In 1978, the real estate market in the greater Puget Sound area looked much different than it does today. John L. Scott had a mere 10 offices and 200 agents. Windermere had one office. RE/MAX and Keller Williams were nowhere to be seen. Interest rates were at 9.5% (rising to 16.5% by 1982). Real estate professionals wore suits. The average age of a real estate agent was 45.

Enter a new 24-year-old newly-licensed Jerry Mahan. After interviewing with three brokerages, John L. Scott decided to take a chance on Jerry’s enthusiasm. When one enters the market at such a young age, they don’t have much of a sphere of friends and family to help give their career a boost, so Jerry found himself making connections and building a business from scratch. The early days saw a lot of hustle without the benefit of cell phones, fax machines, or even email. In fact, Jerry jokes that without GPS, he would get lost and half his early listing were from knocking on neighbor’s doors, trying to find where he was.

After years of business-building and success, Jerry began working with builders and developers, selling new construction homes. Jerry began scrutinizing the models that buyers were most attracted to and began to provide input to the builders on floorplans. Around that time also began the shift in marketing towards recognizing that it isn’t just about the home specs – it is about the lifestyle that comes with the home. Proximity to community attractions and recreation began to be recognizing in the new home communities and Jerry was at the forefront of this marketing shift.
In 1983 Jerry made the top 1% of all John L. Scott agents and by 1988, he was the #2 salesperson in the whole company. By 1994, Jerry was listing and selling over 200 properties per year because he understood how to market new construction homes. He developed a team of agents who served the buyers coming in to view the model homes and made sure they had the tools to follow up and help turn homebuyers into homeowners. In 2002, he closed an impressive 365 transactions and over 80 million in volume. He was recognized in 2001 and 2002 as one of the top 100 Realtors in the nation by Realtor Magazine. In 2005, Jerry and his team sold 65 homes in 7 days for Regent Homes. He wound up being the #1 producing John L. Scott agent in the entire company for 12 years.

Jerry was not only the listing agent for various builders. He began to develop land so the builders would have somewhere to build. He also made decisions and offered his expertise on floorplans, pricing, amenities, and marketing.

He has also gleaned impressive experience in real estate investing (he has built over 100 rental properties, many of which he manages), he has built three commercial buildings which provide great returns, and even is co-owner of a local restaurant.

Jerry attributes his success to paying attention to what the client wants. If that is a buyer, that means finding a home with just the right features, in the right area, and with the floorplan that will suit their needs. For sellers, that means putting himself in the buyer shoes and marketing the property in a manner that gets it sold quickly and for the most money. The proof is in the results!