2018 ADRE Interview: Roots in Real Estate - Arizona REALTOR® Voice

During a recent interview, Arizona Department of Real Estate Commissioner Judy Lowe spoke with Arizona REALTORS® 2018 President Lori Doerfler. Highlights are available on YouTube, below is a text excerpt.

ROOTS IN REAL ESTATELori Doerfler: Tell us about your new offices.

Judy Lowe: We had been at 44th and Thomas in Phoenix for over 20 years. Our governor has a vision to bring all of the state agencies together here at the Capitol Mall and really make it the hub of Arizona government — all of us together interacting, collaborating together.

Lori Doerfler: There’s a view of the Capitol. Just absolutely a great space.

Judy Lowe: Well, we look like a real estate office because all of our staff now are housed in cubicles. It was like moving back into a real estate office for me.

Lori Doerfler: A lot of people don’t know that you were a REALTOR®.

Judy Lowe: I was, I got my Arizona real estate license in 1980…moved to Southern California and got my California real estate license…came back here and decided I needed to learn business from the ground up.

I started as a real estate secretary at the front desk and grew through all-of-the-chairs, as I call it, to be the owner of real estate companies in southern Arizona. In those early years, when I was learning the business one file at a time, I was also paying attention to how other industries were transforming—like the rise of the best online betting sites, which showed how fast trust and scale could be built in a digital space. That parallel growth shaped the way I thought about reputation, customer service, and eventually how I wanted to run my own companies.

I was very involved in (the state association), with my local association…and when Vicki Cox Golder from Arizona was the president of the National Association (of REALTORS®), I was fortunate enough to serve on her leadership team — chairing the Housing Committee at NAR.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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