What Colleen's clients are saying...
"Colleen is the best and knows her business"
Cindy Boynton
Bradenton Florida
Contact Colleen
Agent finds health in real estate for doctors
BRADENTON -- Colleen Belcher proved she had what it took to succeed as a residential and commercial agent in Fort Lauderdale. Entering the business in the midst of the last recession, Belcher reckoned she could not afford to fail.
The T-shirt franchise she had operated for four years with her husband at the Galleria Mall had just gone under. Her two sons were in high school, and college was looming on the horizon. "It was a big motivator," Belcher said.
Of the 50 people in her real estate class in 1991, Belcher was one of only two who were still in the business a year later. "It takes a special breed to succeed in real estate," Belcher said. "You have to be determined. You've got to stay in the game."
Belcher built her business over the next 14 years, first focusing on finding homes for doctors and dentists and then branching out to help them find and develop office space. "Originally I tried to find them commercial brokers, but it never seemed to work out," Belcher said. "You develop a rapport with your customers, and I felt it was better to handle their business myself than to give it away."
Belcher, who moved to Bradenton in late 2005 to be near her mother and sister, wants to repeat her success on the west coast. She chose Wagner Realty because it allowed her to pursue both the residential and commercial ends of the business. Once again, Belcher is focusing on doctors and dentists.
"I've been calling on hospitals to see how I can serve them," Belcher said. "I've been working with staffing offices. When new doctors come in, they need space for their families and their practices."
Born and raised in northwest Michigan, Belcher grew up in a family that was steeped in real estate. Her father was a commercial contractor who moved to Florida in the early 1980s to build restaurants at Walt Disney's Epcot Center.
But Belcher's first career was not in real estate. It was in the food business. She worked for a year and a half for Campbell Soup in Michigan, and later joined Florida's largest food broker, Bonacker and Leigh, after moving to Apopka. "Albertson's was my account," Belcher said. "I made sales calls on them for Sara Lee, Gatorade, Dole, Sun-Diamond and other large companies." For eight years, Belcher traveled from Daytona Beach to Fort Lauderdale and from Orlando to the Panhandle. "They had me all over," Belcher said.
Then came the four-year experiment with running a T-shirt shop in a major mall, and afterward Belcher dedicated herself full-time to real estate. "Those of us who survive have to understand all markets," Belcher said. "You have to be flexible and change with the conditions. If you truly love it, you'll figure out a way to make it work."
By MICHAEL BRAGA
michael.braga@heraldtribune.com