Jean and Nick Storrs host a 10-minute segment called “Realty Team Talk” every Friday morning on radio station WEIM 1280 AM in Fitchburg.
You can call them the David Brudnoys of local real estate. Brokers Rick Tobias and Michael Hansen bring their expertise on residential real estate to listeners every Thursday through a radio call-in show called “Real Estate Today.”
Tobias started the program three years ago after he approached the managers of WBET 1460 AM in Brockton to pitch his idea for a talk show that focused on real estate. The managers liked the idea and decided to put him on the air for an hour each week. After several weeks on the air, the radio station asked Tobias and Hansen to do a two-hour show.
“I thought it would be a good vehicle to speak about real estate with a broad spectrum of people,” said Rick Tobias, who along with Hansen owns Century 21 Access Properties, which has offices in Canton and Stoughton.
Home inspectors, real estate attorneys, lenders, developers, state lawmakers and local officials have all been invited to discuss real estate issues on the show. Sens. Brian A. Joyce, D-Milton, and Robert L. Hedlund, R-Weymouth, have been guests, and so have Democratic Reps. William C. Galvin of Canton and Louis L. Kafka of Sharon.
This year, the show’s hosts, guests and callers have spent a lot of time discussing Chapter 40B, the state’s so-called anti-snob zoning law, according to Tobias. Many suburban communities want the law – which aims to increase the affordable housing supply in Massachusetts – changed because they feel it has been abused by housing developers who have used it to build excessively large and dense projects.
The show also receives a lot of calls from people seeking legal advice on things like deposits and purchase-and-sale agreements. If Tobias or Hansen can’t answer the questions directly, they try to contact a legal expert on the spot and get an answer.
Having Fun
The show tries to stay on top of current events by using “reporters” from around the country. The reporters are actually real estate agents from other Century 21 offices who are willing to go on-air to briefly chat about a current news topic as a segue into a discussion on a pertinent real estate issue.
When President Bush was elected, listeners heard from real estate agents in Washington, D.C., and Texas, said Tobias, who is the 2004 president of the Tri-County Board of Realtors. When the New England Patriots were in the Super Bowl in New Orleans in 2002, the show was able to get a Century 21 real estate agent from that city to go on-air.
While the talk show covers serious topics, the hosts also try to inject some fun into the mix. In October, when the Red Sox were facing off with the New York Yankees in hopes of heading to the World Series, the show called a few agents in the Big Apple pretending to be Yankees manager Joe Torre seeking to sell his condo on the Upper East Side. Tobias said it was made perfectly clear early on in the phone conversation that it was just a joke.
“We had some fun with it,” said Tobias, who used to be a disc jockey and newsman. “Thankfully, [the agents] were good sports about it.”
About 60 miles north in Fitchburg, the husband-and-wife team of Nick and Jean Storrs do their own version of a real estate program. The Storrs have been hosting a 10-minute segment called “Realty Team Talk” on a morning radio program every Friday morning for the last seven years. Like Tobias, the Storrs approached the station WEIM 1280 AM in Fitchburg about hosting a segment on real estate.
“Basically, we do it as a conversation between the two of us,” said Jean Storrs, who along with her husband has owned Century 21 Realty Team in Leominster for almost 10 years.
On past shows, the Storrses have offered tips for buyers and sellers. They’ve also discussed lenders, the role of home inspectors and the process of getting pre-approved for a home loan.
At times, they have dedicated the entire segment to discussing a community fund-raiser or project. One agent in their office, for example, is very involved with a veterans’ project, and they recently gave the agent time to discuss the project on-air.
If the Storrses can’t do the segment, they invite guests, including other real estate agents or home inspectors, to fill in for them.
The Storrses pay a fee to host the segment, but Jean believes the money is well spent.
“It’s the best advertising dollar I spent,” she said. “I can’t tell you the number of people who listen to it and have commented on it.”
And the Storrses also have adopted some fun rituals. Every Friday morning, they rate the upcoming weekend weather just as the weatherman offers his live report.
Aglaia Pikounis may be reached at apikounis@thewarrengroup.com.
