May 1—GRAND FORKS — You could say that for the Meyers, real estate business is a family tradition.
The mother-daughter duo of Sandy Meyer, broker, and Kim Effta, associate broker, have been working at Remax Realty for nearly 10 years. And Effta's daughter, Wini, 4, is a regular at the office, where she helps out with vacuuming, retrieving photocopies, cleaning floors, washing windows and stamping envelopes.
"We call her our 'unlicensed assistant,' " Meyer said with a laugh. "Wini really thinks she's a realtor. We say she kind of runs the office."
Meyer views her co-workers as family, too. Among the dozen agents associated with Remax, those who have children have always been welcome to bring them to the office, she said.
All four of Sandy and Rod Meyer's children have held real estate licenses at one time or another in their lives, said Sandy Meyer, noting that her father, husband, two sisters and son-in-law also hold, or have held, real estate licenses.
"It was kind of a family thing," she said.
Their son, state Sen. Scott Meyer, who represents Grand Forks, went on to a career in banking, specializing in mortgage lending.
Helping homeowners sell their home quickly at a fair price and helping home-buyers find their perfect dream home "has been my life for more than 30 years," Meyer said.
She got into the real estate business in 1977 after her sister encouraged her to apply for a job, Meyer remembered. "She thought I'd be a good fit."
A Petersburg resident at the time, "I wasn't too excited about it," she said.
After all, "how much real estate do you sell in Petersburg, North Dakota? (My sister) convinced me that I could sell in the full state, and that's kind of what we did."
Meyer started selling farmland, and concentrated on that sector for about 10 years.
As a woman, Meyer was plowing new ground in the male-dominated field.
"There were probably one or two women who were brokers at the time — but not very many — in the state," she recalled. "They called me 'that little girl that sells real estate.' That was always embarrassing."
For more than 30 years, she has earned the certified residential specialist designation, held by only 2% of U.S. Realtors, Effta said. It's the highest credential awarded to residential sales agents, managers and brokers; about half of their co-workers have achieved that certification.
About five years ago, Gov. Doug Burgum appointed Meyer as a North Dakota real estate commissioner. She's one of five members — and the only woman — on the state's Real Estate Commission, currently serving her second term.