR?
It sounds intimidating to move up through the chairs at PAR, but it’s not. And many, many members over the years, and many past presidents have come to people like me, Sally Heimbrook and other past presidents and said, “What do you think Bob? Should I run for office? Will I lose business?” Happily, the opposite is true, as far as I’m concerned. It was a wonderful experience. I’ve made friendships in all states, in every county in Pennsylvania. If I know someone is moving from my town, to another area in Pennsylvania, I know a Realtor® there who I can refer them to. I absolutely encourage people to run for office in PAR. I definitely got much more from being active in PAR than I ever gave to PAR, I’m certain of that.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the real estate market since you started?
I started in the 1960s as a real estate agent. In those days, our Agreement of Sale was two pages long. In many places there were no MLSs. Many offices didn’t cooperate, so if they had a listing, you weren’t able to sell it because it was their listing. The changes have been unbelievable. The technology we have now, the comradery, is heads and tails different than what it was.

Do you think the environment or technology will have a bigger impact on real estate in the next 100 years?
Environment issues are significant. But technology is moving so rapidly, that I cannot even image the technological advances that we might see in the next 100 years. It’s actually a bit frightening.