February 21, 2008 Issue
Business Spotlight
Resort Real Estate and Rentals—
Diversifying and Flourishing for 26 Years
Story by Sam Calhoun
You can learn from business owners who have managed to survive for more than a quarter century in the High Country, and Resort Real Estate and Rentals, located at the base of Sugar Mountain at 3990 Tynecastle Highway, is a good example.
The business has survived by diversifying and reinventing itself. The result is survival tactics that have enabled the business to maintain during the lean years and take advantage of the fat ones.
Jack and Louise Anderson, co-owners of Resort Real Estate and Rentals, started the business on July 1, 1982.
Jack was born in West Virginia and Louise was born in South Carolina, but both of their families moved to North Augusta, Ga. when they were young. They met there in high school, and after Jack spent a few years in the Air Force, he returned home and married Louise in 1965.
In North Augusta, Jack owned an auto body and truck repair business, but often vacationed in the High Country—a place he became familiar with because of his next-door neighbor in North Augusta. Jack’s neighbor purchased one of the original houses on Sugar Mountain in 1969 and asked Jack to travel to the High Country to have a look. Jack fell in love, and 9 years later in 1978, he purchased a condominium on Sugar Mountain.
Jack and Louise made Sugar Mountain their permanent home in 1980 when they came to the area to look at purchasing a local insurance agency. When that deal fell through, they both earned real estate licenses and went to work for a local real estate company. Soon after, Jack could not contain the entrepreneur inside and the couple started Resort Real Estate and Rentals.
When Jack and Louise started the company in 1982, 10 rental units and 15 to 20 real estate listings were on their roster of offerings and they were the only employees. Their office was located at the present site of their current office, except it was a small house that a man in West Jefferson purchased for $2,500 in 1985 and moved away on a flatbed truck.
Soon after they launched their business, the couple realized that they needed to diversify to stay afloat.
“This business took years of work to get off the ground and we’ve never made a whole lot of money,” said Jack.
With the money they did make, they invested in more properties. In 1986, Jack and Louise built their first spec house on Sugar Mountain, a 1,200 square foot dwelling that sold for $89,000.
“This is not a steady business,” said Jack. “You make none and then you make a lot.”
Jack explained that business is good from Christmas to the end of February and marginal to the end of March. Then his company loses money in April and May, then he makes some money in the summer months and then business drops off again until ski season picks up.
“We have to diversify,” explained Jack. “When it’s slow, we build a spec house and we don’t ever over-fatten with employees.”
Jack and Louise manage 9 full-time employees, as well as 7 cleaning crews of 2 people each.
Jack and Louise also buy a lot of real estate when they make a profit, and in the early 1990s, they partnered to form another real estate and rental business, Linville Area Mountain Properties, that gives them a steady cash flow.
The couple also invested in mini-warehouses in the Linville area that they rent.
“It’s a hard business if you don’t diversify,” said Louise.
As far as reinventing itself, Resort Real Estate and Rentals got into the computer world early when the business hit the 40-rental unit mark in 1983. That practice continues today, with online bookings available by clicking to www.staysugarmountain.com. On the website, customers can now buy winter value packages that include lodging and lift tickets, and owners of the rental units Jack and Louise manage can check when their properties are booked without having to call the office.
And then there is the advertising. Resort Real Estate and Rentals buys many banner ads on the internet and buys advertising in many regional magazines and newspapers. The company also has a presence with High Country Host and the chambers of commerce in Avery and Watauga counties.
So what is the result of diversifying, reinventing and advertising? A bulging roster of new and repeat business. Jack and Louise estimated that 80 percent of their summer business is from repeat customers, some who have booked with the company for more than 20 years. Most of their business comes from out of town and the couple is seeing more and more new business as the years go on. People from all over the nation book with Resort Real Estate and Rentals, according to Jack and Louise.
Today, Resort Real Estate and Rentals manages more than 150 rental units and lists more than 20 houses for sale. Part of the business is real estate sales, but a majority of the business is handling rental properties that owners pay the Andersons to manage. The Andersons own a commercial laundry for all the linens, handle the money portion of business—depositing the owners’ cuts in escrow accounts on a monthly basis—and have a full maintenance division to handle repairs. The Andersons also act as property managers for The Branches, a condominium complex in Banner Elk that is half time-share and half full ownership.
The addition of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in January has turned a slow month into a moneymaking month, said Jack, and the improvements at Sugar Mountain Resort—ice skating, tubing and the new golf and tennis center—have also helped to bolster business.
In their free time, Jack and Louise spend time with their two children—Walter Jackson Anderson, 41, who owns a construction business in the High Country, and Judy Lynn, 37, who works at the ASU College of Education—and attend a lot of car races. An avid fan of NASCAR and drag racing, Jack bought a condo at the Atlanta Motor Speedway and an RV so he and Louise can travel to races all across the country.
“But we plan to stay here for the foreseeable future. You can’t get Louise away from her grandchildren,” said Jack, 63, who is excited about taking his RV across the country again in the future.
Jack and Louise plan to retire in the future, but Jack said he would still sell real estate and build a spec house every year.
“And, of course, we’ll continue to build our business,” said Jack.
Resort Real Estate and Rentals is located at 3390 Tynecastle Highway in Banner Elk. The office is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. seven days a week in the winter, and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the summer. For more information, call 828-898-9746, 1-800-438-4555, email staysugar@skybest.com or click to www.staysugarmountain.com.
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