Marking PAR’s 100th Anniversary: Past President Jack Rawlings

Editor’s note: The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors® is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. As part of our Member Profile feature, we’ll be highlighting some of the Realtors® who have served as president of the organization.

Name: Jack Rawlings
Company: Stultz Real Estate, Hollidaysburg
Years in real estate: 53 years
Local association: Allegheny Highland Association
Year served: 1998 president

If you could go back in time, what advice would you give your younger self?
I think I’d play more. I started in the real estate business when I was about 14. Both of my parents were brokers and appraisers and they had me start cleaning out houses at age 14. I attended Penn State University and majored in real estate and insurance and I’ve been in the industry ever since – over 50 years – and that’s all I’ve ever done.

Why should agents get involved in their local, state and national associations?
There are several reasons why agents should get involved. No. 1 is you have a voice in shaping your industry. When you come to the state and national meetings, you understand the new things that are coming and you get to shape it. The networking is vitally important because you meet people from other areas, you get to know them and it’s great to be able to make referrals to somebody you know, it’s priceless. In addition, you can talk about your issues with people you’re not in competition with. If you have an issue at home, they’re not afraid to discuss that with you as a competitor might be, so you get answers to issues that you may never get if you don’t travel and go to the meetings.

What advice would you give someone who was thinking of moving up through the offices in PAR?
Moving up through the office is a big decision. I wrestled with it for years and you really have to want to do it. If you don’t have that drive, don’t try. But, if you have the drive, you have the time and you can afford it, I encourage you to get involved. Learning about your industry and associating with people from all over the country is just a wonderful experience. And the connections are priceless.

What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the real estate market since you started?
Technology. That’s the easiest answer. It’s the biggest change that’s affected the industry. When I started, you had to know where all the phone booths were because that’s how you communicated. If you were on the road and you needed to make a call, you had to find a phone booth. There were no cell phones. There were no computers. I can remember when my father got the first calculator and all it would do is add, multiply, subtract and divide. It was a wonderful thing. When I started, we used a slide rule. So, technology is by far the biggest thing that’s happened in the industry.

Do you think the environment or technology will have a bigger impact on real estate in the next 100 years?
I don’t think anybody can predict what’s going to happen. It’s just too far out. When you look at the last 100 years, the advances have been so amazing that you just can’t describe it. Healthcare, real estate, in every facet of our lives, the changes of some come so quickly. To look out 100 years, I would say that technology will be the big thing. We’ll manage to fix the environment somehow, but nobody can predict what advances in technology will be.