By Donna Cornelius
Journal Features Writer
At a time when some real estate companies were shutting their doors due to a plunging economy, Henry Ray and Wilmer Poynor were opening theirs.
Ray & Poynor Properties started Jan. 15, 2010. A little more than two years later, the company is not only surviving but flourishing.
One reason may be that neither man is a rookie in the real estate field. Both have years of experience in the Birmingham area housing market – and a longstanding professional relationship with each other.
Ray was the owner of Ray & Co., while Poynor owned Poynor Properties. The two companies combined in 1997 and merged into RealtySouth in 2000.
Poynor left RealtySouth in 2009; Ray most recently had been working as a consultant for Haskell Slaughter Young & Rediker.
“I wanted to get back into running a real estate company,” Poynor said.
“We wanted local management,” said Ray. ““We talked each other into this.”
The two not only re-forged their partnership but headquartered their company in the Cahaba Road building they’d occupied years before.
“We started with just the two of us,” said Ray. Agents, carefully chosen by the partners, were soon added.
“Now, we hold close to 40 licenses and about seven in a referral company,” Poynor said. “I think we’ll grow even more.”
“We growing and need to grow more,” said Ray. “We’re ambitious to grow.”
Ray & Poynor already has expanded at a rapid pace. According to Poynor, the company is among the top 10 in the Birmingham area Multiple Listing Service system.
“Our average sales price is the highest in Birmingham by far,” he said. “We started out as #300 in sales volume in the city. At the end of 2010, we were #16 in the Birmingham MLS. At the end of 2011, we were #9.”
In the last two years, he added, Ray & Poynor was second in sales volume in Mountain Brook.
While the company does handle a large number of high-end properties, it’s not limited to those – nor do its owners want it to be.
“We sell all price ranges, and we welcome all price ranges,” said Ray.
The two men are quick to attribute their advances to their agents.
“It’s the quality of our people – their expertise, education and empathy,” Ray said. “”They empathize with buyers and sellers, and that comes from experience and instinct.”
Ray, Poynor and their agents are heavily involved in civic organizations and causes.
“We’re locally owned and grown, and we owe it to our community to give back,” said Ray.
Two recent additions to the staff are Barbara Burton and Debbie Robinson.
As director of corporate development, Burton “is an ambassador for us and will help create and attract new business,” said Ray.
Burton is an Alabama native but owned a real estate company in New York City before moving to Birmingham three years ago.
“This is my best move ever,” she said. “My three adult children have bought condos here, too. I love being in Birmingham, where everything is 10 minutes away.”
Robinson, vice president of relocation development, said she works with corporations “locally and nationally.”
“I help people moving into and out of the Birmingham area,” she said. “If someone’s moving to, say, North Carolina, I can set them up with an associate there.”
While their customers’ needs naturally differ, said Poynor, many want to “simplify.”
“They’re concerned about how the house is run, how convenient it is and even how easy the landscaping is to take care of,” he said.
Today’s buyers also are more informed about the market, said Ray.
“That’s due to all the information available on the Internet,” he said. “It tends to make people eliminate some properties right away. It makes it more important than ever to have your house in pristine condition.”
The real estate market, in Birmingham and Over the Mountain, is improving, Ray said.
“In general, it’s better this year than last year, and it was better last year than the year before,” he said. “The majority of people haven’t recognized the significance of low interest rates. That spurs a real interest to buy and sell, and it affects both the buyer and seller.
“There are buyers and sellers who have been patient. Now, they’re ready to move on.”
For more information, visit www.raypoynor.com or call 879-3036. Ray & Poynor Properties is at 2629 Cahaba Road in Mountain Brook Village.