Mark Spain Real Estate has not allowed a pandemic, or all the uncertainty that goes with it, to slow its growth, sales, team expansion or high level of personalized service.

The No. 1 real estate team in the nation for closings the last three consecutive years—according to an annual sales ranking by REAL Trends—has, despite the coronavirus challenges, experienced a record number of listings in all its markets in the first half of 2020. Serving metro Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh and Nashville, Mark Spain Real Estate’s buyer side closings are up 27 percent overall. For all closings, Charlotte is up 61 percent, Raleigh 75 percent and Nashville has increased by 155 percent. Mark Spain Real Estate’s gross sales volume for the first half of 2020 was nearly $516 million. The Atlanta-based firm is ahead of last year’s sales pace, year-over-year.

Founder and CEO Mark Spain has, himself, been in real estate over 25 years, and has managed to increase sales nearly every year he has been in business. Despite a myriad of challenges over the years—including higher mortgage interest rates at one point, increased competition when new real estate agents flooded the market for several years, the Great Recession a little over a decade ago, tightening mortgage restrictions, seller’s markets, buyer’s markets, housing shortages, and local markets flooded with foreclosure listings, to name a few. He has redefined success, selling billions of dollars in real estate over his career and opening his namesake company in 2016.

“Real estate, perhaps more than other types of businesses, is a field in which you have to learn to pivot and adjust quickly,” stated Mark Spain. “In fact, you almost have to anticipate the upcoming changes or challenges or you’re already behind.”

For now, the residential real estate market has remained very active, despite having to adjust to how listings are shown or how closings take place. Some potential sellers have decided to wait to enter the market and this has only heightened what was a seller’s market. Supply is much lower than the demand, across nearly every price point. Economists use a six-month supply of homes on the market as the equilibrium point, i.e. not a buyer or seller’s market. In Atlanta, that current supply is a third of that, at two months. For Charlotte and Raleigh, the supply is just 1.1 months. In Nashville, the current supply of homes on the market is even lower, at just .7 months.

In March 2020, Mark Spain Real Estate had a record month for new listings, with more homes listed than ever before. Listings are up in Raleigh 92%, in Nashville 93% and increased by 105% in Charlotte. Mark Spain Real Estate’s Alpharetta office—one of four in metro Atlanta—has listed more than 100 homes a month, for four consecutive months.

To keep up with the demand, Mark Spain Real Estate has been actively hiring during the pandemic.

“Many businesses have a hiring freeze or have even been forced to downsize, but we are fortunate at Mark Spain Real Estate to be hiring. We speak to between 100 and 125 candidates a week and hired 27 real estate agents in May and 29 in June,” said President John Makarewicz. “We are also getting ready to open another location in northern metro Atlanta.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, there were 4.7 million existing home sales in June 2020. This was down 11 percent, year-over-year. However, compared to just one month earlier—May, a month in which the real estate market was heavily hampered by COVID-19—sales jumped an impressive 21 percent. This is a positive sign, that the real estate market was able to start bouncing back so quickly. At Mark Spain Real Estate, total closings are up more than 16 percent, year-over-year, signifying that this Atlanta-based residential real estate firm is significantly outpacing the rest of the industry.

“Mark Spain Real Estate will continue to have ongoing training for our agent team, provide our Guaranteed Offer that gives sellers a hassle-free option to sell their homes without formally listing it, and have video tours online for all our listings to aid home buyers in their decision process,” stated Makarewicz. “We will continue to serve and adapt to make sure our customers receive a level of service second to none.”

About Mark Spain Real Estate
Mark Spain Real Estate is the most trusted name in real estate, earning more 5-star reviews than any other real estate company in the United States. It has earned the No. 1 real estate team in America honor for closed transactions the last three consecutive years, and the company has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America for four years straight. Mark Spain Real Estate’s mobile site design took top honors in 2019, being named the No. 1 Mobile Website in real estate by REAL Trends. MarkSpain.com also earned the No. 8 spot in the Top 10 Overall Websites. The company was honored in 2017, 2018 and 2020 as one of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Top Places to Work. It has earned the Atlanta Business Chronicle Pacesetter Award the last three years, for being one of 100 metro Atlanta’s top, fastest-growing, privately held companies. Mark Spain Real Estate recently made its third appearance on Atlanta’s Top 25 Real Estate Companies annual list in 2020 and debuted on similar lists for Charlotte and Raleigh.

As the leader of such a productive team with cutting edge ideas like its innovative website, Guaranteed Offer program and extensive marketing, Mark Spain was named to the inaugural list of 2019 REAL Trends Game Changers. This list of 50 people who have the potential to change the game of real estate in the coming year, included such honorees as: Gary Keller, co-founder and CEO of Keller Williams International, as well as the CEOs of RE/MAX International, Zillow, Coldwell Banker and HomeServices of America.