Dick Stofberg of Van Herk Real estate agency
Last week, Van Herk Real Estate Agency announced they are opening a branch in The Hague. This is already the 11th branch of the real estate agency from South Holland. We spoke with General Director Dick Stofberg about the growth of Van Herk. Dick candidly tells us how a job at the appointment desk at Van 't Hof Real Estate Agency in Gouda led to managing an organization with 280 people.
From rabbit trading to the field service
Animal trading at the livestock market
Dick grew up as the youngest of a family with four children in Zevenhuizen. As a child, he travelled all over the country with his father on weekends to visit livestock markets. While his father traded cows, the 10-year-old Dick started trading chickens and rabbits.
‘I was so incredibly good at it that it took me 2 years.’
Real Estate Agent in 1 year
Going to school was not a great passion. Dick found the MEAO, Intermediate Economic Administrative Education, mostly boring. It was his mother who laid the foundation for his career as a real estate agent, by showing him a clipping from the newspaper: ‘Become a real estate agent in 1 year’. The advertisement led to a course in Amersfoort to become a real estate agent in 12 months: ‘I was so incredibly good at it that it took me 2 years’, Dick jokes.
Starting at Van 't Hof
After completing the course, he was unable to find a job as a real estate agent straight away. ‘It was a tough time, I was a farmer's son, I knew nothing about real estate and I had no network yet’. He therefore reluctantly started working at Rabobank. ‘There I learned to sit in an office, which was hard enough’.
After six months, Dick could finally start in real estate. He got a job at Van 't Hof Real Estate Agency in Gouda, which was the largest real estate agency in the region with 7 offices at the time.
Dick started by taking calls at the appointment desk. Once scheduling appointments for other real estate agents was no longer a challenge, Dick saw his opportunity to make a name for himself within the office. He started the purchasing department in the basement of the office.
Out in the field, with a slight detour.
The real work as a real estate agent began at the branch in Alphen aan den Rijn. A street directory was indispensable in those days.
‘On my first appointment as a real estate agent I had to drive from a handover to the notary. The clients drove behind me. When we had been on the road for 20 minutes and for the 2nd time passed the house we had previously left, I stopped and honestly admitted that I had no idea where we were going. I had a good laugh with the clients. In the end we decided that it was probably better if I followed them to the notary, instead of the other way around.’
'When we had been on the road for 20 minutes and for the 2nd time passed the house we had previously left, I stopped and honestly admitted that I had no idea where we were going.'
After the period in Alphen, the best time at Van 't Hof followed. Dick was allowed to return to Gouda. There were very experienced people there. They liked teaching a young, ambitious real estate agent how to do it. Dick learned the trade there. It also paid well. During that period he worked on a commission basis for the office: 'At one point I earned more than the mayor of Gouda.'
Period at Van Herk
Becoming the boss
In the 7 years that Dick worked at Van 't Hof, he was approached several times by other agencies to switch. At Van Herk he was offered the opportunity to lead the branch in Capelle aan den IJssel. ‘I liked that: then I become the boss.’
'In four years we tripled in terms of turnover and size.'
The assignment was simple. The branch was once a major local player, but had not been doing well for a while. The tide had to be turned. 'In four years we tripled in terms of turnover and size. The boss allowed everything because he saw that everything we did worked. The owners said: go ahead, go ahead, go ahead. At one point we had 4 pages in the newspaper and I had a boy delivering leaflets every day. I would then write out where he had to walk and while he was at it, we were already being called by the first people. That was just fun.'
'I'd like to buy it'
Then came the moment when the owners of Van Herk got the chance to sell the insurance and mortgage portfolio. That was the most important financial part of the organization. ‘The money was in for the owners: they were done. They told me they also wanted to sell the real estate agency and I was genuinely sorry. I really enjoyed it.'
So Dick had no other option. 'I'd like to buy it', he told the owners. After talking to the bank, seeking advice and discussions at home, Dick got a better picture. 'Buying the office on my own was financially just too exciting. I knew Johan Schep from the professional test. We then tried to buy Van Herk together.'
The takeover attempt failed. After the bid was rejected, Dick and Johan decided to team up. Dick became co-owner of the Schep Real Estate branch in Schoonhoven. Dick also opened a branch in Capelle aan den IJssel together with Johan.
Second chance
Eight months after the last takeover talks, Van Herk Real Estate Agency went bankrupt. The credit crisis halved the office's turnover. 'We then called the liquidator and were able to buy Van Herk Real Estate Agency after all. This time the purchase price was a tenth of the price they had offered a year earlier. ‘Thanks to the bankruptcy, we didn't have to take over all the staff. So we had the name and the offer, but not all the baggage.'
