Scott Beaudry named 2016 GLVAR president

Past presidents of the Greater Las Vegas Association of Realtors have devoted their one-year terms to promoting pride in their profession, protecting private property rights, celebrating diversity and enhancing ethics.

As longtime local Realtor Scott Beaudry takes over as president of Southern Nevada's largest professional association for 2016, his theme is even more ambitious. He's focusing on "embracing the future," while learning from the past.

Beaudry, 45, is the broker and owner of Universal Realty in Las Vegas, a family-owned company founded in 1988. To him, being elected to serve GLVAR and its more than 12,700 members is both an honor and the result of a lifetime in the business.

A Las Vegas native who graduated from Valley High School and UNLV, Beaudry grew up in the local real estate industry. He earned his Nevada real estate license when he was 23. By then, he said he already had years of "in-the-field" experience as an "honorary agent" shadowing his mother, Vivian Beyhoum, a longtime local Realtor who remains active in the industry. He remembers joining his mom while she showed properties, hosted open houses and did most of the things Realtors do.

"I remember it like it was yesterday," Beaudry said, adding he didn't always enjoy being his mom's "runner," but appreciates it now. "Back then, each broker had a mailbox at the board (of Realtors building) and each week or every few days, you had to go there and pick up the mail or drop things off. It was old-school. So, I came from an old-school mentality and I haven't forgotten the value of it."

When asked about Beaudry, and what the husband and father of two young daughters brings to his role as GLVAR president, his peers inevitably mention his "new-school" approach.

"Scott is a techie," said Keith Lynam, the GLVAR's 2015 president. "I'm confident he was standing in line for the opening night of 'Star Wars.' Scott's high-tech background will serve the association well, and he'll certainly bring in new technologies for the benefit of our members. We'll get to see first-hand what works and what won't."

"I couldn't be more excited to work next to someone as fair and honest as Scott," said David J. Tina, the 2016 GLVAR president-elect who will succeed Beaudry in 2017. "His technology background will enable the association to move forward into the next generation in an innovative and efficient manner."

Beaudry sees technology, especially mobile technologies, "continuing to revolutionize the way Realtors go about their business."

"If you look at what consumers want, it's real-time communication," he said. "You have to stay connected to your clients, be the center of their universe. Otherwise, they'll veer off in a heartbeat."

Beaudry enjoys teaching advanced technology classes for fellow Realtors so they can learn new skills and earn continuing education credits needed to maintain their expertise and real estate licenses. In fact, he said hundreds of GLVAR members have benefited from his "Mobile Real Estate Business" courses.

Like many GLVAR leaders, Beaudry contributes to good causes. One example is Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas, which builds homes for working families earning less than 80 percent of the local median income and who help build homes for themselves and other Habitat families in exchange for being able to buy their own home with a zero-interest mortgage. Beaudry said he's proud that GLVAR recently donated $100,000, plus volunteer labor, to help Habitat for Humanity build a home this year in Henderson for a deserving local family.

Beaudry also has a long history of volunteering on numerous local, state and national real estate committees. He chaired GLVAR's Multiple Listing Service Committee in 2010 and has served on the MLS, Data Strategies and Emerging Technologies Committees for the National Association of Realtors. He has served on GLVAR's committees devoted to forms, finance, legislative issues, bylaws, technology and professional standards. He also was the first president of GLVAR's Young Professionals Network for Realtors under 40.

During 2015, Beaudry served as GLVAR's president-elect, gaining valuable experience while working with Lynam, Tina and other board members. In previous years, Beaudry served as treasurer for GLVAR and the statewide Nevada Association of Realtors.

"Being treasurer for the state and local associations has given me insight into the operations of our associations," he said. "Our members trust us to manage the association's budget wisely. My past financial experience as treasurer has given me the tools to do just that."

With GLVAR's membership growing steadily after declining during the recession, Beaudry said the housing market, real estate industry and GLVAR are all "optimistically" in a better position today than they've been in many years.

In 2016, Beaudry sees a continued strong and stable local housing market generally following trends of 2015, when local home prices and sales both increased while more homeowners gained equity in their homes. And that, he said, is a future worth embracing.