Jack Enright
Jack Enright
Title: Exceptional Property Specialist, The Jack Enright Team, William Raveis RE
Age: 63
Experience: 33 years
Jack Enright is a West Roxbury fixture with deep roots in the community. After 30 years of selling real estate as a solo practitioner, he started a team so he could focus on what he does best and let teammates focus on what they do best. These days, he spends a lot of time with developers, finding opportunities and marketing them to buyers. When he’s not doing that, he can be seen in the area going for long walks in every kind of weather, or spending time on the Maine coast.
Q: You recently started a real estate team. How is the team concept working out for you?
A: I hired a marketing coordinator to work directly for me almost three years ago. I worked solo for over 30 years and that was the first part of my teambuilding effort. Real estate has changed since I started. You really have to get exposure for yourself and get your name out there on social media. People like me don’t have the experience the young folks do. I wanted to take my business to a new level, so I decided to hire somebody. She works 20 hours a week doing all my social media and she does a great job. Then I brought a couple of agents to work with me. Now that we have the team in place, teams have a big advantage over an individual when you go on listing appointments. Especially when it’s a major development.
I wish I had done it sooner, but my mindset wasn’t there. Bill Raveis really encourages the team concept. The good news is that I’m doing it and I’m having fun with it and it has energized me in a different way. We’re taking advantage of the great market we have here in Greater Boston. It’s incredible what we have compared to other parts of the state and the country.
The team has freed my time up. That’s the beauty of it. I play golf every Thursday afternoon in the summer. The whole team thing gives us flexibility and it hasn’t slowed me down at all. My goal is to work as hard as I can from January through July and then try to take it a little easier in the summer. Some years I can do that, other years like a few years ago when we had all that snow, we didn’t slow down all summer. I have a little place in southern Maine I like to go to and I can almost commute during the summer.
Now I just want to grow the team, but in the right way. I don’t know if I’d want a 30-person team, but I would like to build it up a little more. And I enjoy helping the younger agents grow. It’s fun.
Q: Is there any trace of the Great Recession in the Greater Boston real estate market?
A: Things really started picking up in 2013 and then you had 2014, 2015 and 2016 and 2017 is off to a great start and you think, “How many more good years do we have left?” There are no serious indicators of a serious slowdown. Inventory is still low pretty much across the Greater Boston market. I’ve seen things coming on in Brookline and Newton recently, they’re gone in five or seven days. It’s unbelievable. Here we go!
We’ve been saying for a couple of years in a row we can’t believe what people are paying. People are paying $1.2 million for 1,600-square-foot new condos in Brookline. The foreign money is getting a little tighter so that may change things a little. Interest rates got bumped up a little so that might make things a little harder for a first-time buyer. Until we can see a change in the inventory, I don’t see it swinging the other way. Things still come on and go quickly. I tell my buyers it looks like another year where they need to put their helmets on and go for another roller coaster ride. That’s why we work so aggressively to try to get listings. If you get the listing, the buyers will come.
Q: Where are the bargains in Boston?
A: For a long time, people wanted to be outside of downtown and West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain were the hot spots. But JP got so expensive, those buyers trickled into Roslindale. I sold more houses in Hyde Park last year than I ever have. It’s all been referrals. Hyde Park is relatively affordable and it’s coming back, especially in the Readville section. East Boston has come back a long way, too.
Q: You do a lot of charitable fundraising as well. How did that come about?
A: About 25 years ago we organized a road race in West Roxbury to raise money for a new community center. I didn’t have any experience, except as a runner. But we pulled it off and did the one day. We made all the rookie mistakes. We even ran out of water. After a few years the community center was in good shape and we developed a charitable trust. So at the point we were able to do whatever we wanted with the money. It’s become West Roxbury Day, basically, at this point. It’s the first Sunday in June. We have over 2,500 runners. We give out at least $50,000 a year, mostly sporting groups. It’s a big deal.
I’m also involved in the [National] Multiple Sclerosis Society. One of my sons actually has it. This will be my 16th year of doing a three-day, 50-mile work to raise money for it. I was going to stop doing it after 10 years, but I just keep on doing it. There are people from all over the country who’ve been doing it for the same amount of time and it’s like a reunion for me. You see people who have it that are doing the walk and it makes you think, “As long as my legs keep going, I’m going to keep doing it.”
Five Things Enright Doesn’t Want To Hear At A Listing Presentation:
- “My cousin is in real estate in Ohio.”
- “We really don’t need to sell this year.”
- “Selling is easy, I should just do it myself.”
- “We can always come down in price later.”
- “Zillow told us our house was worth more than you said.”
Click here to see Enright discuss his predictions for the Brookline-West Roxbury-Newton market in April 2017.
