The History of Mathers Realty

Bill Mathers started his real estate career in 1972 at one of the largest real estate companies in the United States, Real Estate One, Inc., headquartered in Farmington Hills, Michigan. At the time, Real Estate One was one of the five largest real estate organizations in the country. Bill worked at Real Estate One for more than 10 years, starting as an agent, becoming a manager, and finally spending the last 4 years as a regional Vice President, with the responsibility of running 12 sales offices. As an agent, Bill set company records 2 years in a row by personally listing more than 100 homes a year, and getting 98% of them sold. As a manager, he grew 3 separate offices into the top offices within the Real Estate One organization. Finally, as a regional Vice President, Bill developed his region into the top region in the entire Real Estate One system.

In 1982, an executive search firm brought Bill Mathers to Charlotte, NC to become President of one of the two largest homebuilders in the Charlotte area. After a year and a half successfully running this company, Bill decided to strike out on his own.

In October of 1983, Bill Mathers purchased an ERA Real Estate Franchise and opened up his own firm, known as ERA Mathers. ERA Mathers quickly grew to become one of the top 15 ERA franchises in the ERA system nationwide, and number one in the Carolinas, as well as one of the leading real estate firms the Charlotte area. Training immediately became a linchpin in the growth of ERA Mathers. In 1986, Mathers Realty started a new training program known as the Purple Monkey Program. This program was so successful that the contents of the program were purchased by the national ERA Real Estate Corporation. The program is still being used by ERA in a very similar format, in their organization called “The TOP GUN Program”. In the early 90s, Mathers Realty became the leader in real estate technology in the area, by having the first real estate website of all firms in the Charlotte Regional Realtor Association.

In 1998, after 15 years with ERA, Mathers Realty left their system, and became an independent broker known as Mathers Realty. This move was predicated on the growth of internet marketing, a vessel driving the real estate industry into the future. This move allowed Mathers Realty to change their commission structure for the benefit of the sales agents.

During the 90s and early 2000s, Mathers Realty continued to grow, and opened up a second location in Matthews, NC to complement the original office on Carmel Road in Charlotte. Mathers Realty had grown to more than 130 sales agents in the two locations, and was among the top six or seven companies in the entire Charlotte region. 

However, when the national real estate market took a downturn from 2006 to 2008, the real estate industry in Charlotte followed the national trend. Many large companies went out of business, or merged and closed offices. In Charlotte alone, thousands of real estate agents left the business for good.

Mathers Realty was no exception, and moved the entire operation to the Matthews location, continuing to prosper as a complete real estate company. Mathers Realty made money even during the downturn. Several factors played into this accomplishment. First, many of the sales staff survived due to the extensive agent training they had received over the years. Second, Mathers Realty became the leader in handling foreclosure sales in the Carolinas. Throughout the history of the company, Mathers Realty has had contracts to market foreclosures with Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, HUD, and the VA, as well as many numerous banks. The downturn in the real estate economy led to Mathers Realty handling hundreds of foreclosure sales each year for the lending institutions. This, along with the normal real estate market during those times, helped Mathers Realty to continue to grow as an organization. 

In 2014, Mathers Realty moved into their new corporate headquarters on Matthews Mint Hill Road. Since that time, the company has doubled the number of agents, and since 2015 the company has had many, many months of continuous record sales reports.

In 2017, Mathers Realty added a second office in South Charlotte off Carmel Road.

In 2019, Mathers Realty continued to grow and added a third office in Stanly County in the town of Oakboro.

Mathers Realty…with a great history…still continues to be a leader in the Charlotte regional real estate industry, with an eye on the future.