Meet Jason Sanchez and the Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS®
We were thrilled at the opportunity to interview Jason Sanchez, Director of MLS and Technology, for the Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS® (GEPAR).
In this interview Jason tells us about the Greater El Paso Association of REALTORS® — what makes their members great, what’s happening in the real estate market right now and how members and their clients are using the Smarter Agent platform to access the MLS from any mobile device.
Tell us a little about GEPAR?
We are an association of about 2,000 members primarily covering far west Texas and southern New Mexico with our largest city being El Paso. El Paso is the largest city in west Texas with a population of more than 665,000, making it the 6th largest city in the state, and the 19th largest city in the nation. We’re proud that El Paso has been ranked the safest city in America.
What makes GEPAR agents and brokers great?
Currently our membership is comprised of agents and brokers that are very involved in the association. Our leadership has done a great job of promoting unity and diversity within our membership and our REALTOR® community. This has translated into high member involvement in events, technology, education, training and committee participation. Our association and its members have worked hard over the years to create the environment we have today!
How’s the real estate market in El Paso right now? Nationally we’re seeing homes sales and prices increase with low levels of inventory.
I would say our market is doing well right now. Our median home price is right around $150,000 in the El Paso area and sales have been going up for the past six months. Our members are telling us that their business is picking up which is great to hear!
The association has been offering members and their clients mobile access to the MLS via the White Label app developed by Smarter Agent for the last eight months. What was the motivation behind deciding to offer members access to a mobile app?
Well, mainly this would be due to consumer mobile demand. With more and more consumers using mobile apps in their search for their next home, naturally being a service provider, we needed to provide our members with the tools to succeed in this consumer-driven landscape.
What has been the feedback overall?
The feedback has been very positive! Our members tell us they like that they can provide their client with an app that provides up to date MLS information that is 100 percent accurate! They also love features like using their current location to find homes closest to them, easy sharing capabilities and the custom branding that allows all leads to go directly to them.