'The purchase price was a tenth of the price they had offered a year earlier'
‘I loved that takeover. And, to be honest, I thought I was great at the time. I started working really hard. I was a working foreman, but mainly working. At one point I brought in more turnover than the 5 least performing people in the office combined. That was when I learned to shift my focus from my own results to improving others.
Stringing pearls
Due to the effects of the credit crisis, more real estate agencies were struggling at that time. And every time an office in the area went bankrupt, Dick called the liquidator to see if they could buy it. 'We just wanted to have a lot of supply. Our philosophy was: if you can buy a portfolio of 100 homes, those homes will eventually be sold when times get better. In the end, we bought more offices than we didn't. In retrospect, we should have bought a lot more.'
'This sounds nice in hindsight, but it was also exciting. We thought the crisis would last a year. It wasn't until 2014 that things started to normalize again. We weren't prepared for that.' Towards the end of that period, fewer offices were taken over and Van Herk opened its own offices. 'Then you choose the people yourself from day 1 and they do it your way right away.'
Growth in the branches
When the crisis was over, Dick focused on growth in the branches themselves. 'I found out that it's easier to sell 20 extra homes in Capelle aan den IJssel, than to start a new branch and sell 20 homes there.
For years, no new acquisitions were made. That changed a year ago when Dick and Johan bought Van 't Hof Rijnland, a property manager. 'That was a big bang. Until then we had a company with 50 people and we bought a company with 4 times as many people.' For Dick, this was the moment to take a critical look at his own responsibilities. 'After the takeover, Fred Hakstege became operational director of Van Herk Real Estate Agency and I spent more time on Van 't Hof Rijnland.'
Looking ahead
Are these the growth plans for the time being?
‘We actually still have ambitions for the future. We are in our mid-forties, or at least, I am 48 and Johan is 46,' Dick jokes. 'Our ambition is far from extinguished. We want to continue for another 15-20 years. We believe that housing in the Netherlands should be better regulated. My future is that our company is involved from the beginning to the end in our region: from land purchase to handing over the key. I would like to be very important for many parties.'
'It cannot be that we are happily doing business and the world is worse off because of it.'
'But it has to be our way. We ourselves are climate neutral as a company. We started that 10 years ago, when it was still considered woolly. But we thought: it can't be that we are happily doing business and the world is worse off because of it. I sometimes get asked how you can make that profitable? We didn't look at it that way. We just wanted to achieve that. Then we did that for our children. That's how we see sustainable entrepreneurship.'
Who do you admire in the profession?
'I remember well the moment Makelaarsland started: we were all scared. I then expected them to sell 25,000 homes out of the crisis. That you make a whole profession think: now it's going wrong. I would have liked to come up with something like that too.
'I'm also grateful to Makelaarsland for doing it, because I'm afraid I would have tried it myself otherwise.'
Even before Makelaarsland existed, people were already nailing their own sign in the garden. Makelaarsland meets the needs of that group of people. Yet it seems that's not where the big money comes from. I'm also grateful to Makelaarsland for doing it, because I'm afraid I would have tried it myself otherwise.
I admire someone who does something completely different. Just like you do with Mijn Verkoopmakelaar. We are all aware that the market is going to turn left at some point. That's hanging over the market. And I'm so curious what that's going to be. A lot of real estate agents are afraid of that, but I think it's fun. I stay enthusiastic about what I do as it keeps changing a bit. If it always stays the same, I won't make it to my retirement.
So that's my answer: the starting period of Makelaarsland. That's who you should interview next: Jeroen Stoop.'
Are there any others you would like to read an interview of?
If you get the chance, you should also ask Marcel Arendsen from Brecheisen Makelaars. He is not related to the founders, but he is now in charge. Furthermore, I think Pieter van Santvoort is a good one to interview. He took over the office of Van Santvoort Makelaars in Eindhoven with his cousin, from his father. They are fun, creative people. The only person I might look up to is Wim de Leeuw from De Leeuw Makelaardij, because he dared to stop. He's a brilliant man and he sold his business. I would like to read what I can learn about stopping.
Branches of Van Herk Real estate agent
Van Herk Real estate agent Rotterdam
Van Herk Real estate agent Capelle aan den IJssel
Van Herk Real estate agent Zoetermeer
Van Herk Real estate agent Gouda
Van Herk Real estate agent Spijkenisse
Van Herk Real estate agent Schoonhoven
Van Herk Real estate agent Ridderkerk
Van Herk Real estate agent Berkel en Rodenrijs
Van Herk Real estate agent Den Haag
This interview is part of an interview series with the game changers in the real estate industry and the housing market. Every month a new interview appears. Tips for who we should interview next? Mail us at info@mijnverkoopmakelaar.nl
Read more about Mijn Verkoopmakelaar for real estate agents
