Bend real estate broker Sandy Garner, retiring after 45 years, offers her thoughts on current housing market, issues

(Update: Adding video, comments from Garner)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Harcourts The Garner Group Real Estate, a real estate agency founded in 2001 and based in Bend and Redmond, has announced that its founder, Sandy Garner, is retiring after 45 years in the business. On Thursday, we had a chance to talk with her about her career, and the challenges of today's housing market.

"If you love your community, I think real estate is one way to be a big part of it." Garner told us.

A native and lifelong resident of Central Oregon, Garner was first affiliated with United Properties from 1979 to 1987, then with Coldwell Banker Morris Real Estate in Bend from 1987 until Dec. 31, 2007.

She formed The Garner Group in 2001 as the top-producing team within the locally owned Coldwell Banker agency, becoming the top producing residential associate in Oregon for five consecutive years, leading the group to top team honors in the company's 17-state Western Region in 2005 and 2006. She was a member of the agency’s President's Premier/Elite Club for over a decade, signifying sales volume in the top 1% of Coldwell Banker associates throughout the world.

Garder said she got into the business thanks to a career aptitude test, given by a co-worker when she worked for the school district. "It just kept coming back to real estate."

Her first house sold in Redmond went for an estimated $12,000 in 1979 in Redmond. The average median price for a home in the Redmond area now is $500,000 -- and $800,000 in Bend.

"The cost of property has gotten more expensive, and the land itself. And then just generally, as we've seen everything go up, you know, in different times over 45 years." She said.

Garner says wage imbalance and cost of living are to blame for the wildly different housing market now. She is hopeful for the future market, but expects Bend and Redmond to continue to have problems with affordable housing and homelessness.

"Central Oregon as a whole, Bend and Redmond are really, really struggling to take care of the homeless population and have affordability for the workforce here. So that's you know, that's a struggle." she added.

Garner’s trademark was new neighborhoods and her relationships with builders and developers. Her first endeavor was Tanglewood, where she worked in partnership with Eric and Marilyn Loftsgard of Loftsgard Homes. The Loftsgards, who built spec and custom homes in neighborhoods all over Bend and Redmond, developed an enduring relationship with Garner, who they spoke to from their home in Nicaragua, where they now run educational leadership and development.

“The empire and legacy that Sandy built was never about herself, it was about other people,” said the Loftsgards. “That was what she built: incredible networks and relationships first, then the business grew. There were so many times that in order to make the deal go through, she would be the first to sacrifice. She wanted everyone to have the home, to have success. We knew she had our back; there was integrity there. Her goal was to serve people first.”

While Garner’s star seemed to rise throughout her career, it wasn’t always an easy path. 

“When I started in 1979, ranchers wanted to meet me at the start of their day, 5 a.m. at their kitchen tables in a panic trying to unload their land due to the recession,” said Garner. “It was always an ‘eat what you kill’ situation, but having grown up in a household where I could feel financial strain from a very young age, I was willing to do what it took. Starting in 2006 and through 2008, there were periods of time when I would lose 25 deals in a month. It hasn’t always been a walk in the park, but with my family involved from the very beginning, there is nothing but pride in what it has become.”

The Garner Group became its own brokerage in 2008, then joined the Harcourts franchise in 2014. Harcourts, an Australian company founded in 1888 and the fastest growing real estate business in the world, has 840 offices worldwide and 43 in North America, among which Harcourts The Garner Group frequently ranks number one. 

In 2016, Garner sold the agency to her children, Erica Davis and Shelley Griffin and niece Sara LaFaver. Davis, Broker, Griffin, Broker and LaFaver, Principal Broker, have continued the tradition of top rankings, with the agency ranking top ten internationally. Many of their nearly 50 agents rank in the top 20 of the franchise’s agents nationally. 

"It's been wonderful to see, because they took what I created and then just, you know, made it even better. And and that's the way it's supposed to be." Garner said.

The deeply rooted, family-centric feeling at Harcourts The Garner Group is something that Garner influenced from early on. Griffin recalls picking up the landline in her and Davis’ childhood home in Redmond to take down messages for her mom when she was a girl, essentially starting her own career in real estate at a young age. 

“When I have conversations with clients, I often hear mom’s voice in my head. She’s an outstanding real estate salesperson, there’s no two ways about it,” said Griffin. “We all say things that she said, and there is so much truth in them. She taught us how to work hard, that’s one of the biggest things. She was going to make sure that we were tough–tough enough to weather any storm.”

“Sandy's been an invaluable mentor and role model in my life,” said LaFaver. “I've learned so much from her, but the most important thing she taught me was that you can achieve anything through hard work–it's always been important to her that she was bringing up strong women.”

“Sandy is a remarkable woman whose enduring career in real estate left a profound legacy–her influence is something I cherish and admire,” said Garner’s stepdaughter and Harcourts The Garner Group Broker, Alison Mata.

A testament to Garner’s influence are the number of family members who have counted real estate as their career, including her daughters, sons-in-law, stepchildren, niece, grandchildren and brother-in-law. 

“What more could you want than your children and family to be happy?” asked Garner.

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ABOUT THE GARNER GROUP: Harcourts The Garner Group is a full-service real estate agency specializing in residential real estate in Central Oregon with offices in Bend and Redmond. The Garner Group is comprised of only full-time real estate agents guided by a leadership team with a combined 100+ years of experience who themselves consistently rank among the top agents in the country. While buying and selling real estate can be some of a person’s most important financial transactions, The Garner Group’s knowledge, connections and hard work have earned them clients for life, one home at a time. Founded in 2001, The Garner Group is known for its relentless pursuit of what is right, a focus on the wellness of their agents and a focus on giving back to their community.

ABOUT HARCOURTS:​ Harcourts began their journey as a real estate company in New Zealand in 1888. Since then, the group has expanded to 840 offices in 10 different countries around the world. Specializing in residential, commercial, and luxury real estate, as well as property management services, Harcourts is the fastest growing real estate company in the world.