Van Dyk Agents Speak of Selling Dream Houses

By MARIA SCANDALE | Feb 11, 2016

The Van Dyk Group is proud to congratulate Marion Romano on the highest number of closed real estate sales and listings in 2015 within the Ocean County Board of Realtors, according to OCBR figures for individual sales associates.

Also, Romano, of the Route 72 Manahawkin office, and Nathan Colmer of the Long Beach Island office, earned the New Jersey Association of Realtors Circle of Excellence Sales Awards Platinum Level for 2015. To earn that distinction, an agent must have at least $20 million and 30 units in closed sales or closed listings in the calendar year.

“As a matter of fact, Marion closed more than 100 sales and listings in 2015, more than any other individual salesperson in the Ocean County Board of Realtors,” said Jeff Gamble, real estate manager of The Van Dyk Group Manahawkin office.

Romano’s sales volume was well in excess of $30 million in 2015, Gamble said as the agency announced the distinctions last week.

Characteristically modest, Romano told The SandPaper business page that she “had a great year, and really good buyers.”

“They were very committed to the American dream,” Romano said.

As what she called a “Middle America mindset,” her buyers were saying, “I want a safe place for my family; I want a vacation at the Jersey Shore,” and here they can have both, Romano pointed out.

Many of the popular Realtor’s customers come by referral from another satisfied customer. Romano said she treats her clients the same “whether you’re buying a trailer or a million-dollar house.”

She did notice that buyers came in for one of two general reasons. “One class is that, ‘Ocean County is so affordable,’ and another class is, ‘I want to give my family the memories that I had as a child.’”

Ninety percent of last year’s customers were from the North Jersey area, but she also had a few buyers who had moved away to places such as Virginia, and were coming back.

Buyers came in with a variety of financial situations. With the price of gas low, some commuters were willing to drive to work northward but live here in order to give their families a better life, they said.

There are even programs through the Federal Housing Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture enabling purchase at no money down for those who qualify. She said it was rewarding to help returning veterans buy through attractive programs.

Of her 100 closed sales as an individual (not as a team), Romano said that instead of thinking of statistics, “I like to think of it as I touched a hundred families.”