Why I choose? A history of fairness and diversity

David Beer from the Carrollton office shares his story on his father, the Judge, and fairness in Real Estate.

I joined CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company in October of 2006 after eleven years with another broker. I met with three competing brokers, and listened to them tell me about their benefits and incentives and all they could offer a "seasoned veteran" such as myself to join their company. Then, just before making a decision, Gerald Crow, the manager of the CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company Carrollton office, who I had worked with back in the 1990’s when he was running The Prudential Texas Properties, asked for the chance to speak with me about Judge Fite before making my choice. I agreed to sit down with Gerald and see what his company would have to offer someone like me, an agent with more than 25 years experience. What could he possibly offer to me that would "top" the incentives that the three other companies had put on the table? What could be better?

When I met with Gerald he told me about the benefits of working with a company that had so much to offer an agent: technology, training, tools and marketing materials that Century 21 makes available to their agents, instructions on creating a business plan and how to implement them into an agent's daily business life. Then Gerald offered me something that I had needed and had been lacking in my real estate career - someone to mentor me. Someone to meet with me on a regular basis and help me plan how I could finally reach my potential was what convinced me that I had found my new real estate home.

The other deciding factor in my decision was the reputation of the Judge Fite name. What Gerald was not aware of at that time was my family's longstanding relationship with the Judge Fite Company, long before they became part of the Century 21 system. Please let me explain. My father, A Robert Beer, was a commercial real estate broker in the DFW area for more than fifty five years. He and Judge Fite worked together on several transactions back in the 1950's and 1960's. Both my father and Judge Fite served the board of directors together as officers on the Dallas Board of Realtors (as it was known then).

In 1964 when the federal Fair Housing Act was passed by Congress, the law stated that anyone who wanted to buy or sell a home had the right to do so anywhere they wanted to (regardless of race, creed or nationality), as long as they had the financial means. Since Dallas was located in the southwest, there was some strong “attitudes” about this new law. Even some at The Dallas Board of Realtors resented Washington telling them what they could or could not do regarding the selling and purchasing property.

My father, who was serving as Vice President of the Board, was in line to become the next President of the Board of Realtors. So, in his capacity as a leader of the Board, both publicly and privately support the law and pledged as a Real Estate Broker and as an officer to do everything in his power to make sure that the newly passed law was implemented and enforced in Dallas. He took the position that the law was a fair and just law and anyone who could qualify and afford to buy a home should be able to do so anywhere they wanted. Several of his fellow Brokers and board members took offense, not only to the newly passed law but vowed to work against the implementation of the law. And because of the position taken by my father, he was subsequently removed from the leadership position, and taken off the Board of Directors, ultimately denying him of the Presidency that he had worked so hard for. He said at the time, he was “never more proud of being removed from a position of authority than that instance”.

Now, here is how this story wraps back around to my story of why I chose CENTURY 21 Judge Fite Company. Something that very few people know is that the only person who supported my father and the position he took of fairness and that all men and women are created equal and deserved to be treated as such, was also serving on the Board at that time - the only person who stood shoulder to shoulder with my father, one man and one man alone, was Judge B. Fite. That integrity and character that so embodied Judge Fite is carried on today, seventy plus years later, by his children - Jim Fite and Jan Fite Miller.

Putting it all together, what was being offered to me by Gerald Crow, and with the spirit that embodies Century 21 Judge Fite Company, my choice became an easy and clear decision. And here I am today, knowing that the choice I made was and continues to be one of the best decisions (besides marrying my wife, Taryne) of my life!

David Beer, REALTOR, Carrollton Office
david@davidbeer.com / 214-334-4002